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What is an owned entity type in EF Core?

Entity Framework & EF Core Modelling Advanced 3–5 Yrs5+ Yrs Conceptual 1 min read

Quick Answer

An owned type is a class that has no identity of its own and belongs to a parent entity — a Money, an Address. Configure with OwnsOne/OwnsMany. By default its columns are stored in the parent's table (table splitting), and it has no DbSet — you always access it through the owner.

An owned type is a class that only makes sense as part of its parent — it has no id of its own. The classic example is an Address or a Money value object. You configure it with OwnsOne, and by default EF puts its columns right in the parent's table with prefixed names. There's no DbSet for it — you only ever get to it through the owning entity, and it's loaded and saved along with the owner. It's EF's built-in support for DDD value objects.

  • Models domain-driven-design value objects cleanly: Order has a ShippingAddress owned type, columns ShippingAddress_Street, ShippingAddress_City in the Orders table.
  • OwnsMany stores the collection in a separate table keyed by the owner.
  • Owned instances are loaded and saved with the owner automatically — no separate query.
  • Limitations: no inheritance, can't be shared by two owners as the same instance, querying by an owned property works but has quirks.
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