This version is still in development and is not considered stable yet. For the latest stable version, please use Spring Framework 6.2.12!

Controller Advice

See equivalent in the Reactive stack

@ExceptionHandler, @InitBinder, and @ModelAttribute methods apply only to the @Controller class, or class hierarchy, in which they are declared. If, instead, they are declared in an @ControllerAdvice or @RestControllerAdvice class, then they apply to any controller. Moreover, as of 5.3, @ExceptionHandler methods in @ControllerAdvice can be used to handle exceptions from any @Controller or any other handler.

@ControllerAdvice is meta-annotated with @Component and therefore can be registered as a Spring bean through component scanning.

@RestControllerAdvice is a shortcut annotation that combines @ControllerAdvice with @ResponseBody, in effect simply an @ControllerAdvice whose exception handler methods render to the response body.

On startup, RequestMappingHandlerMapping and ExceptionHandlerExceptionResolver detect controller advice beans and apply them at runtime. Global @ExceptionHandler methods, from an @ControllerAdvice, are applied after local ones, from the @Controller. By contrast, global @ModelAttribute and @InitBinder methods are applied before local ones.

By default, both @ControllerAdvice and @RestControllerAdvice apply to any controller, including @Controller and @RestController. Use attributes of the annotation to narrow the set of controllers and handlers that they apply to. For example:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

// Target all Controllers annotated with @RestController
@ControllerAdvice(annotations = RestController.class)
public class ExampleAdvice1 {}

// Target all Controllers within specific packages
@ControllerAdvice("org.example.controllers")
public class ExampleAdvice2 {}

// Target all Controllers assignable to specific classes
@ControllerAdvice(assignableTypes = {ControllerInterface.class, AbstractController.class})
public class ExampleAdvice3 {}
// Target all Controllers annotated with @RestController
@ControllerAdvice(annotations = [RestController::class])
class ExampleAdvice1

// Target all Controllers within specific packages
@ControllerAdvice("org.example.controllers")
class ExampleAdvice2

// Target all Controllers assignable to specific classes
@ControllerAdvice(assignableTypes = [ControllerInterface::class, AbstractController::class])
class ExampleAdvice3

The selectors in the preceding example are evaluated at runtime and may negatively impact performance if used extensively. See the @ControllerAdvice javadoc for more details.