appsettingsEnvironmentNamejson

The term appsettingsEnvironmentNamejson refers to the pattern of using environment-specific configuration files in .NET applications, typically named appsettings.{EnvironmentName}.json. These files supplement the base appsettings.json to tailor configuration for a given runtime environment such as Development, Staging, or Production.

In the .NET configuration system, appsettings.json provides the default settings, while appsettings.{EnvironmentName}.json allows overrides or additions that apply only when the application runs in the corresponding environment. For example, appsettings.Development.json can contain settings suitable for developers, such as verbose logging or test endpoints. The configuration system merges values from these files in a defined order, with environment-specific values taking precedence over the base file.

The environment name is determined by the hosting environment, typically via the ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT or DOTNET_ENVIRONMENT environment variables. If no environment variable is set, the default is usually Production. The runtime loads appsettings.json first, then attempts to load appsettings.{EnvironmentName}.json if present, followed by other providers like environment variables and user secrets (the latter mainly in Development).

Using these files involves minimal code changes. In a typical ASP.NET Core app, CreateDefaultBuilder registers both appsettings.json and appsettings.{EnvironmentName}.json automatically. Developers access the resulting configuration through IConfiguration or the Options pattern, binding to classes or reading individual values with keys like "Section:Key".

Overall, appsettings.{EnvironmentName}.json enables environment-aware configuration management by providing a simple, convention-based mechanism to override settings per deployment context.