The @ConditionalOnClass and @ConditionalOnMissingClass annotations let @Configuration classes be included based on the presence or absence of specific classes. Due to the fact that annotation metadata is parsed by using ASM, you can use the value attribute to refer to the real class, even though that class might not actually appear on the running application classpath. You can also use the name attribute if you prefer to specify the class name by using a String value.

This mechanism does not apply the same way to @Bean methods where typically the return type is the target of the condition: before the condition on the method applies, the JVM will have loaded the class and potentially processed method references which will fail if the class is not present.

To handle this scenario, a separate @Configuration class can be used to isolate the condition, as shown in the following example:

@Configuration
// Some conditions
public class MyAutoConfiguration {

	// Auto-configured beans

	@Configuration
	@ConditionalOnClass(EmbeddedAcmeService.class)
	static class EmbeddedConfiguration {

		@Bean
		@ConditionalOnMissingBean
		public EmbeddedAcmeService embeddedAcmeService() { ... }

	}

}

	Tip
	If you use @ConditionalOnClass or @ConditionalOnMissingClass as a part of a meta-annotation to compose your own composed annotations, you must use name as referring to the class in such a case is not handled.

The @ConditionalOnBean and @ConditionalOnMissingBean annotations let a bean be included based on the presence or absence of specific beans. You can use the value attribute to specify beans by type or name to specify beans by name. The search attribute lets you limit the ApplicationContext hierarchy that should be considered when searching for beans.

When placed on a @Bean method, the target type defaults to the return type of the method, as shown in the following example:

@Configuration
public class MyAutoConfiguration {

	@Bean
	@ConditionalOnMissingBean
	public MyService myService() { ... }

}

In the preceding example, the myService bean is going to be created if no bean of type MyService is already contained in the ApplicationContext.

	Tip
	You need to be very careful about the order in which bean definitions are added, as these conditions are evaluated based on what has been processed so far. For this reason, we recommend using only @ConditionalOnBean and @ConditionalOnMissingBean annotations on auto-configuration classes (since these are guaranteed to load after any user-defined bean definitions have been added).

	Note
	@ConditionalOnBean and @ConditionalOnMissingBean do not prevent @Configuration classes from being created. The only difference between using these conditions at the class level and marking each contained @Bean method with the annotation is that the former prevents registration of the @Configuration class as a bean if the condition does not match.

The @ConditionalOnProperty annotation lets configuration be included based on a Spring Environment property. Use the prefix and name attributes to specify the property that should be checked. By default, any property that exists and is not equal to false is matched. You can also create more advanced checks by using the havingValue and matchIfMissing attributes.

The @ConditionalOnResource annotation lets configuration be included only when a specific resource is present. Resources can be specified by using the usual Spring conventions, as shown in the following example: file:/home/user/test.dat.

The @ConditionalOnWebApplication and @ConditionalOnNotWebApplication annotations let configuration be included depending on whether the application is a “web application”. A servlet-based web application is any application that uses a Spring WebApplicationContext, defines a session scope, or has a ConfigurableWebEnvironment. A reactive web application is any application that uses a ReactiveWebApplicationContext, or has a ConfigurableReactiveWebEnvironment.

The @ConditionalOnExpression annotation lets configuration be included based on the result of a SpEL expression.

If you need to test an auto-configuration that only operates in a Servlet or Reactive web application context, use the WebApplicationContextRunner or ReactiveWebApplicationContextRunner respectively.

It is also possible to test what happens when a particular class and/or package is not present at runtime. Spring Boot ships with a FilteredClassLoader that can easily be used by the runner. In the following example, we assert that if UserService is not present, the auto-configuration is properly disabled:

@Test
public void serviceIsIgnoredIfLibraryIsNotPresent() {
	this.contextRunner.withClassLoader(new FilteredClassLoader(UserService.class))
			.run((context) -> assertThat(context).doesNotHaveBean("userService"));
}

You should make sure to provide a proper namespace for your starter. Do not start your module names with spring-boot, even if you use a different Maven groupId. We may offer official support for the thing you auto-configure in the future.

As a rule of thumb, you should name a combined module after the starter. For example, assume that you are creating a starter for "acme" and that you name the auto-configure module acme-spring-boot and the starter acme-spring-boot-starter. If you only have one module that combines the two, name it acme-spring-boot-starter.

If your starter provides configuration keys, use a unique namespace for them. In particular, do not include your keys in the namespaces that Spring Boot uses (such as server, management, spring, and so on). If you use the same namespace, we may modify these namespaces in the future in ways that break your modules. As a rule of thumb, prefix all your keys with a namespace that you own (e.g. acme).

Make sure that configuration keys are documented by adding field javadoc for each property, as shown in the following example:

@ConfigurationProperties("acme")
public class AcmeProperties {

	/**
	 * Whether to check the location of acme resources.
	 */
	private boolean checkLocation = true;

	/**
	 * Timeout for establishing a connection to the acme server.
	 */
	private Duration loginTimeout = Duration.ofSeconds(3);

	// getters & setters

}

	Note
	You should only use plain text with @ConfigurationProperties field Javadoc, since they are not processed before being added to the JSON.

Here are some rules we follow internally to make sure descriptions are consistent:

Make sure to trigger meta-data generation so that IDE assistance is available for your keys as well. You may want to review the generated metadata (META-INF/spring-configuration-metadata.json) to make sure your keys are properly documented. Using your own starter in a compatible IDE is also a good idea to validate that quality of the metadata.

The autoconfigure module contains everything that is necessary to get started with the library. It may also contain configuration key definitions (such as @ConfigurationProperties) and any callback interface that can be used to further customize how the components are initialized.

	Tip
	You should mark the dependencies to the library as optional so that you can include the autoconfigure module in your projects more easily. If you do it that way, the library is not provided and, by default, Spring Boot backs off.

Spring Boot uses an annotation processor to collect the conditions on auto-configurations in a metadata file (META-INF/spring-autoconfigure-metadata.properties). If that file is present, it is used to eagerly filter auto-configurations that do not match, which will improve startup time. It is recommended to add the following dependency in a module that contains auto-configurations:

<dependency>
	<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
	<artifactId>spring-boot-autoconfigure-processor</artifactId>
	<optional>true</optional>
</dependency>

With Gradle 4.5 and earlier, the dependency should be declared in the compileOnly configuration, as shown in the following example:

dependencies {
	compileOnly "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-autoconfigure-processor"
}

With Gradle 4.6 and later, the dependency should be declared in the annotationProcessor configuration, as shown in the following example:

dependencies {
	annotationProcessor "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-autoconfigure-processor"
}

The starter is really an empty jar. Its only purpose is to provide the necessary dependencies to work with the library. You can think of it as an opinionated view of what is required to get started.

Do not make assumptions about the project in which your starter is added. If the library you are auto-configuring typically requires other starters, mention them as well. Providing a proper set of default dependencies may be hard if the number of optional dependencies is high, as you should avoid including dependencies that are unnecessary for a typical usage of the library. In other words, you should not include optional dependencies.

	Note
	Either way, your starter must reference the core Spring Boot starter (spring-boot-starter) directly or indirectly (i.e. no need to add it if your starter relies on another starter). If a project is created with only your custom starter, Spring Boot’s core features will be honoured by the presence of the core starter.