CheapHelpers

A collection of production-ready C# utilities, extensions, and services for .NET 11.0 development. Simplify common development tasks with battle-tested helpers for Blazor, Entity Framework, networking, email, PDF generation, billing, reporting, and more.

Packages

Package	Version	Description
CheapHelpers		Core utilities, extensions, threading, and scheduling
CheapHelpers.Models		Shared entities, DTOs, enums, and UBL invoice models
CheapHelpers.EF		Entity Framework repository pattern with Identity support
CheapHelpers.Services		Email, PDF, billing, reporting, notifications, auth, and integrations
CheapHelpers.Blazor		Blazor components, account module, auth endpoints, and Hybrid features
CheapHelpers.Networking		Network scanning, mDNS discovery, and device detection
CheapHelpers.MAUI		MAUI platform implementations (iOS APNS, Android FCM)
CheapHelpers.MediaProcessing		FFmpeg integration, hardware detection (Windows/Linux)
CheapHelpers.Avalonia.Bridge		Desktop notification bridge for Avalonia apps

Installation

# Core utilities and extensions
dotnet add package CheapHelpers

# Entity Framework repository pattern
dotnet add package CheapHelpers.EF

# Business services (email, PDF, billing, reporting, notifications)
dotnet add package CheapHelpers.Services

# Blazor components, account module, and Hybrid features
dotnet add package CheapHelpers.Blazor

# Network scanning and device discovery
dotnet add package CheapHelpers.Networking

Quick Start

String Extensions

using CheapHelpers.Extensions;

"hello world".Capitalize();                    // "Hello world"
"0474123456".ToInternationalPhoneNumber();     // "+32474123456"
"Very long text here".TrimWithEllipsis(10);    // "Very long ..."
"my:invalid*file".SanitizeFileName();          // "my_invalid_file"

Email Service (3 providers)

using CheapHelpers.Services.Email;

// MailKit (SMTP), Microsoft Graph, or SendGrid
var emailService = new SendGridEmailService(
    fromName: "MyApp",
    fromAddress: "noreply@myapp.com",
    apiKey: "SG.xxx",
    inDev: false,
    developers: ["dev@myapp.com"]);

await emailService.SendEmailAsync(
    "user@example.com", "Welcome!", "
Welcome!
",
    attachments: [("invoice.pdf", pdfBytes)]);

Email Templates (Fluid/Liquid)

// Template data class
public class WelcomeEmailTemplateData : BaseEmailTemplateData
{
    public override string Subject => $"Welcome, {UserName}!";
    public string UserName { get; set; }
    public string ActivationLink { get; set; }
}

// Render and send
var templateService = new EmailTemplateService(...);
var result = await templateService.RenderEmailAsync(new WelcomeEmailTemplateData
{
    UserName = "John",
    ActivationLink = "https://myapp.com/activate/abc123"
});
await emailService.SendEmailAsync("john@example.com", result.Subject, result.HtmlBody);

Notification System

// Register with multi-channel support
services.AddCheapNotifications(options =>
{
    options.EnabledChannels = NotificationChannelFlags.InApp | NotificationChannelFlags.Email;
    options.RealTimeProvider = "SignalR"; // Default. Use "RabbitMQ" for multi-server
});

// Blazor real-time (SignalR)
services.AddCheapNotificationsBlazor();
app.MapCheapNotificationsHub();

// Optional: RabbitMQ for cross-server delivery (SignalR stays client-facing)
services.AddCheapNotificationsRabbitMQConsumer("amqp://localhost");

API Key System

services.AddCheapApiKeys(options =>
{
    options.KeyPrefix = "myapp_";
    options.DefaultRateLimitPerMinute = 100;
});

// Generate — full key only returned once
var result = await apiKeyService.GenerateAsync(
    userId, "Production API",
    scopes: ["read", "write"],
    prefixOverride: "VTQ_",        // Per-call prefix override
    expiresAt: DateTime.UtcNow.AddYears(1));
// result.FullKey = "VTQ_a7f3bc91..." (store immediately!)

// Validate
var validation = await apiKeyService.ValidateAsync(rawKey);
if (validation.IsValid)
    Debug.WriteLine($"User: {validation.UserId}, Scopes: {string.Join(",", validation.Scopes)}");

Billing Service (Metered Usage)

services.AddCheapBilling(options =>
{
    options.DefaultTaxRate = 21.00m; // Belgian VAT
    options.InvoiceNumberPrefix = "INV";
});

// Record API usage (fire-and-forget safe)
await usageMeter.RecordUsageAsync(apiKeyId, "/api/data", "GET", 200, durationMs: 42);

// Generate invoice for a billing period
var invoice = await billingService.GenerateInvoiceAsync(
    apiKeyId, billingPlanId,
    new DateTime(2026, 3, 1), new DateTime(2026, 3, 31));

PEPPOL BIS 3.0 Invoicing

using CheapHelpers.Services.DataExchange.Ubl;

// Simple API — fluent builder, no UBL knowledge needed
var invoice = InvoiceBuilder.Create("INV-2026-000001")
    .From("My Company", vatNumber: "BE0123456789")
    .To("Acme Corp", vatNumber: "BE9876543210")
    .DueIn(days: 30)
    .AddLine("API calls - March 2026", quantity: 50000, unitPrice: 0.001m, vatPercent: 21)
    .AddLine("Premium support", quantity: 1, unitPrice: 150.00m, vatPercent: 21)
    .WithPayment(iban: "BE68539007547034", bic: "BBRUBEBB")
    .Build();
// Tax totals, line totals, and monetary totals are calculated automatically

var invoiceService = new UblInvoiceService();
var xml = await invoiceService.CreateInvoiceXmlAsync(invoice);

// Credit notes work the same way
var creditNote = CreditNoteBuilder.Create("CN-2026-000001")
    .CreditsInvoice("INV-2026-000001")
    .WithReason("Overcharged API calls")
    .From("My Company", vatNumber: "BE0123456789")
    .To("Acme Corp", vatNumber: "BE9876543210")
    .AddLine("API call correction", quantity: 10000, unitPrice: 0.001m, vatPercent: 21)
    .Build();

// Advanced: use UblInvoice DTOs directly for full PEPPOL control
var advancedInvoice = new UblInvoice { /* full UBL model access */ };

Reporting Service

services.AddCheapReporting(options =>
{
    options.StorageProvider = StorageProviderType.AzureBlob;
    options.AzureBlobConnectionString = "...";
    options.DefaultRetentionDays = 90;
});

// Generate PDF report
var result = await reportService.GenerateReportAsync(new ReportRequest
{
    Name = "Monthly Sales",
    Format = ReportFormat.Pdf,
    Data = salesRecords,
    Template = myPdfTemplate,
    DistributeToEmails = ["manager@company.com"], // Auto-email after generation
    RetentionDays = 30
});

// Download later
var (content, fileName, mimeType) = await reportService.DownloadReportAsync(result.ReportId);

Authentication (Multiple Providers)

// Plex SSO
services.AddPlexAuth(options => { options.AdminToken = "..."; });
app.MapPlexAuthEndpoints(); // /auth/plex-start, /auth/plex-callback, /auth/logout

// Google + Microsoft OAuth
services.AddGoogleAuth(options => { options.ClientId = "..."; options.ClientSecret = "..."; });
services.AddMicrosoftAuth(options => { options.ClientId = "..."; options.ClientSecret = "..."; });

// GitHub + Apple OAuth
services.AddGitHubAuth(options => { options.ClientId = "..."; });
services.AddAppleAuth(options => { options.TeamId = "..."; options.KeyId = "..."; });

// Optional: auto-provision CheapUser from external auth
services.AddExternalUserProvisioning();

Blazor Account Module

// Register services
services.AddCheapHelpersBlazor(options =>
{
    options.UseEmailService();
    options.AccountRouteOptions = new AccountRouteOptions
    {
        LoginRoute = "/auth/login",
    };
});

// Consumer creates their own controller (one line):
[Route("Account/[action]")]
public class AccountController : CheapAccountController;

// Built-in pages: Login, Register, ForgotPassword, ResetPassword,
// ConfirmEmail, ConfirmEmailChange, SetPassword, ChangePassword,
// Authenticator (2FA), RecoveryCodes, PersonalData (GDPR), Lockout
// Account dashboard with extensible custom tabs

Entity Framework

// Generic context with Identity
services.AddCheapContext(options => options.UseSqlServer(connectionString))
    .AddIdentity();

// Generic repository with pagination
public class ProductRepo(IDbContextFactory> factory)
    : UserRepo(factory) where TUser : CheapUser { }

var users = await userRepo.GetAllUsersPaginatedAsync(pageIndex: 1, pageSize: 20);
var stats = await userRepo.GetUserStatisticsAsync();

Scheduling

using CheapHelpers.Scheduling;

scheduledTaskService.RegisterDailyTask("cleanup", new TimeOnly(2, 0), async ct =>
{
    await notificationService.DeleteExpiredAsync(ct);
});

scheduledTaskService.RegisterMonthlyTask("billing", 1, new TimeOnly(3, 0), async ct =>
{
    await billingService.RunBillingCycleAsync(ct);
});

Network Scanning

services.AddNetworkScanning()
    .AddAllDetectors()  // UPnP, mDNS, HTTP, SSH
    .AddJsonStorage();

var scanner = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService();
scanner.DeviceDiscovered += (device) =>
    Debug.WriteLine($"Found: {device.Name} ({device.IPv4Address})");
scanner.Start();

Project Structure

CheapHelpers/                      Core utilities, extensions, scheduling, threading
CheapHelpers.Models/               Entities, DTOs, enums, UBL invoice models
CheapHelpers.EF/                   Entity Framework, CheapContext, repositories
CheapHelpers.Services/
  ├── ApiKeys/                     API key generation, validation, rate limiting
  ├── Auth/                        IExternalAuthProvider, Plex SSO service
  ├── Billing/                     Usage metering, invoice generation, billing cycles
  ├── DataExchange/
  │   ├── Csv/                     CSV import/export
  │   ├── Excel/                   Excel generation (ClosedXML)
  │   ├── Json/                    JSON file service
  │   ├── Pdf/                     PDF generation (iText) + optimization (iLovePDF)
  │   ├── Ubl/                     UBL Order/Invoice/CreditNote (UblSharp, PEPPOL BIS 3.0)
  │   └── Xml/                     XML serialization
  ├── Email/                       MailKit, Microsoft Graph, SendGrid + Fluid templates
  ├── Geocoding/                   Mapbox, Azure Maps, Google Maps, PTV Maps
  ├── Notifications/               Multi-channel (InApp, Email, SMS, Push) + RabbitMQ
  ├── Polling/                     HTTP polling with exponential backoff
  ├── Reporting/                   Report generation, storage, distribution, scheduling
  └── Storage/                     Azure Blob Storage
CheapHelpers.Blazor/
  ├── Components/                  NotificationBell, CultureSelector
  ├── Extensions/                  DI, Plex/OAuth/notification endpoint mapping
  ├── Helpers/                     AuthenticatorHelper, AccountTabDefinition
  ├── Hybrid/                      WebView bridge, push notifications, app bar
  ├── Middleware/                   API key middleware
  ├── Pages/Account/               Full account module (login, register, 2FA, GDPR)
  ├── Services/                    UserService, ExternalUserProvisioner, RabbitMQ consumer
  └── Shared/                      LoginDisplay, UploadFile, ImagePanel, Selectors
CheapHelpers.Networking/           Network scanner, mDNS discovery, device detectors
CheapHelpers.MediaProcessing/      FFmpeg integration, hardware detection (Win/Linux)
CheapHelpers.MAUI/                 iOS APNS, Android FCM, status bar helpers
CheapHelpers.Avalonia.Bridge/      Desktop notification adapter

Key Dependencies

Requirements

• .NET 11.0 or later
• C# 15

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

git clone https://github.com/CheapNud/CheapHelpers.git
cd CheapHelpers
dotnet restore
dotnet build

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.txt file for details.