NewLife.Cube - Web rapid development and admin framework

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NewLife.Cube is a rapid web development platform for "data-driven + fast iteration + deep customization" scenarios. In minutes, an entity class or database table becomes a complete admin UI with permissions, lists, details, CRUD, export and statistics, while standard APIs are exposed for Vue / Blazor / Antd / mobile or third-party systems. The default template has been proven in real projects with a single table of 10 billion rows.

Demo: https://cube.newlifex.com CentOS7 + CDN · SSO center: https://sso.newlifex.com OAuth server · Swagger: https://cube3.newlifex.com

Cube tutorial: https://newlifex.com/cube · XCode tutorial: https://newlifex.com/xcode · Core library tutorial: https://newlifex.com/core

Contents: Quick Start · Main Features · Ecosystem Map · Documentation · Contributing · Team · License

Quick Start

Install

Install NewLife.Cube.Core from NuGet. MIT licensed; you may replace the "NewLife" string for private builds. Works with Visual Studio and the CLI. newlife.snk is public for strong-name consistency.

dotnet add package NewLife.Cube

Template scaffolding

dotnet new install NewLife.Templates
dotnet new cube --name CubeWeb
dotnet new xcode --name Zero.Data
cd CubeWeb
dotnet build
start http://localhost:6080
dotnet run

Minimal example (.NET 8/9 Minimal Hosting)

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddCube(); // registers permissions, menus, entity controller scanning
var app = builder.Build();
app.UseMetronic(app.Environment); // or UseAdminLTE / UseTabler ...
app.UseCube(app.Environment);      // routing, static assets and middleware
app.Run();

Open / to sign in, use Swagger for APIs, and call the standard CRUD APIs from any front-end.

Platform support

Item	Coverage
Target frameworks	5 in one package: net6.0, net7.0, net8.0, net9.0, net10.0
OS and architecture	Windows, Linux, macOS; x64, x86, arm64, arm, loongarch64, riscv64, s390x
Databases	MySql / SQLite / SqlServer / Oracle / PostgreSql / SqlCe / Access / DM
NativeAOT	18 smoke scenarios for the non-MVC foundation (JIT/AOT); see the badge above for the current count

ASP.NET Core installation

• Create an ASP.NET Core Web project in Visual Studio.
• Reference NewLife.Cube.Core from NuGet, or build the latest Cube NewLife.CubeNC source.
• Set a connection string named Membership in appsettings.json; users, roles, permissions and menus are stored there.
• The database type is detected automatically; the default is Data Source=../Data/Membership.db.
• Build the project, right-click -> View -> View in Browser to run Cube.
• MySQL/SQLite/Oracle/SqlCe drivers are downloaded automatically (x86/x64); change PluginServer in Config/Core.config if needed.
• Scripts and styles are downloaded automatically; change PluginServer in Config/Cube.config if needed.
• The default login is admin/admin; third-party OAuth such as NewLife also works. The first user becomes administrator and admin is disabled.
• When publishing, copy *.dll, appsettings.json, *.deps.json, *.runtimeconfig.json and your own assets.

ASP.NET MVC installation

• Create an ASP.NET MVC project in Visual Studio.
• Reference NewLife.Cube from NuGet, or build the latest Cube NewLife.Cube source.
• Set a connection string named Membership in the <connectionStrings> section of Web.config.
• The database type is detected automatically; the default is <add name="Membership" connectionString="Data Source=../Data/Membership.db" providerName="Sqlite"/>.
• Build the project, right-click -> View -> View in Browser to run Cube.
• MySQL/SQLite/Oracle/SqlCe drivers are downloaded automatically (x86/x64); change PluginServer in Config/Core.config if needed.
• Scripts and styles are downloaded automatically; change PluginServer in Config/Cube.config if needed.
• The default login is admin/admin; third-party OAuth such as NewLife also works. The first user becomes administrator and admin is disabled.
• Installing the Razor Generator Visual Studio extension and setting it as the custom tool for .cshtml files compiles views into the DLL.
• Publish and copy the DLLs, configuration and assets.

Main Features

Data-to-UI productivity (9)

Feature	Key Characteristics
EntityController scaffolding	Entity class + controller gives CRUD, statistics, export and permissions immediately; ReadOnlyEntityController covers read-only lists.
Static-constructor configuration	Configure fields, action buttons, related links, statistics and export in a controller static constructor.
Field metadata API	GetFields?kind=1..4 (List / Detail / AddForm / EditForm) drives dynamic front-end generation — no hard coding.
Menu tree	/Cube/MenuTree builds multi-level menus from permissions; /Admin/Index/GetMenuTree serves the classic MVC UI.
Standard API response	ApiResponse wraps code / data / page / stat for every endpoint.
Zero deployment	Schema creation and seed data happen automatically on first run, with no manual intervention.
Powerful view engine	A child project can override any parent view at the same path (.cshtml).
Built-in editors	Rich text (Quill) and Markdown (EasyMDE) with image upload and security controls.
Scalar API docs	Scalar UI grouped by area alongside Swagger, for easier online debugging.

Field and UI customization (3)

Feature	Key Characteristics
Field set customization	ListFields.RemoveField / AddListField adjust columns, links and targets per controller.
Change log	LogOnChange = true writes an audit entry for every modification.
Dynamic front-end fields	The front-end fetches /Cube/App/GetFields?kind=1 for list field definitions — no hard coding.

public class AppController : EntityController<App, AppModel>
{
    static AppController()
    {
        LogOnChange = true;                 // change log
        ListFields.RemoveField("Secret");   // hide a sensitive column
        var log = ListFields.AddListField("Log", "UpdateUserId");
        log.DisplayName = "Change log";
        log.Url = "/Admin/Log?category=App&linkId={ID}";
        log.Target = "_blank";
    }
}

API and front-end separation (6)

Endpoint	Purpose
/Auth/Login	Sign in and receive a JWT token (header / cookie / query).
/Cube/MenuTree	Permission-aware menu tree.
/{Area}/{Controller}/GetFields?kind=1..4	Field metadata for list / detail / add form / edit form.
Main route + dynamic parameters	Query with paging, sorting and condition composition.
Detail / Insert / Update / Delete	Standard CRUD actions.
stat / page	Statistics row and paging information.

Permissions and security (7)

Feature	Key Characteristics
Generic permission management	Users, roles, menus and actions with controller-action granularity.
EntityAuthorize	Login + role + menu action checks on every action.
First user becomes administrator	The built-in admin account is disabled afterwards; admin/admin works for the first sign-in.
Unified identity	External OAuth / SSO / JWT across desktops, web and mobile clients.
Security defense	Built-in threat detection (scanners / injection / honeypots), persistent auto-ban with escalating durations and a security audit trail. Automatic mode bans repeated attackers, temporarily blocks broad attacks and recovers automatically; trusted proxies can be configured or learned to prevent spoofing; observation / blocking modes are switchable.
Production advice	Disable unused third-party logins, enable HTTPS and enforce a strong password policy.
Multi-tenancy switch	Enable or disable multi-tenancy with one switch; tenant menus and fields are hidden when off, and runtime tenant switching is supported.

AI capabilities (4)

Feature	Key Characteristics
AI assistant	A single chat panel in the lower-right corner with page / entity / query context. The global AiController.AiChat endpoint (/Ai/AiChat) plus NAI AiChatService orchestrate session history, the tool loop and SSE streaming events.
Extension point	Entity controllers expose data queries, tool sets and prompt overrides through IEntityAiContext (SearchData / CreateCubeTools / BuildChatSystemPrompt). Tools include get_data_context, get_form_schema, fill_form, get_page_context, get_system_info and run_js.
AI insight	Merged into the assistant; AiInsightHelper remains for data collection (14 sensitive-field blacklists). One-click analysis offers statistics, anomaly detection, trend prediction and actionable advice with deep reasoning, on both MVC and Vue.
Dashboard widgets	Dashboards are composed of configurable widgets (KPI, charts, monitoring) with personalized layouts and /Cube/Widget management.

Front-ends, themes and skins (7)

Feature	Key Characteristics
Multiple front-ends	Vue / Blazor / AntDesign / classic Razor coexist and migrate gradually.
Embedded theme assets	CubeEmbeddedFileProvider ships theme assets inside the package.
Theme registration	Register skins via AddTheme/AddSkin and pick one in UseCube (app.UseMetronic(env) etc.).
Custom themes	Implement IModule like MetronicModule and mount it in the use phase.
View overrides	A .cshtml with the same path in a child project overrides the parent.
Localization	11 runtime languages for API messages, request-level culture detection and an 11-language Vue front-end.
New-generation skins	pnpm workspace with shared packages @newlifex/api-core (API / token / types) and @newlifex/field-mapping (field metadata -> controls); reference the NuGet package to get the complete front-end.

NuGet package	Framework	UI library	Dev port
NewLife.Cube.NaiveUI	Vue 3	Naive UI	5180
NewLife.Cube.MUI	React 19	MUI 6 (Material)	5181
NewLife.Cube.Shadcn	React 19	Radix UI + Tailwind CSS 4	5182
NewLife.Cube.ArcoVue	Vue 3	Arco Design Vue	5183
NewLife.Cube.Angular	Angular 19	NG-ZORRO	5184
NewLife.Cube.Vuetify	Vue 3	Vuetify 3	5185
NewLife.Cube.Svelte	SvelteKit 2 + Svelte 5	Tailwind CSS 4	5186
NewLife.Cube.TDesign	Vue 3	TDesign	5187

// Pick one
app.UseNaiveUI(app.Environment);
app.UseMUI(app.Environment);
app.UseShadcn(app.Environment);
app.UseArcoVue(app.Environment);
app.UseAngular(app.Environment);
app.UseVuetify(app.Environment);
app.UseSvelte(app.Environment);
app.UseTDesign(app.Environment);

Front-end workspace conventions:

• Root pnpm build: builds only the shared modules under packages/; it no longer recurses into every skin.
• Build one skin: pnpm build:vue, pnpm build:react, pnpm build:naive, pnpm build:mui, pnpm build:shadcn, pnpm build:arco, pnpm build:angular, pnpm build:vuetify, pnpm build:svelte, pnpm build:tdesign.
• Develop one skin: the matching pnpm dev:xxx.
• Build or start everything: pnpm build:all / pnpm dev:all.
• Inside a skin's web/ directory, use its own pnpm build / pnpm dev.

Data and big data (5)

Feature	Key Characteristics
XCode data layer	Schema synchronization, field evolution, automatic sharding, read/write splitting and second-level cache.
Multiple databases	MySql / SQLite / SqlServer / Oracle / PostgreSql / SqlCe / Access / DM.
Database separation	Three-database example: Membership (permissions) / Cube (business) / Log (logs).
PluginServer	Downloads database drivers and front-end assets automatically on first run; configurable.
Proven scale	Real projects with a single table of 10 billion rows.

Performance and NativeAOT (4)

Feature	Key Characteristics
Unified timing	Filters record elapsed time uniformly and integrate with Stardust APM.
Cheap logging	Log level checks avoid unnecessary string concatenation.
Modern frameworks	Multiple TFMs allow Span / ValueTask optimizations on newer frameworks.
NativeAOT	18 smoke scenarios for the non-MVC foundation, run as JIT/AOT pairs in CI.

Deployment and operations (5)

Scenario	How
Single machine	dotnet publish, then copy the DLLs and configuration.
Service	Use NewLife.Agent for Windows Service or systemd.
Cluster	Publish, zip, start under the StarAgent daemon or deploy via Stardust.
Container	A simple Dockerfile (copy the publish folder, set environment variables).
Scale-out	Stateless instances sharing the database and cache.

Deploying the user center

1. Clone the source, build CubeSSO, go to Bin/SSO, adjust appsettings.json, package the exe/dll/appsettings/runtimeconfig files and deploy.

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*",
  "Urls": "http://*:8080;https://*:8081",
  //"StarServer": "http://star.newlifex.com:6600",
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "Membership": "Data Source=../Data/Membership.db;provider=sqlite",
    "Cube": "Data Source=../Data/Cube.db;provider=sqlite",
    "Log": "Data Source=../Data/Log.db;provider=sqlite"
  }
}

2. Start and open the SSO site. The first login can use admin/admin or a third-party login; the first user becomes administrator and admin is disabled.
3. For a production user center, disable third-party login: Cube settings -> OAuth -> disable all.
4. Rename the system in Cube settings -> System -> Display name.

Cube generation 3 (5)

Item	Description
Focus	Front-end/back-end separation + multi-front-end ecosystem + minimal intrusion.
Backend	WebApi APIs live in master (NewLife.Cube); MVC stays in NewLife.CubeNC.
Front-ends	Independent repositories (Vue / QuickVue / Antd / Blazor).
Blueprint	Modern UI while keeping the override mechanism; multi-framework front-ends (Vue/React/Angular/Svelte + 8 ready-to-use skins); NuGet package brings the default skin; mobile, mini-programs and hybrid apps; enhanced data dashboards.
Tasks	https://github.com/orgs/NewLifeX/projects/1

Front-end repositories:
https://github.com/NewLifeX/NewLife.CubeVue · https://github.com/NewLifeX/NewLife.QuickVue · https://github.com/NewLifeX/NewLife.CubeAntd · https://github.com/NewLifeX/NewLife.CubeBlazor

Live sites: Vue https://vue.newlifex.com, https://quickvue.newlifex.com · Antd https://antd.newlifex.com · Swagger https://cube3.newlifex.com/swagger/index.html

Participation notes:

1. Join the NewLifeX team and submit to the dev branch.
2. WebApi backend: NewLife.Cube; MVC stays in NewLife.CubeNC.
3. New front-ends live in independent repositories (e.g. NewLife.CubeAntd).
4. Mark owners in docs and code.
5. Tasks: https://github.com/orgs/NewLifeX/projects/1.

Milestones (excerpt):

• New WebApi project NewLife.Cube
• Move NetCore-specific code to NewLife.CubeNC
• New EntityController / EntityReadOnlyController
• API docs and Vue login page
• Vue user/role list and forms

Architecture and projects (9)

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|         Front-end (Vue / Blazor / Antd / classic Razor)      |
+----------------------+------------------+-------------------+
|  Skin views (Razor)  |  API Controllers | Swagger by area   |
+----------------------+------------------+-------------------+
|  EntityController / ReadOnlyEntityController core            |
+------------------+---------------------+--------------------+
| Permissions (EntityAuthorize) | Filters (ApiFilter) | ApiResponse |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|            Entities & business logic (XCode ORM + extensions)|
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Data access: MySql/SqlServer/SQLite/Oracle/PostgreSQL/DM ... |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| NewLife.Core (logging/config/cache/serialization/tracing)     |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

Project	Role
NewLife.Cube	Core: entity controllers, permissions, menus, field metadata, API.
NewLife.CubeNC	Legacy MVC / Razor compatibility layer.
Classic skins	AdminLTE / Metronic / Metronic8 / Tabler / LayuiAdmin / ElementUI / Blazor (separate packages).
New-generation skins	pnpm workspace: NaiveUI / MUI / Shadcn / ArcoVue / Angular / Vuetify / Svelte / TDesign.
NewLife.Cube.Swagger	Swagger documents grouped by area.
CubeDemo / CubeDemoNC	Samples.
CubeSSO	Unified user center and OAuth server.
NewLife.Cube.Blazor	Blazor front-end experiment.
Test / XUnitTest / E2EMvcTest / AotSmoke / WebSmoke	Tests and verification (WebSmoke starts Kestrel and does one HTTP round-trip on non-x64/arm64 instruction sets).

Core concepts (7)

Concept	Description
EntityController	Configure fields, action buttons, related links, statistics and export in a static constructor.
Field metadata API	GetFields?kind=List|Detail|AddForm|EditForm drives dynamic front-end generation.
Menu tree	/Admin/Index/GetMenuTree builds multi-level menus from permissions.
Permission model	User -> role -> menu (action set). The first registered user becomes administrator and admin is disabled.
ApiResponse	Standard response wrapper with code / data / page / stat.
IModule	Startup module that injects services and static assets (themes, Swagger, etc.).
AI assistant	Global AiController.AiChat endpoint (/Ai/AiChat) plus NAI AiChatService orchestration (session history, tool loop, SSE events); entity controllers expose capabilities through IEntityAiContext. AiInsightHelper remains for data collection (14 sensitive-field blacklists).

Common scenarios (5)

Scenario	Typical use
Enterprise / department admin	Internal management backends and SaaS control panels.
IoT operations	Device / point / log / alert management and data export.
Data platform	Rapid publication of standard query APIs.
Identity center	Unified identity and authorization (SSO / OAuth).
Operations support	Orders, configuration, scheduling and release management.

Ecosystem Map

NewLife is a layered ecosystem of independently versioned open-source projects. The map below is shared verbatim by every NewLife repository; each project links to its repository and its primary NuGet package.

Project	What it does	Downloads
Foundation
NewLife.Core	Logging, configuration, caching, networking, serialization, scheduling and APM tracing.
NewLife.XCode	Data middleware: single tables at the tens-of-billions scale, automatic sharding, read-write splitting, 10+ databases.
NewLife.Net	High-performance network library: 1.77M pps / 14.5 Gbps on a single machine (TCP 1KB, 2026-10), 4M long-lived TCP connections.
NewLife.Remoting	Protocol communication and RPC framework for client/server applications and IoT devices.
NewLife.Agent	Installs .NET applications as OS daemons: Windows services and Linux systemd.
NewLife.Templates	dotnet new project templates for console, web, API, service, data and IoT projects.
Data & Messaging
NewLife.Redis	Redis client with microsecond latency, millions of ops/s and built-in message queues.
NewLife.RocketMQ	Pure managed RocketMQ client for Apache RocketMQ and Alibaba Cloud Message Queue.
NewLife.MQTT	MQTT client and server, including Alibaba Cloud IoT connectivity.
NewLife.NovaDb	Hybrid database in C#: embedded or networked, relational, time-series, message queue and KV in one.
NewLife.MySql	MySql driver and helper layer built on the NewLife data stack.
Web, AI & Distributed
NewLife.Cube	Rapid admin-platform framework: permissions, SSO, OAuth server and CRUD scaffolding.
Stardust	Distributed service platform: node management, APM, configuration center, registry and release center.
AntJob	Distributed task and real-time data scheduling platform with sharding, retries and backfill.
NewLife.AI	Unified client for 46 LLM providers plus ChatAI, a ready-to-run web chat application.
Industrial & IoT
NewLife.IoT	IoT standard library defining protocol contracts and device abstractions.
NewLife.Modbus	Modbus TCP/RTU/ASCII implementation on top of NewLife.IoT.
NewLife.Siemens	Siemens PLC protocol on top of NewLife.IoT.
NewLife.Omron	Omron PLC protocol on top of NewLife.IoT.
NewLife.Melsec	Mitsubishi Melsec PLC protocol on top of NewLife.IoT.
NewLife.OPC	OPC client for industrial data access.	—
NewLife.BACnet	BACnet building-automation protocol stack.
ZeroIoT	Lightweight open-source IoT platform with gateway and device management.	—
Vehicle Telematics
NewLife.JT808	JT/T 808 vehicle positioning protocol: 70+ message bodies, 2011/2013/2019.
NewLife.JT809	JT/T 809 platform-to-platform protocol for transport authorities.
NewLife.JT1078	JT/T 1078 in-vehicle video: RTP parsing, FLV/fMP4 remuxing and live streaming.
Domain Components
NewLife.Office	One package for Excel, Word, PPT, PDF and 15+ document formats.
NewLife.Audio	Cross-platform audio: codecs, device I/O, DSP, containers and streaming.
NewLife.Video	Video codecs, container formats, frame processing and streaming.
NewLife.Map	Unified interface over Baidu, AMap, Tencent and Tianditu with geocoding and coordinate conversion.
NewLife.IP	IPv4 geolocation with an offline memory-mapped database and an online API fallback.
Tools & Products
CrazyCoder	Developer toolbox: network, serial port, crypto, regex, Modbus and MQTT.
GitCandy	Self-hosted Git source code management system.	—
LuckyClover	Installs the matching .NET runtime automatically when launched from an older host.	—

Badges show the primary package of each project; theme, extension and satellite packages are listed on their NuGet pages.The 30+ packages not listed here (FTP, LoRa, Office extensions, protocol drivers and more) are available under the NewLifeX organization and on newlifex.com. This table is maintained in the NewLife.Core README.

Documentation

Guides

Detailed requirements, feature tracking and architecture live in Doc/ (written in Chinese):

• 📋 Requirements — vision, goals, functional requirements
• ✅ Feature list — implementation/test/comment tracking
• 🏗️ Architecture — layering, modules, key decisions
• 🤖 AI — AI capabilities, configuration and extension points
• 🔔 Alerts and inbox — online threshold alerts and broadcast messages
• ✉️ Email/phone verification — activation contract and UI integration
• 🛡️ Security — threat detection, auto-ban and security audit
• 📚 User manual — full user and developer guide

Tutorials

• Cube tutorial: https://newlifex.com/cube
• XCode tutorial: https://newlifex.com/xcode
• Core library tutorial: https://newlifex.com/core
• Online demo: https://cube.newlifex.com · SSO center: https://sso.newlifex.com · Swagger: https://cube3.newlifex.com

FAQ

Q: Hide a field?
A: In the controller static constructor: ListFields.RemoveField("Field").

Q: Custom statistics?
A: Override search logic and fill stat on the returned collection.

Q: Switch themes?
A: Reference a theme package and call app.UseXXX(env); the default is configurable in the admin UI.

Q: Where do database drivers come from?
A: Downloaded from PluginServer on first run; configurable.

Q: Integrate a custom front-end?
A: Use the field metadata API plus the standard CRUD/JWT endpoints.

Contributing

Build and test

Cube builds with the .NET SDK 10 (or the matching SDK for your target framework) and also opens in Visual Studio. The front-end skins use pnpm.

dotnet build NewLife.Cube/NewLife.Cube.csproj -c Release
dotnet test XUnitTest -c Release

• End-to-end MVC tests: E2EMvcTest/
• NativeAOT smoke: AotSmoke/, CI in .github/workflows/aot.yml
• Web smoke: WebSmoke/ starts Kestrel and performs one HTTP round-trip

Release

Push a v-prefixed tag to trigger .github/workflows/publish.yml; the workflow packs NewLife.Cube / NewLife.Cube.Core and publishes them to NuGet.org. Package README is generated from README.md by sync-readme-package.ps1, language switchers by sync-readme-languages.ps1 and metric badges by sync-readme-metrics.ps1; each script supports -Check for CI.

Feedback

• Conventions: see .github/copilot-instructions.md.
• Issues/PRs: describe the scenario, expectation and reproduction; include data scale for performance topics.
• New themes: separate repository + README describing the build.
• Prefer the NewLife ecosystem and avoid unnecessary dependencies.
• Make sure all TFMs compile before submitting.

Team

Founded in 2002, the NewLife team has spent more than two decades on the .NET and IoT ecosystem, maintains nearly 100 open-source projects (34 of them core to this map), and delivers integrated software and hardware solutions for power, logistics, healthcare, industrial control and internet industries. We live by the motto "learning has no seniority — mastery earns respect".

Open-source components have been downloaded 6.48M times from NuGet (ecosystem-wide, as of 2026-10).

Website: https://newlifex.com · Open source organization: https://github.com/NewLifeX

WeChat Official Account: 智能大石头 (scan to follow)

License

This project is licensed under MIT; the strong-name certificate newlife.snk is published so you can build and replace assemblies yourself, and the source may be modified and redistributed without attribution.

If this project is helpful to you, welcome to Star it, share it with your team, or provide improvement suggestions via Issue/PR.