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ECONNREFUSED from an MCP client means nothing was listening on that host:port yet. Fix the startup race, the localhost IPv4/IPv6 trap, and wrong-port mistakes for HTTP MCP servers.

Plain JIT with Dynamic PGO wins steady-state throughput, ReadyToRun cuts startup with zero code changes, and Native AOT gives the smallest, fastest-starting binary at the cost of reflection and dynamic code. Pick by deployment shape, not raw benchmarks.

Pick System.Text.Json for new .NET 11 code: it ships in-box, is roughly 2x faster, and is the only one that works with Native AOT. Reach for Newtonsoft.Json only for JSONPath, TypeNameHandling, or genuinely lenient JSON.

ConfigureAwait(false) is still mandatory in library code that may run under a SynchronizationContext (WinForms, WPF, MAUI). In application code on ASP.NET Core, a console app, or a worker service running on .NET 11, it is a no-op.

Cursor 3.4 (May 13, 2026) lets one cloud agent environment include multiple repositories, adds Dockerfile build secrets, layer-cached rebuilds that run 70% faster, and an agent-led setup step that validates credentials before the first run.

Copilot Chat reads your .github/copilot-instructions.md fine, but Agent mode and *.instructions.md files often look ignored. Here is the actual checklist: settings, file locations, applyTo globs, and how to prove the file made it into context.

Three sequence interfaces, three execution models. Use IQueryable when a database can translate the query, IAsyncEnumerable when the producer is async and you want to stream, IEnumerable for everything else in memory.

Pick minimal APIs by default in ASP.NET Core 11. Use controllers only when you need MVC features that minimal APIs still do not match: convention-based routing across many actions, MVC-style filters, or Razor views.

async Task is the default and async void is the exception. Use async void only for event handlers, top-level message-loop handlers, and a handful of framework callbacks that demand a void signature. Everywhere else, async Task wins on exceptions, composition, and testability.

For bulk inserts in .NET 11, neither EF Core nor Dapper wins. SqlBulkCopy does. This is the benchmark, the why, and the seat each tool deserves.