Get started with the RavenDB integrations

⭐ Community Toolkit

RavenDB is a high-performance, open-source NoSQL document database designed for fast, efficient, and scalable data storage. It supports ACID transactions, distributed data replication, and time-series data management. The Aspire RavenDB integration lets you model a RavenDB server and its databases as first-class resources in your AppHost, then hand the connection information to any consuming app — regardless of language.

Why use RavenDB with Aspire

Adding RavenDB through Aspire — rather than wiring up containers and connection strings by hand — gives you:

• Zero-config local development. Aspire runs RavenDB from the docker.io/ravendb/ravendb container image.
• Consistent connection info across languages. Once you reference the database from a consuming app, Aspire injects connection properties as environment variables in a predictable format that works from C#, TypeScript, Python, Go, or any other language.
• Built-in health checks. The hosting integration automatically registers a health check so the dashboard and your orchestrator can tell when the server is ready.
• Dashboard observability. The database resource shows up in the Aspire dashboard with logs, status, and telemetry alongside your other services.
• A first-class C# client integration. C# apps can use the CommunityToolkit.Aspire.RavenDB.Client package for dependency injection, health checks, and OpenTelemetry, all wired up from the same resource name.

How the pieces fit together

The RavenDB integration has two sides: a hosting integration that you use in your AppHost to model the database resource, and a connection story for consuming apps that reference it.

architecture-beta

  group apphost(server)[AppHost]
  group consumer(server)[Consuming app]

  service hosting(server)[Hosting integration] in apphost
  service ravendb(database)[RavenDB server] in apphost
  service db(database)[ravendb] in apphost

  service client(iconoir:server-connection)[Client integration] in consumer
  service app(server)[App] in consumer

  hosting:R --> L:ravendb
  ravendb:R --> L:db
  db:R --> L:client
  client:R --> L:app

The hosting integration lives in your AppHost project and models the RavenDB server and databases as resources. The client integration lives in each consuming app and uses the connection information Aspire injects to talk to the database.

Getting there is a two-step process: model the RavenDB resources in your AppHost, then connect to the database from each app that needs it.

1. Model RavenDB in your AppHost

   Add the RavenDB hosting integration to your AppHost, then declare a RavenDB server, one or more databases, and reference them from the apps that need to talk to the database. The RavenDB Hosting integration article walks through every capability — adding databases, data volumes, data bind mounts, secured instances, and more.

   Set up RavenDB in the AppHost

2. Connect from your consuming app

   When you reference a RavenDB database from a consuming app, Aspire injects its connection information as environment variables. See Connect to RavenDB for the connection properties reference and per-language examples for C#, Go, Python, and TypeScript — including the full C# client integration.

   Connect to RavenDB

See also

• RavenDB
• RavenDB Dockerfile guide
• Aspire Community Toolkit GitHub repo