Identity Resolution

A hobby application for simple identity resolution using C# .NET 8.

Overview

This application provides a basic identity resolution system that can match and consolidate identity records from various sources. It's designed as a learning project to explore identity matching algorithms and patterns.

Features

• Identity Matching: Compare and match identity records based on various attributes
• Data Normalization: Clean and standardize input data for better matching
• Confidence Scoring: Assign confidence levels to matches
• RESTful API: HTTP API for identity operations
• In-Memory Storage: Quick setup with in-memory data store (can be extended to use SQL Server)

Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── IdentityResolution.Core/     # Core business logic and domain models
│   └── IdentityResolution.Api/      # Web API project
├── tests/
│   └── IdentityResolution.Tests/    # Unit and integration tests
├── docs/                            # Documentation
└── .devcontainer/                   # Development container configuration

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Docker (for devcontainer)
• VS Code with Remote-Containers extension

Running with DevContainer

1. Clone this repository
2. Open in VS Code
3. When prompted, choose "Reopen in Container"
4. Wait for the container to build and initialize
5. Run the application:

   dotnet run --project src/IdentityResolution.Api

Running Locally

If you have .NET 8 SDK installed locally:

# Restore packages
dotnet restore

# Build the solution
dotnet build

# Run tests
dotnet test

# Run the API
dotnet run --project src/IdentityResolution.Api

API Endpoints

Once running, the API will be available at:

• HTTP: http://localhost:5000
• HTTPS: https://localhost:5001
• Swagger UI: http://localhost:5000/swagger

Key Endpoints

• POST /api/identities - Add a new identity
• GET /api/identities/{id} - Get an identity by ID
• POST /api/identities/match - Find potential matches for an identity
• POST /api/identities/resolve - Resolve and merge identities

Core Concepts

Identity Record

An identity record contains:

• Basic information (name, email, phone)
• Demographic data (date of birth, address)
• Identifiers (SSN, driver's license, etc.)

Matching Algorithm

The system uses configurable matching rules based on:

• Exact matches on unique identifiers
• Fuzzy matching on names using string similarity
• Weighted scoring across multiple attributes
• Configurable confidence thresholds

Resolution Process

1. Normalization: Clean and standardize input data
2. Blocking: Group records for efficient comparison
3. Matching: Apply similarity algorithms
4. Scoring: Calculate confidence scores
5. Resolution: Determine final matches based on thresholds

Configuration

Key configuration options in appsettings.json:

{
  "IdentityResolution": {
    "MatchingThreshold": 0.8,
    "AutoMergeThreshold": 0.95,
    "EnableFuzzyMatching": true
  }
}

Development

Adding New Matching Rules

1. Implement IMatchingRule interface in the Core project
2. Register the rule in dependency injection
3. Configure rule weights and parameters

Testing

Run all tests:

dotnet test --logger "console;verbosity=detailed"

Run with coverage:

dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

DevOps & Automation

This project includes comprehensive DevOps workflows for automated security and build/test automation:

Continuous Integration (CI/CD)

• Automated Build & Test: Every push and pull request triggers automated building and testing
• Multi-job Pipeline: Parallel execution of build, test, and code quality checks
• Artifact Management: Test results and code coverage reports are automatically collected
• Docker Build: Automated container builds for main branch deployments

Security Automation

• CodeQL Analysis: Advanced semantic code analysis for security vulnerabilities
• Dependency Scanning: Automated checks for vulnerable NuGet packages
• Secret Scanning: Detection of accidentally committed secrets and credentials
• Security Auditing: Regular security pattern analysis with DevSkim

Dependency Management

• Automated Updates: Dependabot automatically creates PRs for dependency updates
• Grouped Updates: Related packages are updated together for easier review
• Security Updates: Priority handling of security-related dependency updates
• Multi-Ecosystem: Covers .NET packages, GitHub Actions, and Docker images

Workflow Status

Workflow	Status	Purpose
CI/CD Pipeline		Build, test, and deployment automation
Security Scanning		Vulnerability detection and security auditing

Getting Workflow Notifications

To receive notifications about workflow failures or security alerts:

1. Watch this repository for Releases only or All Activity
2. Configure notification settings in your GitHub profile
3. Enable email notifications for security alerts

Contributing

This is a hobby project, but contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Ensure all tests pass
6. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Roadmap

• Advanced matching algorithms (machine learning)
• Database persistence options
• Batch processing capabilities
• Web UI for identity management
• Export/import functionality
• Audit logging and history tracking