Added basic HttpRequestMessage and HttpResponseMessage.

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/ActionResultFactory.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Net.Http.Formatting;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
+{
+    public class ActionResultFactory : IActionResultFactory
+    {
+        public IActionResult CreateActionResult(object actionReturnValue)
+        {
+            var actionResult = actionReturnValue as IActionResult;
+
+            if (actionResult != null)
+            {
+                return actionResult;
+            }
+
+            var responseMessage = actionReturnValue as HttpResponseMessage;
+            if (responseMessage != null)
+            {
+                return new HttpResponseMessageActionResult(responseMessage);
+            }
+
+            // all other object types are treated as an http response message action result
+            var content = new ObjectContent(actionReturnValue.GetType(),
+                                            actionReturnValue,
+                                            new JsonMediaTypeFormatter());
+
+            return new HttpResponseMessageActionResult(new HttpResponseMessage
+            {
+                Content = content
+            });
+        }
+    }
+}

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/ControllerActionInvoker.cs

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using System;
-using System.Globalization;
 using System.Reflection;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
@@ -7,11 +6,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
 {
     public class ControllerActionInvoker : IActionInvoker
     {
-        private ControllerContext _context;
+        private readonly ControllerContext _context;
+        private readonly IActionResultFactory _actionResultFactory;
 
-        public ControllerActionInvoker(ControllerContext context)
+        public ControllerActionInvoker(ControllerContext context, IActionResultFactory actionResultFactory)
         {
             _context = context;
+            _actionResultFactory = actionResultFactory;
         }
 
         public Task InvokeActionAsync(string actionName)
@@ -23,31 +24,11 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
                 throw new InvalidOperationException(String.Format("Could not find action method '{0}'", actionName));
             }
 
-            object actionReturnValue = method.Invoke(_context.Controller, null); ;
+            object actionReturnValue = method.Invoke(_context.Controller, null);
 
-            IActionResult actionResult = CreateResult(actionReturnValue);
+            IActionResult actionResult = _actionResultFactory.CreateActionResult(actionReturnValue);
 
             return actionResult.ExecuteResultAsync(_context);
         }
-
-        private IActionResult CreateResult(object actionReturnValue)
-        {
-            IActionResult actionResult = actionReturnValue as IActionResult;
-
-            if (actionResult != null)
-            {
-                return actionResult;
-            }
-
-            if (actionReturnValue != null)
-            {
-                return new ContentResult
-                {
-                    Content = Convert.ToString(actionReturnValue, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
-                };
-            }
-
-            return new EmptyResult();
-        }
     }
 }

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/ControllerActionInvokerFactory.cs

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
-using System;
+
-using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.Linq;
-using System.Text;
-
 namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
 {
     public class ControllerActionInvokerFactory : IActionInvokerFactory
     {
+        private readonly IActionResultFactory _actionResultFactory;
+
+        public ControllerActionInvokerFactory(IActionResultFactory actionResultFactory)
+        {
+            _actionResultFactory = actionResultFactory;
+        }
+
         public IActionInvoker CreateInvoker(ControllerContext context)
         {
-            return new ControllerActionInvoker(context);
+            return new ControllerActionInvoker(context, _actionResultFactory);
         }
     }
 }

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/HttpResponseMessageActionResult.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
+{
+    public class HttpResponseMessageActionResult : IActionResult
+    {
+        public HttpResponseMessage ResponseMessage { get; set; }
+
+        public HttpResponseMessageActionResult(HttpResponseMessage responseMessage)
+        {
+            ResponseMessage = responseMessage;
+        }
+
+        public async Task ExecuteResultAsync(ControllerContext context)
+        {
+            var response = context.HttpContext.Response;
+            response.StatusCode = (int)ResponseMessage.StatusCode;
+
+            foreach (var responseHeader in ResponseMessage.Headers)
+            {
+                response.Headers.AppendValues(responseHeader.Key, responseHeader.Value.ToArray());
+            }
+
+            var content = ResponseMessage.Content;
+            if (content != null)
+            {
+                foreach (var responseHeader in content.Headers)
+                {
+                    response.Headers.AppendValues(responseHeader.Key, responseHeader.Value.ToArray());
+                }
+
+                await content.CopyToAsync(response.Body);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/IActionResultFactory.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
+{
+    public interface IActionResultFactory
+    {
+        IActionResult CreateActionResult(object actionReturnValue);
+    }
+}

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.csproj

@@ -33,16 +33,26 @@
     <Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin">
       <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.2.0.2\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.dll</HintPath>
     </Reference>
+    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json">
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.11\lib\net40\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="Owin">
       <HintPath>..\packages\Owin.1.0\lib\net40\Owin.dll</HintPath>
     </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.Core" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http.Formatting, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
+      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client.5.0.0\lib\net45\System.Net.Http.Formatting.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
+    <Compile Include="ActionResultFactory.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ActionResultHelper.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ContentResult.cs" />
     <Compile Include="EmptyResult.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="HttpResponseMessageActionResult.cs" />
     <Compile Include="IActionResult.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Controller.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ControllerActionInvoker.cs" />
@@ -52,6 +62,7 @@
     <Compile Include="HttpStatusCodeResult.cs" />
     <Compile Include="IActionInvoker.cs" />
     <Compile Include="IActionInvokerFactory.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="IActionResultFactory.cs" />
     <Compile Include="IActionResultHelper.cs" />
     <Compile Include="IControllerFactory.cs" />
     <Compile Include="MvcHandler.cs" />

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/MvcHandler.cs

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 using System;
-using System.Linq;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.AspNet.CoreServices;
 using Microsoft.Owin;

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/MvcServices.cs

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc
             callback(typeof(IControllerFactory), typeof(DefaultControllerFactory));
             callback(typeof(IActionInvokerFactory), typeof(ControllerActionInvokerFactory));
             callback(typeof(IActionResultHelper), typeof(ActionResultHelper));
+            callback(typeof(IActionResultFactory), typeof(ActionResultFactory));
         }
     }
 }

Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc/packages.config

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <packages>
+  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" version="5.0.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Microsoft.Owin" version="2.0.2" targetFramework="net45" />
+  <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="4.5.11" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Owin" version="1.0" targetFramework="net45" />
 </packages>

MvcSample/Home2Controller.cs

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc;
 using Microsoft.Owin;
 
 namespace MvcSample

MvcSample/HomeController.cs

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc;
+using System.Net.Http;
+using Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc;
 using Microsoft.Owin;
 
 namespace MvcSample
@@ -27,5 +28,13 @@ namespace MvcSample
         {
             Context.Response.Write("Hello World raw");
         }
+
+        public HttpResponseMessage Hello2()
+        {
+            var responseMessage = new HttpResponseMessage();
+            responseMessage.Content = new StringContent("Hello World");
+
+            return responseMessage;
+        }
     }
 }

MvcSample/MvcSample.csproj

@@ -46,11 +46,20 @@
     <Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Diagnostics">
       <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Diagnostics.2.0.2\lib\net40\Microsoft.Owin.Diagnostics.dll</HintPath>
     </Reference>
+    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json, Version=4.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
+      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Newtonsoft.Json.4.5.11\lib\net40\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="Owin">
       <HintPath>..\packages\Owin.1.0\lib\net40\Owin.dll</HintPath>
     </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.Core" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Net.Http.Formatting, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
+      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
+      <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client.5.0.0\lib\net45\System.Net.Http.Formatting.dll</HintPath>
+    </Reference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Content Include="packages.config" />

MvcSample/packages.config

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <packages>
+  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" version="5.0.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Microsoft.Owin" version="2.0.2" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Diagnostics" version="2.0.2" targetFramework="net45" />
+  <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="4.5.11" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="Owin" version="1.0" targetFramework="net45" />
   <package id="OwinHost" version="2.0.2" targetFramework="net45" />
 </packages>