# Cooperative cancellation


Starting with version 8, NServiceBus supports [cooperative cancellation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/parallel-programming/task-cancellation). This enables NServiceBus to participate in graceful shutdown of its host by exposing a [cancellation token](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.threading.cancellationtoken) to abort potentially long-running operations both outside and inside the message processing pipeline.

## Outside the message processing pipeline

Methods used outside the message processing pipeline have an optional `CancellationToken` parameter. This includes methods for starting and stopping endpoints and methods used to send or publish messages from outside a message processing pipeline, such as a web application.

`CancellationToken` parameters should be forwarded to any method that accepts one. For example, within a web application controller:

<!-- snippet: cancellation-token-in-asp-controller -->

```cs
public class TestController
{
    private IMessageSession session;

    public TestController(IMessageSession session)
    {
        this.session = session;
    }

    [HttpPost]
    public async Task Post(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        // CA2016: Forward the 'CancellationToken' parameter to methods
        await session.Send(new MyMessage());

        // No diagnostic
        await session.Send(new MyMessage(), cancellationToken);
    }
}
```

<!-- endsnippet -->

Enabling [.NET source code analysis](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fundamentals/code-analysis/overview) (enabled by default in projects targeting .NET 5 or later) is also recommended so that [CA2016: Forward the CancellationToken parameter to methods that take one](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fundamentals/code-analysis/quality-rules/ca2016) can identify locations where a `CancellationToken` should be forwarded, and offers a code fix which updates the analyzed code to forward the token.

By default, violations of this rule are shown only as informational messages, but the [analyzer severity](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/code-quality/use-roslyn-analyzers#configure-severity-levels) can be upgraded to a warning using an [`.editorconfig` file](https://editorconfig.org/):

```ini
[*.cs]
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2016.severity = warning
```

## Inside the message processing pipeline

Inside a message handler or saga, a cancellation token from the incoming message processing pipeline is available on the `IMessageHandlerContext` as the `context.CancellationToken` property. The cancellation token was added to the context parameter to avoid making a breaking change to `IHandleMessages`, which would affect all message handlers and sagas.

Similarly, [pipeline behaviors](/nservicebus/pipeline/manipulate-with-behaviors.md) also contain a `CancellationToken` property on their respective `context` parameters.

Methods on `IMessageHandlerContext` such as `Send()` and `Publish()` do not accept a cancellation token. The token from the incoming message pipeline is implicitly routed to outgoing operations.

The `context.CancellationToken` should be forwarded to any other method that will accept it. An analyzer included with NServiceBus identifies locations where the token should be forwarded with a build warning. For example:

<!-- snippet: cancellation-token-in-message-handler -->

```cs
public class SampleHandler : IHandleMessages<MyMessage>
{
    public async Task Handle(MyMessage message, IMessageHandlerContext context)
    {
        // NSB0002: Forward the 'CancellationToken' property of the context parameter to methods
        await MyDatabase.Store(new MyEntity());

        // No diagnostic
        await MyDatabase.Store(new MyEntity(), context.CancellationToken);
    }
}
```

<!-- endsnippet -->

The analyzer also offers a code fix that will update the code to forward the token using the "light bulb" menu ( <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>.</kbd> ).

If cancellation is not a major concern for a project, the [analyzer severity](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/code-quality/use-roslyn-analyzers#configure-severity-levels) can be downgraded using an [.`editorconfig` file](https://editorconfig.org/):

```ini
[*.cs]
dotnet_diagnostic.NSB0002.severity = suggestion
```