IProxySettings

Namespace: RA.Utilities.Integrations.Abstractions

The IProxySettings interface defines a standardized contract for configuration classes that need to provide settings for an HTTP proxy server. Its primary purpose is to decouple the HTTP client configuration logic from any specific implementation of settings, allowing for flexible and reusable proxy configuration.

This serves a few key goals:

1. Standardization: It ensures that any integration requiring a proxy has a consistent way of exposing its configuration (Address, Credentials, etc.). This creates a predictable structure for developers.

2. Abstraction: It allows the HttpClient setup logic, specifically the WithProxyFromSettings extension method, to operate on the IProxySettings contract rather than a concrete class. This means you can have different settings classes for different integrations, and as long as they can provide an object that implements IProxySettings, the proxy configuration will work seamlessly.

3. Configuration Binding: It provides a clear target for binding proxy-related settings from a configuration source like appsettings.json. A concrete class like ProxySettings implements this interface and can be nested within a larger integration-specific settings object.

⚙️ How It Works in Your Project

The IProxySettings interface is a key part of a chain of components that work together to configure the HttpClient pipeline:

1. The Contract (IProxySettings.cs):

Defines the essential properties for a proxy: Address, Username, Password, and BypassProxyOnLocal.

public interface IProxySettings
{
    string? Address { get; set; }
    string? Username { get; set; }
    string? Password { get; set; }
    bool BypassProxyOnLocal { get; set; }
}

2. The Factory (ProxyMessageHandler.cs):

The ProxyMessageHandler.Create static method takes an IProxySettings object and is responsible for creating and configuring an HttpClientHandler. It translates the properties from the interface into a concrete WebProxy instance, which is then assigned to the handler.

The Extension Method (DependencyInjectionExtensions.cs): The WithProxyFromSettings extension method connects the DI container to the ProxyMessageHandler. It configures the HttpClient's primary message handler by:

3. Resolving the main integration settings (TSettings).

Using a selector function to extract the IProxySettings from TSettings. Calling ProxyMessageHandler.Create() to build the final, proxy-aware HttpClientHandler.

This design is powerful because the proxy configuration is applied to the innermost handler in the HttpClientHandler pipeline, which is a requirement for setting a proxy.

Properties

This interface provides a standardized way to define proxy server configurations for HttpClientHandler instances.

Property	Type	Description
Address	string?	The URI of the proxy server. Must be a valid URL format (e.g., "http://proxy.example.com:8888").
Username	string?	`string? The username used for proxy authentication, if required.
Password	string?	`string? The password used for proxy authentication, if required.
BypassProxyOnLocal	string?	bool A flag indicating whether the proxy should be bypassed for local (intranet) addresses.

🧠 Summary

In short, IProxySettings is an abstraction that standardizes how proxy configurations are defined. It enables a clean, reusable, and type-safe mechanism for applying proxy settings to any HttpClient registered through your RA.Utilities.Integrations framework, promoting loose coupling and clear separation of concerns.