Do I need to create a new HttpClient for subsequent requests to new BaseAddress?

Question

Take for example the following, I use a single httpClient, assign the BaseAddress, and then pass it to the client that will ultimately use it:

    var httpClient = httpClientFactory.CreateClient("morningstar-api");

    httpClient.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://UniqueAddress_1");
    _mfEODListApi = new RestEase.RestClient(httpClient);

    httpClient.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://UniqueAddress_2");
    _MFListApi = new RestEase.RestClient(httpClient)();

Is it better to assign the different base address as specified above, or should I create a new httpClient for each and give each new httpClient its unique BaseAddress?

Following the pattern above, I subsequently caught an exception:

Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: <. Path '', line 0, position 0.

But I don't know if this unfortunately meaningless message is due to the way I'm configuring the httpClient or something else totally unrelated.

I'd like to have a better idea of the best practice for creating httpClients for calls to different BaseAddresses.

Answer 1

Depending on your use case, the MS Documentation gives you some ideas for which pattern to use.

There are several ways IHttpClientFactory can be used in an app:

Basic usage

Named clients

Typed clients

Generated clients

The best approach depends upon the app's requirements.