How to load navigation properties on an IdentityUser with UserManager

Question

I've extended IdentityUser to include a navigation property for the user's address, however when getting the user with UserManager.FindByEmailAsync, the navigation property isn't populated. Does ASP.NET Identity Core have some way to populate navigation properties like Entity Framework's Include(), or do I have to do it manually?

I've set up the navigation property like this:

public class MyUser : IdentityUser
{
    public int? AddressId { get; set; }

    [ForeignKey(nameof(AddressId))]
    public virtual Address Address { get; set; }
}

public class Address
{
    [Key]
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Street { get; set; }
    public string Town { get; set; }
    public string Country { get; set; }
}

AFAIK there is no built-in way and you need to do it "manually". At least I did not find one, when I had the same problem. Happy to be corrected if there actually is a way... — Christoph Fink, Feb 05 '18 at 13:23
As a side note: `[ForeignKey(nameof(AddressId))]` is not required due to Convention over Configuration. — Camilo Terevinto, Feb 05 '18 at 13:27
@CamiloTerevinto: It's not required, true. However, I always add the attribute just to be explicit. I don't like relying on convention "magic", and it also makes the code more obvious. — Chris Pratt, Feb 05 '18 at 14:30
Likewise, particularly for people who may not be familiar with EF Core and its conventions. — Mourndark, Feb 05 '18 at 16:57
Ack! Was banging my head against the wall for ages. Even in Core 3.1 this is still not working. The docs _seem_ to indicate this should work - see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/security/authentication/customize-identity-model?view=aspnetcore-3.0#add-all-navigation-properties - but it doesn't. — Jedidja, Jul 25 '20 at 14:17

Camilo Terevinto · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-05T13:44:03.063

Unfortunately, you have to either do it manually or create your own IUserStore<IdentityUser> where you load related data in the FindByEmailAsync method:

public class MyStore : IUserStore<IdentityUser>, // the rest of the interfaces
{
    // ... implement the dozens of methods
    public async Task<IdentityUser> FindByEmailAsync(string normalizedEmail, CancellationToken token)
    {
        return await context.Users
            .Include(x => x.Address)
            .SingleAsync(x => x.Email == normalizedEmail);
    }
}

Of course, implementing the entire store just for this isn't the best option.

You can also query the store directly, though:

UserManager<IdentityUser> userManager; // DI injected

var user = await userManager.Users
    .Include(x => x.Address)
    .SingleAsync(x => x.NormalizedEmail == email);

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 05 '18 at 14:27

The short answer: you can't. However, there's options:

Explicitly load the relation later:
```
await context.Entry(user).Reference(x => x.Address).LoadAsync();
```
This will require issuing an additional query of course, but you can continue to pull the user via UserManager.
Just use the context. You don't have to use UserManager. It just makes some things a little simpler. You can always fallback to querying directly via the context:
```
var user = context.Users.Include(x => x.Address).SingleOrDefaultAsync(x=> x.Id == User.Identity.GetUserId());
```

FWIW, you don't need virtual on your navigation property. That's for lazy-loading, which EF Core currently does not support. (Though, EF Core 2.1, currently in preview, will actually support lazy-loading.) Regardless, lazy-loading is a bad idea more often than not, so you should still stick to either eagerly or explicitly loading your relationships.

Thanks for the tip on lazy-loading. This project originated in EF6 so there are plenty of hangovers from there, in the codebase and in my head! — Mourndark, Feb 06 '18 at 09:25

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 07 '19 at 02:22

I found it useful to write an extension on the UserManager class.

public static async Task<MyUser> FindByUserAsync(
    this UserManager<MyUser> input,
    ClaimsPrincipal user )
{
    return await input.Users
        .Include(x => x.InverseNavigationTable)
        .SingleOrDefaultAsync(x => x.NormalizedUserName == user.Identity.Name.ToUpper());
}

How to load navigation properties on an IdentityUser with UserManager

3 Answers3

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