How to Import CSV Files in a ASP.NET Core App

Importing CSV files is a common requirement for many business applications built with ASP.NET Core. Whether it’s user data, product catalogs, or financial records, letting users securely and easily upload CSV files can streamline workflows significantly.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through integrating CSV import functionality into your ASP.NET Core app using CSVBox — a powerful CSV importer tool that handles validation, user experience, and background processing out of the box.

Why This Framework Needs a CSV Import Solution

ASP.NET Core is a robust, modern framework for building web applications on the .NET platform. However, when it comes to importing CSV files:

Manual implementations often require repetitive parsing and validation logic.
Providing a polished upload UI is time-consuming.
Error handling and data mapping require extra effort.
Security (validating uploaded content) becomes a concern.

CSVBox solves these challenges by providing:

A prebuilt widget for file uploads with field mapping and validation.
Server-side webhook-based data delivery.
Configuration via dashboard or API.

Let’s now bring CSVBox into an ASP.NET Core application.

Step-by-Step Integration Guide

To integrate CSV file import into your ASP.NET Core app using CSVBox:

✅ 1. Create a CSVBox Account

Go to CSVBox.io and sign up.
Create a new upload widget from the dashboard.
Define:
- Fields you expect from the CSV (name, email, etc.)
- Validation rules
- Field types

Copy your widget key—you’ll need it to embed the widget.

✅ 2. Set Up Your ASP.NET Core Project

You can use an existing ASP.NET Core project or create one:

dotnet new webapp -n CsvImportApp
cd CsvImportApp

✅ 3. Add a Webhook Endpoint

CSVBox delivers parsed CSV data to your server using a webhook. Add an endpoint in your controller to receive this:

Create a new controller:

// Controllers/CsvImportController.cs

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class CsvImportController : ControllerBase
{
    [HttpPost("csvbox-webhook")]
    public IActionResult ReceiveCsvRecords([FromBody] JObject payload)
    {
        // Extract and process records from payload
        var records = payload["data"]?["records"];

        foreach (var record in records)
        {
            // Map to your data model and save to DB
            var name = record["name"]?.ToString();
            var email = record["email"]?.ToString();
            // Save logic here
        }

        return Ok();
    }
}

Don’t forget to update your Startup.cs or Program.cs (depending on .NET version) to enable JSON body parsing.

✅ 4. Add the CSVBox Widget to a Razor Page

Embed the CSVBox configuration in a Razor page:

<!-- Pages/Upload.cshtml -->
@page
@model UploadModel

@section Scripts {
    <script src="https://js.csvbox.io/widget.js"></script>
    <script>
        var csvbox = new CSVBoxWidget({
            widgetKey: "your_widget_key_here",
            user: {
                id: "user123",
                email: "user@example.com"
            },
            onUploadComplete: function(result) {
                console.log("Upload complete!", result);
            }
        });

        csvbox.mount("#csvbox-uploader");
    </script>
}

<h2>Upload Your CSV</h2>
<div id="csvbox-uploader"></div>

Note: Replace your_widget_key_here with your actual widget key.

Code Snippets and Explanations

Let's dive deeper into key parts of the integration:

Parsing Incoming Webhook Data

CSVBox sends JSON content with this structure:

{
  "event": "upload.completed",
  "data": {
    "records": [
      { "name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com" },
      { "name": "Bob", "email": "bob@example.com" }
    ],
    "upload_id": "abc123"
  }
}

Your controller action can deserialize this using Newtonsoft.Json:

using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

[HttpPost("csvbox-webhook")]
public IActionResult ReceiveCsvRecords([FromBody] JObject payload)
{
    var records = payload["data"]?["records"];
    foreach (var record in records)
    {
        var name = record["name"]?.ToString();
        var email = record["email"]?.ToString();
        // Your logic
    }

    return Ok();
}

Validating the Webhook

Optionally, you can validate the webhook by matching a shared secret:

var signatureHeader = Request.Headers["X-Csvbox-Signature"];
// Compare against your known secret key

Refer to the CSVBox docs: Webhook security

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Here are some common problems you may run into:

🔹 Nothing is received at webhook

✅ Confirm your endpoint URL is publicly accessible

✅ Add proper routing and attribute annotations

✅ Ensure method is [HttpPost] and matches the data signature

🔹 400 or 500 status seen in CSVBox dashboard

✅ Check your controller is returning HTTP 200 OK

✅ Inspect model binding or JSON parsing issues

🔹 JavaScript widget doesn't load

✅ Ensure you’ve included the csvbox.js script

✅ Check for browser console errors or CSP violations

Pro Tip: Use ngrok during development to expose your local webhook.

How CSVBox Handles the Heavy Lifting

When integrating CSV import into your ASP.NET Core app, here’s what CSVBox takes care of:

✅ Creating a responsive UI for CSV uploads
✅ Mapping CSV columns to fields
✅ Validating rows with rules (regex, required, unique)
✅ Parsing the file into structured JSON
✅ Sending data reliably to your webhook
✅ Handling CSV errors and user feedback

Compare that with rolling your own solution, and you’re saving hours—if not days—of effort.

CSVBox Feature List →

Conclusion and Next Steps

In this guide, you learned how to:

Import CSV files into an ASP.NET Core app using CSVBox
Receive uploaded data via webhooks
Embed the widget in Razor pages or any frontend visitor flow

Next steps:

👉 Add authentication to link uploads to specific users

👉 Store records into your database securely

👉 Customize your CSVBox widget with styles, mapping, and templates

👉 Monitor uploads via the CSVBox dashboard

Need more control? CSVBox also supports field-level webhooks, redirect on completion, and bulk validation — all covered in their official docs.

Happy importing!

📎 Canonical URL: https://help.csvbox.io/integrations/asp-net-core-guide

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