Add Authentication to an Existing ASP.NET Core Wishlist Application

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Core Tech

Add Authentication to an Existing ASP.NET Core Wishlist Application

In this code lab, you'll start with an ASP.NET Core Wishlist application that only supports one user with one Wishlist and has no security. You will add the ability to support multiple users with their own Wishlists secured with basic authentication.

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Sep 22, 2025

Duration

3h 10m

Challenge

Update ApplicationDbContext's Inheritance

Configure the project so that authentication will be available throughout the application. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module1-solution WishList/Data/ApplicationDbContext.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module1-solution WishList/Data/ApplicationDbContext.cs
Challenge

Create AccountController

Create a controller named AccountController that will handle actions related to authentication. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module2-solution WishList/Controllers/AccountController.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module2-solution WishList/Controllers/AccountController.cs
Challenge

Create RegisterViewModel Class

Create Views, View Models, and add action methods to the AccountController to add the ability to register an account. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module3-solution WishList/Models/AccountViewModels/RegisterViewModel.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module3-solution WishList/Models/AccountViewModels/RegisterViewModel.cs
Challenge

Create LoginViewModel

Fully implement the ability to login and logout of an already registered user account. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module3-solution WishList/Models/AccountViewModels/LoginViewModel.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module3-solution WishList/Models/AccountViewModels/LoginViewModel.cs
Challenge

Add Using Directives to Index View

Update views to provide links to Login, Logout, and Register actions depending on if the user is logged in or not. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module5-solution WishList/Views/Home/Index.cshtml

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module5-solution WishList/Views/Home/Index.cshtml
Challenge

Add a Virtual ApplicationUser Property to Item

Create a relationship between the Item and ApplicationUser models so operations on data happen for a single user's data. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module6-solution WishList/Models/Item.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module6-solution WishList/Models/Item.cs
Challenge

Add Authorize Attribute to the ItemController Class

Update the ItemController and it's actions to use the logged in user information to allow individual users to have their own wishlists. ### Solution To view the solution, run git diff module1-solution <filepath>/<filename> in the Terminal, and press Enter to see the next lines of the difference. e.g. git diff module7-solution WishList/Controllers/ItemController.cs

You may also update your local file browse the files of the solution by change diff to checkout e.g. git checkout module7-solution WishList/Controllers/ItemController.cs

About the author

Eric Fisher

Eric is a software developer who is passionate about always learning and improving. When he's not writing code, you'll find him playing computer games, guitar, disc golf, or learning something new.

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