// configure strongly typed settings objects
            var appSettingsSection = Configuration.GetSection("AppSettings");
            services.Configure<AppSettings>(appSettingsSection);

            // configure jwt authentication
            var appSettings = appSettingsSection.Get<AppSettings>();
            var key = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(appSettings.Secret);
            services.AddAuthentication(x =>
            {
                x.DefaultAuthenticateScheme = JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme;
                x.DefaultChallengeScheme = JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme;
            })
            .AddJwtBearer(x =>
            {
                x.RequireHttpsMetadata = false;
                x.SaveToken = true;
                x.TokenValidationParameters = new TokenValidationParameters
                {
                    ValidateIssuerSigningKey = true,
                    IssuerSigningKey = new SymmetricSecurityKey(key),
                    ValidateIssuer = false,
                    ValidateAudience = false
                };
            });

            // configure DI for application services
            services.AddScoped<IUserService, UserService>();