First collection

Define a document type

A document is an ordinary C# class or record. NetlyDB assigns each stored document a Guid identifier. Nested objects are stored with the document and can be queried and indexed by path.

public record Order
{
    public Guid Id { get; init; }
    public string Reference { get; init; } = "";
    public string CustomerName { get; init; } = "";
    public string Country { get; init; } = "";
    public string Status { get; init; } = "open";
    public decimal Total { get; init; }
    public int LineCount { get; init; }
    public Address? ShippingAddress { get; init; }
}

public record Address(string City, string Country);

Register a typed collection

AddNetlyDB registers the engine; AddNetlyDBCollection<T>() registers a typed collection as INetlyDBCollection<T> in dependency injection. Call it once per document type you want to inject. The collection name defaults to the type name, so Order maps to an Order collection.

var builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);   // or WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args)

builder.Services
    .AddNetlyDB(options => options.StorageRoot = "netlydb-data")
    .AddNetlyDBCollection<Order>();

using var host = builder.Build();
await host.StartAsync();

var orders = host.Services.GetRequiredService<INetlyDBCollection<Order>>();

Inject it where you need it

public sealed class OrderService(INetlyDBCollection<Order> orders)
{
    public Task<IReadOnlyList<Order>> OpenOrdersAsync(string country) =>
        orders.ListAsync(x => x.Country == country && x.Status == "open");
}

To use several collections of one type, or to open collections at runtime, see Documents & collections. Next: basic CRUD.