---
name: 302-frameworks-spring-boot-rest
description: Use when you need to design, review, or improve REST APIs with Spring Boot — including HTTP methods, resource URIs, status codes, DTOs, versioning, deprecation and sunset headers, content negotiation (JSON and vendor media types), ISO-8601 instants in DTOs, pagination/sorting/filtering, Bean Validation at the boundary, idempotency, ETag concurrency, HTTP caching, error handling, security, contract-first OpenAPI (OpenAPI Generator), controller advice, and problem details for errors. Part of the skills-for-java project
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
author: Juan Antonio Breña Moral
version: 0.13.0
---
# Java REST API Design Principles
Apply REST API design principles for Spring Boot applications.
**What is covered in this Skill?**
- HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE) — semantic consistency
- Resource URI design
- HTTP status codes
- Request/response DTOs with lean contracts
- API versioning (URI, header, or media type — applied consistently)
- Bean Validation at the boundary (@Valid/@Validated on controller inputs, 400 on failure)
- Pagination, sorting, and filtering (Page/Pageable with caps)
- ISO-8601 instants with offset (OffsetDateTime, Instant) in JSON contracts
- Content negotiation (JSON default; vendor media types when meaningful)
- Idempotency-Key support for POST creates; 409 Conflict for collisions
- ETag concurrency with If-Match/If-None-Match; 412 Precondition Failed / 304 Not Modified
- HTTP caching discipline (Cache-Control, ETag, Last-Modified)
- Deprecation and sunset headers (Deprecation, Sunset, Link rel="successor-version")
- Error handling
- API security (TLS, authentication, authorization, input validation)
- API contract: OpenAPI file as source of truth for API-first (OpenAPI Generator)
- Controller advice and problem details (RFC 7807)
**Scope:** Apply recommendations based on the reference rules and good/bad code examples.
## Constraints
Before applying any REST API changes, ensure the project compiles. If compilation fails, stop immediately. After applying improvements, run full verification.
- **MANDATORY**: Run `./mvnw compile` or `mvn compile` before applying any change
- **SAFETY**: If compilation fails, stop immediately
- **VERIFY**: Run `./mvnw clean verify` or `mvn clean verify` after applying improvements
- **BEFORE APPLYING**: Read the reference for detailed rules and good/bad patterns
## When to use this skill
- Review Java code for Spring Boot REST API
- Apply best practices for Spring Boot REST API in Java code
## Reference
For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see [references/302-frameworks-spring-boot-rest.md](references/302-frameworks-spring-boot-rest.md).