Consumer Driven Contracts

This guide walks you through the process of creating a Spring REST application with its contract stubs and consuming the contract within an other Spring application. Spring Cloud Contract Project

What you’ll build

You’ll setup two micro services one providing its contract, and the other one consuming this contract to make sure that the integration to the contract provider service is aligned with the specifications. If in the future, the contract of the producer service changes, then the consumer service’s tests fail catching the potential incompatibility.

What you’ll need

About 15 minutes
A favorite text editor or IDE
Java 17 or later
Gradle 7.5+ or Maven 3.5+
You can also import the code straight into your IDE:

How to complete this guide

Like most Spring Getting Started guides, you can start from scratch and complete each step or you can bypass basic setup steps that are already familiar to you. Either way, you end up with working code.

To start from scratch, move on to Build with Gradle.

To skip the basics, do the following:

Download and unzip the source repository for this guide, or clone it using Git: git clone https://github.com/spring-guides/gs-contract-rest.git
cd into gs-contract-rest/initial
Jump ahead to Create contract producer service.

When you finish, you can check your results against the code in gs-contract-rest/complete.

Build with Gradle

First you set up a basic build script. You can use any build system you like when building apps with Spring, but the code you need to work with Gradle and Maven is included here. If you’re not familiar with either, refer to Building Java Projects with Gradle or Building Java Projects with Maven.

Create the directory structure

In a project directory of your choosing, create the following subdirectory structure; for example, with mkdir -p src/main/java/hello on *nix systems:

└── src
    └── main
        └── java
            └── hello

Create a Gradle build file

Below is the initial Gradle build file.

contract-rest-service/build.gradle

buildscript {
  ext {
    springBootVersion = '3.3.0'
    verifierVersion = '4.0.4'
  }
  repositories { mavenCentral() }
  dependencies {
    classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:${springBootVersion}")
    classpath "org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin:${verifierVersion}"
  }
}

apply plugin: 'groovy'
apply plugin: 'java'
apply plugin: 'eclipse'
apply plugin: 'idea'
apply plugin: 'org.springframework.boot'
apply plugin: 'io.spring.dependency-management'
apply plugin: 'spring-cloud-contract'


bootJar {
  archiveFileName = 'contract-rest-service'
  version = '0.0.1-SNAPSHOT'
}
sourceCompatibility = 17
targetCompatibility = 17

repositories { mavenCentral() }

dependencies {
  implementation('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web')
  testImplementation('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test')
  testImplementation('org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-starter-contract-verifier')
}

dependencyManagement {
  imports {
    mavenBom "org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-dependencies:2022.0.4"
  }
}

contracts {
  // To have the same contract folder as Maven. In Gradle would default to
  // src/contractTest/resources/contracts
  contractsDslDir = file("src/test/resources/contracts")
  packageWithBaseClasses = 'hello'
  baseClassMappings {
    baseClassMapping(".*hello.*", "hello.BaseClass")
  }
}

contractTest {
  useJUnitPlatform()
}

contract-rest-client/build.gradle

buildscript {
  ext { springBootVersion = '3.3.0' }
  repositories { mavenCentral() }
  dependencies {
    classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:${springBootVersion}")
  }
}

apply plugin: 'java'
apply plugin: 'eclipse'
apply plugin: 'idea'
apply plugin: 'org.springframework.boot'
apply plugin: 'io.spring.dependency-management'

bootJar {
  archiveFileName = 'contract-rest-client'
  version = '0.0.1-SNAPSHOT'
}
sourceCompatibility = 17
targetCompatibility = 17

repositories { mavenCentral() }

dependencies {
  implementation('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web')
  testImplementation('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test')
  testImplementation('org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-starter-contract-stub-runner')
}

dependencyManagement {
  imports {
    mavenBom "org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-dependencies:2022.0.4"
  }
}

eclipse {
  classpath {
    containers.remove('org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER')
    containers 'org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-17'
  }
}

test {
  useJUnitPlatform()
}

The Spring Boot gradle plugin provides many convenient features:

It collects all the jars on the classpath and builds a single, runnable "über-jar", which makes it more convenient to execute and transport your service.
It searches for the public static void main() method to flag as a runnable class.
It provides a built-in dependency resolver that sets the version number to match Spring Boot dependencies. You can override any version you wish, but it will default to Boot’s chosen set of versions.

Build with Maven

First you set up a basic build script. You can use any build system you like when building apps with Spring, but the code you need to work with Maven is included here. If you’re not familiar with Maven, refer to Building Java Projects with Maven.

Create the directory structure

In a project directory of your choosing, create the following subdirectory structure; for example, with mkdir -p src/main/java/hello on *nix systems:

└── src
    └── main
        └── java
            └── hello

To get you started quickly, here are the complete configurations for the server and client applications:

contract-rest-service/pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="https://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="https://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

	<groupId>com.example</groupId>
	<artifactId>contract-rest-service</artifactId>
	<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
	<packaging>jar</packaging>

	<parent>
		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
		<version>3.3.0</version>
		<relativePath /> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
	</parent>

	<properties>
		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
		<java.version>17</java.version>
		<spring-cloud.version>2022.0.4</spring-cloud.version>
		<spring-cloud-contract.version>4.0.4</spring-cloud-contract.version>
	</properties>

	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
			<scope>test</scope>
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>

	<dependencyManagement>
		<dependencies>
			<dependency>
				<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
				<artifactId>spring-cloud-dependencies</artifactId>
				<version>${spring-cloud.version}</version>
				<type>pom</type>
				<scope>import</scope>
			</dependency>
		</dependencies>
	</dependencyManagement>

	<build>
		<plugins>
			<plugin>
				<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
				<artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
			</plugin>

            <!--
			<plugin>
				<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
				<artifactId>spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin</artifactId>
				<version>${spring-cloud-contract.version}</version>
				<extensions>true</extensions>
				<configuration>
					<baseClassForTests>hello.BaseClass</baseClassForTests>
				</configuration>
			</plugin>
            -->

		</plugins>
	</build>


</project>

contract-rest-client/pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="https://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="https://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

	<groupId>com.example</groupId>
	<artifactId>contract-rest-client</artifactId>
	<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
	<packaging>jar</packaging>

	<parent>
		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
		<version>3.3.0</version>
		<relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
	</parent>

	<properties>
		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
		<java.version>17</java.version>
	</properties>

	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
			<scope>test</scope>
		</dependency>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-contract-stub-runner</artifactId>
			<scope>test</scope>
		</dependency>

	</dependencies>

	<dependencyManagement>
		<dependencies>
			<dependency>
				<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
				<artifactId>spring-cloud-dependencies</artifactId>
				<version>2022.0.4</version>
				<type>pom</type>
				<scope>import</scope>
			</dependency>
		</dependencies>
	</dependencyManagement>

	<build>
		<plugins>
			<plugin>
				<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
				<artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
			</plugin>
		</plugins>
	</build>


</project>

The Spring Boot Maven plugin provides many convenient features:

It collects all the jars on the classpath and builds a single, runnable "über-jar", which makes it more convenient to execute and transport your service.
It searches for the public static void main() method to flag as a runnable class.
It provides a built-in dependency resolver that sets the version number to match Spring Boot dependencies. You can override any version you wish, but it will default to Boot’s chosen set of versions.

Build with your IDE

Read how to import this guide straight into Spring Tool Suite.
Read how to work with this guide in IntelliJ IDEA.

Create contract producer service

You’ll first need to create the service which produces the contract. This is a regular Spring Boot application providing a very simple REST service. The rest service simply returns a Person object in JSON.

contract-rest-service/src/main/java/hello/ContractRestServiceApplication.java

package hello;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class ContractRestServiceApplication {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SpringApplication.run(ContractRestServiceApplication.class, args);
  }
}

Create the contract of the REST service

The contract of the REST service can be defined as a .groovy script. This contract specifies that if there is a GET request to url /person/1, sample data id=1, name=foo and surname=bee representing a Person entity will be returned in the response body of content-type application/json .

contract-rest-service/src/test/resources/contracts/hello/find_person_by_id.groovy

import org.springframework.cloud.contract.spec.Contract

Contract.make {
  description "should return person by id=1"

  request {
    url "/person/1"
    method GET()
  }

  response {
    status OK()
    headers {
      contentType applicationJson()
    }
    body (
      id: 1,
      name: "foo",
      surname: "bee"
    )
  }
}

At the test phase, automatic test classes will be created for the contract specified in the groovy file. This is done by the build plugin org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin in Gradle or org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin in Maven respectively. The auto generated test java classes will extend the hello.BaseClass.

To include the plugin in Maven, you need to add the following:

	<plugin>
		<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-cloud-contract-maven-plugin</artifactId>
		<version>${spring-cloud-contract.version}</version>
		<extensions>true</extensions>
		<configuration>
			<baseClassForTests>hello.BaseClass</baseClassForTests>
		</configuration>
	</plugin>

For running the tests, you also need to include the org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-starter-contract-verifier dependency in the test scope.

Finally, create the base-class for testing:

contract-rest-service/src/test/java/hello/BaseClass.java

package hello;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.mockito.Mockito;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.boot.test.mock.mockito.MockBean;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;

import io.restassured.module.mockmvc.RestAssuredMockMvc;

@SpringBootTest(classes = ContractRestServiceApplication.class)
public abstract class BaseClass {

  @Autowired PersonRestController personRestController;

  @MockBean PersonService personService;

  @BeforeEach public void setup() {
    RestAssuredMockMvc.standaloneSetup(personRestController);

    Mockito.when(personService.findPersonById(1L))
        .thenReturn(new Person(1L, "foo", "bee"));
  }

}

At this step, when the tests are executed, test results should be GREEN indicating that the REST controller is aligned with the contract and you have a fully functioning service.

Check the simple Person query business logic

Model class Person.java contract-rest-service/src/main/java/hello/Person.java

package hello;

class Person {

  Person(Long id, String name, String surname) {
    this.id = id;
    this.name = name;
    this.surname = surname;
  }

  private Long id;

  private String name;

  private String surname;

  public Long getId() {
    return id;
  }

  public void setId(Long id) {
    this.id = id;
  }

  public String getName() {
    return name;
  }

  public void setName(String name) {
    this.name = name;
  }

  public String getSurname() {
    return surname;
  }

  public void setSurname(String surname) {
    this.surname = surname;
  }
}

Service bean PersonService.java which just populates a few Person entity in memory and returns the one when asked. contract-rest-service/src/main/java/hello/PersonService.java

package hello;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

@Service
class PersonService {

  private final Map<Long, Person> personMap;
  
  public PersonService() {
    personMap = new HashMap<>();
    personMap.put(1L, new Person(1L, "Richard", "Gere"));
    personMap.put(2L, new Person(2L, "Emma", "Choplin"));
    personMap.put(3L, new Person(3L, "Anna", "Carolina"));
  }
  
  Person findPersonById(Long id) {
    return personMap.get(id);
  }
}

RestController bean PersonRestController.java which calls PersonService bean when a REST request is received for a person with the id. contract-rest-service/src/main/java/hello/PersonRestController.java

package hello;

import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@RestController
class PersonRestController {

  private final PersonService personService;

  public PersonRestController(PersonService personService) {
    this.personService = personService;
  }

  @GetMapping("/person/{id}")
  public Person findPersonById(@PathVariable("id") Long id) {
    return personService.findPersonById(id);
  }
}

Test the contract-rest-service application

Run the ContractRestServiceApplication.java class as a Java Application or Spring Boot Application. The service should start at port 8000.

Visit the service in the browser http://localhost:8000/person/1, http://localhost:8000/person/2, etc.

Create contract consumer service

With the contract producer service ready, now we need to create the client application which consumes the contract provided. This is a regular Spring Boot application providing a very simple REST service. The rest service simply returns a message with the queried Person’s name, e.g. Hello Anna.

contract-rest-client/src/main/java/hello/ContractRestClientApplication.java

package hello;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.web.client.RestTemplateBuilder;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate;

@SpringBootApplication
public class ContractRestClientApplication {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SpringApplication.run(ContractRestClientApplication.class, args);
  }
}

@RestController
class MessageRestController {

  private final RestTemplate restTemplate;

  MessageRestController(RestTemplateBuilder restTemplateBuilder) {
    this.restTemplate = restTemplateBuilder.build();
  }

  @RequestMapping("/message/{personId}")
  String getMessage(@PathVariable("personId") Long personId) {
    Person person = this.restTemplate.getForObject("http://localhost:8000/person/{personId}", Person.class, personId);
    return "Hello " + person.getName();
  }

}

Create the contract test

The contract provided by the producer should be consumed as a simple Spring test.

contract-rest-client/src/test/java/hello/ContractRestClientApplicationTest.java

package hello;

import org.assertj.core.api.BDDAssertions;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.cloud.contract.stubrunner.spring.AutoConfigureStubRunner;
import org.springframework.cloud.contract.stubrunner.spring.StubRunnerProperties;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate;

@SpringBootTest
@AutoConfigureStubRunner(
    ids = "com.example:contract-rest-service:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT:stubs:8100",
    stubsMode = StubRunnerProperties.StubsMode.LOCAL
)
public class ContractRestClientApplicationTest {

  @Test
  public void get_person_from_service_contract() {
    // given:
    RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate();
    
    // when:
    ResponseEntity<Person> personResponseEntity = restTemplate.getForEntity("http://localhost:8100/person/1", Person.class);

    // then:
    BDDAssertions.then(personResponseEntity.getStatusCodeValue()).isEqualTo(200);
    BDDAssertions.then(personResponseEntity.getBody().getId()).isEqualTo(1l);
    BDDAssertions.then(personResponseEntity.getBody().getName()).isEqualTo("foo");
    BDDAssertions.then(personResponseEntity.getBody().getSurname()).isEqualTo("bee");
    
  }
}

This test class will load the stubs of the contract producer service and make sure that the integration to the service is aligned with the contract.

In case the communication is faulty between the consumer service’s test and the producer’s contract, tests will fail and the problem will need to be fixed before making a new change on production.

Test the contract-rest-client application

Run the ContractRestClientApplication.java class as a Java Application or Spring Boot Application. The service should start at port 9000.

Visit the service in the browser http://localhost:9000/message/1, http://localhost:9000/message/2, etc.

Summary

Congratulations! You’ve just used Spring to make your REST services declare their contract and consumer service be aligned with this contract.

Get the Code

Go To Repo

Consumer Driven Contracts

What you’ll build

What you’ll need

How to complete this guide

Build with Gradle

Build with Gradle

Create the directory structure

Create a Gradle build file

Build with Maven

Build with Maven

Create the directory structure

Build with your IDE

Build with your IDE

Create contract producer service

Create the contract of the REST service

Check the simple Person query business logic

Test the contract-rest-service application

Create contract consumer service

Create the contract test

Test the contract-rest-client application

Summary

See Also

Get the Code