For the latest stable version, please use Spring Framework 6.2.1!

@ResponseBody

See equivalent in the Reactive stack

You can use the @ResponseBody annotation on a method to have the return serialized to the response body through an HttpMessageConverter. The following listing shows an example:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

@GetMapping("/accounts/{id}")
@ResponseBody
public Account handle() {
	// ...
}
@GetMapping("/accounts/{id}")
@ResponseBody
fun handle(): Account {
	// ...
}

@ResponseBody is also supported at the class level, in which case it is inherited by all controller methods. This is the effect of @RestController, which is nothing more than a meta-annotation marked with @Controller and @ResponseBody.

You can use @ResponseBody with reactive types. See Asynchronous Requests and Reactive Types for more details.

You can use the Message Converters option of the MVC Config to configure or customize message conversion.

You can combine @ResponseBody methods with JSON serialization views. See Jackson JSON for details.