What is DbContext pooling?

DbContext pooling allows EF Core to reuse DbContext instances from a pool instead of allocating and initializing a completely new instance for every request or operation.

It can reduce overhead in high-throughput applications, but pooled contexts require care because instance state can persist unless EF Core or the application resets it correctly. Request-specific mutable state should not be casually stored on a pooled context.

DbContext pooling is different from SQL connection pooling.