proxyBeanMethods

Specify whether @Bean methods should get proxied in order to enforce bean lifecycle behavior, e.g. to return shared singleton bean instances even in case of direct @Bean method calls in user code. This feature requires method interception, implemented through a runtime-generated CGLIB subclass which comes with limitations such as the configuration class and its methods not being allowed to declare final.

The default is true, allowing for 'inter-bean references' within the configuration class as well as for external calls to this configuration's @Bean methods, e.g. from another configuration class. If this is not needed since each of this particular configuration's @Bean methods is self-contained and designed as a plain factory method for container use, switch this flag to false in order to avoid CGLIB subclass processing.

Turning off bean method interception effectively processes @Bean methods individually like when declared on non-@Configuration classes, a.k.a. "@Bean Lite Mode" (see @Bean's javadoc). It is therefore behaviorally equivalent to removing the @Configuration stereotype.