Spring Web MVC Advanced

Deep Knowledge: Use mcp__documentation__fetch_docs with technology: spring-web for comprehensive documentation.

Quick Start

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/v1")
@RequiredArgsConstructor
public class ApiController {

    private final RestClient restClient;

    @GetMapping("/proxy/{id}")
    public ResponseEntity<Resource> proxyRequest(@PathVariable Long id) {
        return restClient.get()
            .uri("/external/resource/{id}", id)
            .retrieve()
            .toEntity(Resource.class);
    }
}

@Configuration
public class RestClientConfig {

    @Bean
    public RestClient restClient(RestClient.Builder builder) {
        return builder
            .baseUrl("https://api.external.com")
            .defaultHeader(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
            .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(5))
            .readTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))
            .build();
    }
}

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RestClient Essentials (Spring 6.1+)

RestClient is the new synchronous HTTP client replacing RestTemplate.

@Service
@RequiredArgsConstructor
public class UserApiClient {

    private final RestClient restClient;

    // GET
    public UserDto getUser(Long id) {
        return restClient.get()
            .uri("/users/{id}", id)
            .retrieve()
            .body(UserDto.class);
    }

    // POST
    public UserDto createUser(CreateUserRequest request) {
        return restClient.post()
            .uri("/users")
            .body(request)
            .retrieve()
            .body(UserDto.class);
    }

    // With error handling
    public UserDto getUserSafe(Long id) {
        return restClient.get()
            .uri("/users/{id}", id)
            .retrieve()
            .onStatus(HttpStatusCode::is4xxClientError, (req, res) -> {
                throw new ResourceNotFoundException("User not found: " + id);
            })
            .body(UserDto.class);
    }
}

Full Reference: See http-clients.md for complete RestClient and WebClient documentation.

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ResponseEntity Quick Patterns

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/v1/users")
public class UserController {

    // Created with Location
    @PostMapping
    public ResponseEntity<UserResponse> create(
            @Valid @RequestBody CreateUserRequest req,
            UriComponentsBuilder uriBuilder) {

        UserResponse created = service.create(req);
        URI location = uriBuilder.path("/api/v1/users/{id}")
            .buildAndExpand(created.getId()).toUri();

        return ResponseEntity.created(location).body(created);
    }

    // With ETag
    @GetMapping("/{id}")
    public ResponseEntity<UserResponse> get(@PathVariable Long id) {
        UserResponse user = service.findById(id);
        return ResponseEntity.ok()
            .eTag("\"" + user.getVersion() + "\"")
            .cacheControl(CacheControl.maxAge(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
            .body(user);
    }

    // No Content
    @DeleteMapping("/{id}")
    public ResponseEntity<Void> delete(@PathVariable Long id) {
        service.delete(id);
        return ResponseEntity.noContent().build();
    }
}

Full Reference: See patterns.md for ResponseEntity, Content Negotiation, and Streaming.

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File Upload/Download Quick Start

// Upload
@PostMapping("/upload")
public ResponseEntity<FileResponse> upload(@RequestParam("file") MultipartFile file) {
    String fileName = storageService.store(file);
    return ResponseEntity.ok(new FileResponse(fileName, file.getSize()));
}

// Download
@GetMapping("/download/{fileName}")
public ResponseEntity<Resource> download(@PathVariable String fileName) {
    Resource resource = storageService.loadAsResource(fileName);
    return ResponseEntity.ok()
        .contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_OCTET_STREAM)
        .header(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_DISPOSITION,
            "attachment; filename=\"" + fileName + "\"")
        .body(resource);
}

Full Reference: See file-handling.md for complete file operations.

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Interceptors Quick Start

@Slf4j
@Component
public class LoggingInterceptor implements HandlerInterceptor {

    @Override
    public boolean preHandle(HttpServletRequest request,
                            HttpServletResponse response, Object handler) {
        MDC.put("requestId", UUID.randomUUID().toString());
        request.setAttribute("startTime", System.currentTimeMillis());
        log.info("==> {} {}", request.getMethod(), request.getRequestURI());
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public void afterCompletion(HttpServletRequest request,
                               HttpServletResponse response,
                               Object handler, Exception ex) {
        long duration = System.currentTimeMillis() -
            (Long) request.getAttribute("startTime");
        log.info("<== {} ({} ms)", response.getStatus(), duration);
        MDC.clear();
    }
}

@Configuration
public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {
    @Override
    public void addInterceptors(InterceptorRegistry registry) {
        registry.addInterceptor(loggingInterceptor).addPathPatterns("/api/**");
    }
}

Full Reference: See advanced.md for Interceptors, Argument Resolvers, Exception Handling, and Testing.

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Best Practices

Do	Don't
Use RestClient for sync calls (Spring 3.2+)	Use deprecated RestTemplate
Configure explicit timeouts	Rely on default timeouts
Implement retry with exponential backoff	Retry immediately without delay
Use interceptors for centralized logging	Log in each method
Wrap responses in ResponseEntity	Return raw objects

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When NOT to Use This Skill

• Reactive applications - Use spring-webflux skill
• Basic REST controllers - Use spring-rest skill
• WebSocket communication - Use spring-websocket skill
• GraphQL APIs - Use spring-graphql skill

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Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Problem	Solution
Using RestTemplate	Deprecated, not type-safe	Use RestClient (sync) or WebClient (async)
No timeout configuration	Requests hang indefinitely	Configure connect/read timeout
Memory leak with streams	Stream not closed	Use try-with-resources
N+1 HTTP calls	Calls in loop	Use batch endpoints or parallel calls
Blocking in WebFlux	.block() in reactive stack	Keep chain reactive

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Quick Troubleshooting

Problem	Diagnostic	Fix
Connection timeout	Check network/firewall	Configure proper timeout values
SSL handshake fails	Check certificates	Configure SSLContext properly
Response not mapped	Check Content-Type	Configure message converters
Interceptor not called	Check registration	Verify interceptor order
File upload fails	Check size limits	Configure multipart settings

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Reference Files

File	Content
http-clients.md	RestClient, WebClient, Interceptors
patterns.md	ResponseEntity, Content Negotiation, Streaming
file-handling.md	File Upload, Download, Storage Service
advanced.md	Argument Resolvers, HandlerInterceptors, Exception Handling, Testing

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External Documentation

• Spring Web MVC
• RestClient
• WebClient