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@sgmeyer

Thanks for your time. It turned out to be the Startup constructor

        public Startup(IHostingEnvironment env)
        {
            var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
                .SetBasePath(env.ContentRootPath)
                .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false, reloadOnChange: true)
                .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{env.EnvironmentName}.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true)
                .AddEnvironmentVariables();
            Configuration = builder.Build();
        }

It would revert back to my appsettings.Development.json auth section. I ended up created another environment: appsettings.Production.json and putting the auth section in question in there.