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Feign makes writing java http clients easier

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# Feign simplifies the process of writing Java HTTP clients

[![Join the chat at https://gitter.im/OpenFeign/feign](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.svg)](https://gitter.im/OpenFeign/feign?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
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[![Maven Central](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/io.github.openfeign/feign-core/badge.png)](https://search.maven.org/artifact/io.github.openfeign/feign-core/)

Feign is a Java to HTTP client binder inspired by [Retrofit](https://github.com/square/retrofit), [JAXRS-2.0](https://jax-rs-spec.java.net/nonav/2.0/apidocs/index.html), and [WebSocket](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/java/jsr356-1937161.html).  Feign's first goal was reducing the complexity of binding [Denominator](https://github.com/Netflix/Denominator) uniformly to HTTP APIs regardless of [ReSTfulness](http://www.slideshare.net/adrianfcole/99problems).

---
### Why Feign and not X?

Feign uses tools like Jersey and CXF to write Java clients for ReST or SOAP services. Furthermore, Feign allows you to write your own code on top of http libraries such as Apache HC. Feign connects your code to http APIs with minimal overhead and code via customizable decoders and error handling, which can be written to any text-based http API.

### How does Feign work?

Feign works by processing annotations into a templatized request. Arguments are applied to these templates in a straightforward fashion before output.  Although Feign is limited to supporting text-based APIs, it dramatically simplifies system aspects such as replaying requests. Furthermore, Feign makes it easy to unit test your conversions knowing this.

### Java Version Compatibility

Feign 10.x and above are built on Java 8 and should work on Java 9, 10, and 11.  For those that need JDK 6 compatibility, please use Feign 9.x

## Feature overview

This is a map with current key features provided by feign:

![MindMap overview](http://www.plantuml.com/plantuml/proxy?cache=no&src=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenFeign/feign/master/src/docs/overview-mindmap.iuml)

# Roadmap
## Feign 11 and beyond
Making _API_ clients easier

Short Term - What we're working on now. ⏰
---
* Response Caching
  * Support caching of api responses.  Allow for users to define under what conditions a response is eligible for caching and what type of caching mechanism should be used.
  * Support in-memory caching and external cache implementations (EhCache, Google, Spring, etc...)
* Complete URI Template expression support
  * Support [level 1 through level 4](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6570#section-1.2) URI template expressions.
  * Use [URI Templates TCK](https://github.com/uri-templates/uritemplate-test) to verify compliance.
* `Logger` API refactor
  * Refactor the `Logger` API to adhere closer to frameworks like SLF4J providing a common mental model for logging within Feign.  This model will be used by Feign itself throughout and provide clearer direction on how the `Logger` will be used.
* `Retry` API refactor
  * Refactor the `Retry` API to support user-supplied conditions and better control over back-off policies. **This may result in non-backward-compatible breaking changes**

Medium Term - What's up next. ⏲
---
* Async execution support via `CompletableFuture`
  * Allow for `Future` chaining and executor management for the request/response lifecycle.  **Implementation will require non-backward-compatible breaking changes**.  However this feature is required before Reactive execution can be considered.
* Reactive execution support via [Reactive Streams](https://www.reactive-streams.org/)
  * For JDK 9+, consider a native implementation that uses `java.util.concurrent.Flow`.
  * Support for [Project Reactor](https://projectreactor.io/) and [RxJava 2+](https://github.com/ReactiveX/RxJava) implementations on JDK 8.

Long Term - The future ☁️
---
* Additional Circuit Breaker Support.
  * Support additional Circuit Breaker implementations like [Resilience4J](https://resilience4j.readme.io/) and Spring Circuit Breaker

---

# Usage

The feign library is available from [Maven Central](https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/io.github.openfeign/feign-core).

```xml
<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.openfeign</groupId>
    <artifactId>feign-core</artifactId>
    <version>??feign.version??</version>
</dependency>
```

### Basics

Usage typically looks like this, an adaptation of the [canonical Retrofit sample](https://github.com/square/retrofit/blob/master/samples/src/main/java/com/example/retrofit/SimpleService.java).

```java
interface GitHub {
  @RequestLine("GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contributors")
  List<Contributor> contributors(@Param("owner") String owner, @Param("repo") String repo);

@RequestLine("POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues")
  void createIssue(Issue issue, @Param("owner") String owner, @Param("repo") String repo);

}

public static class Contributor {
  String login;
  int contributions;
}

public static class Issue {
  String title;
  String body;
  List<String> assignees;
  int milestone;
  List<String> labels;
}

public class MyApp {
  public static void main(String... args) {
    GitHub github = Feign.builder()
                         .decoder(new GsonDecoder())
                         .target(GitHub.class, "https://api.github.com");

// Fetch and print a list of the contributors to this library.
    List<Contributor> contributors = github.contributors("OpenFeign", "feign");
    for (Contributor contributor : contributors) {
      System.out.println(contributor.login + " (" + contributor.contributions + ")");
    }
  }
}
```

### Interface Annotations

Feign annotations define the `Contract` between the interface and how the underlying client
should work.  Feign's default contract defines the following annotations:

| Annotation     | Interface Target | Usage |
|----------------|------------------|-------|
| `@RequestLine` | Method           | Defines the `HttpMethod` and `UriTemplate` for request.  `Expressions`, values wrapped in curly-braces `{expression}` are resolved using their corresponding `@Param` annotated parameters. |
| `@Param`       | Parameter        | Defines a template variable, whose value will be used to resolve the corresponding template `Expression`, by name provided as annotation value. If value is missing it will try to get the name from bytecode method parameter name (if the code was compiled with `-parameters` flag). |
| `@Headers`     | Method, Type     | Defines a `HeaderTemplate`; a variation on a `UriTemplate`.  that uses `@Param` annotated values to resolve the corresponding `Expressions`.  When used on a `Type`, the template will be applied to every request.  When used on a `Method`, the template will apply only to the annotated method. |
| `@QueryMap`    | Parameter        | Defines a `Map` of name-value pairs, or POJO, to expand into a query string. |
| `@HeaderMap`   | Parameter        | Defines a `Map` of name-value pairs, to expand into `Http Headers` |
| `@Body`        | Method           | Defines a `Template`, similar to a `UriTemplate` and `HeaderTemplate`, that uses `@Param` annotated values to resolve the corresponding `Expressions`.|

> **Overriding the Request Line**
>
> If there is a need to target a request to a different host then the one supplied when the Feign client was created, or
> you want to supply a target host for each request, include a `java.net.URI` parameter and Feign will use that value
> as the request target.
>
> ```java
> @RequestLine("POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues")
> void createIssue(URI host, Issue issue, @Param("owner") String owner, @Param("repo") String repo);
> ```
>

### Templates and Expressions

Feign `Expressions` represent Simple String Expressions (Level 1) as defined by [URI Template - RFC 6570](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6570).  `Expressions` are expanded using
their corresponding `Param` annotated method parameters.

*Example*

```java
public interface GitHub {

@RequestLine("GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/contributors")
  List<Contributor> contributors(@Param("owner") String owner, @Param("repo") String repository);

class Contributor {
    String login;
    int contributions;
  }
}

public class MyApp {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    GitHub github = Feign.builder()
                         .decoder(new GsonDecoder())
                         .target(GitHub.class, "https://api.github.com");

/* The owner and repository parameters will be used to expand the owner and repo expressions
     * defined in the RequestLine.
     *
     * the resulting uri will be https://api.github.com/repos/OpenFeign/feign/contributors
     */
    github.contributors("OpenFeign", "feign");
  }
}
```

Expressions must be enclosed in curly braces `{}` and may contain regular expression patterns, separated by a colon `:`  to restrict
resolved values.  *Example* `owner` must be alphabetic. `{owner:[a-zA-Z]*}`

#### Request Parameter Expansion

`RequestLine` and `QueryMap` templates follow the [URI Template - RFC 6570](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6570) specification for Level 1 templates, which specifies the following:

* Unresolved expressions are omitted.
* All literals and variable values are pct-encoded, if not already encoded or marked `encoded` via a `@Param` annotation.

We also have limited support for Level 3, Path Style Expressions, with the following restrictions:

* Maps and Lists are expanded by default.
* Only Single variable templates are supported.

*Examples:*

```
{;who}             ;who=fred
{;half}            ;half=50%25
{;empty}           ;empty
{;list}            ;list=red;list=green;list=blue
{;map}             ;semi=%3B;dot=.;comma=%2C
```

```java
public interface MatrixService {

@RequestLine("GET /repos{;owners}")
  List<Contributor> contributors(@Param("owners") List<String> owners);

class Contributor {
    String login;
    int contributions;
  }
}
```

If `owners` in the above example is defined as `Matt, Jeff, Susan`, the uri will expand to `/repos;owners=Matt;owners=Jeff;owners=Susan`

For more information see [RFC 6570, Section 3.2.7](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6570#section-3.2.7)

#### Undefined vs. Empty Values ####

Undefined expressions are expressions where the value for the expression is an explicit `null` or no value is provided.
Per [URI Template - RFC 6570](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6570), it is possible to provide an empty value
for an expression.  When Feign resolves an expression, it first determines if the value is defined, if it is then
the query parameter will remain.  If the expression is undefined, the query parameter is removed.  See below
for a complete breakdown.

*Empty String*
```java
public void test() {
   Map<String, Object> parameters = new LinkedHashMap<>();
   parameters.put("param", "");
   this.demoClient.test(parameters);
}
```
Result
```
http://localhost:8080/test?param=
```

*Missing*
```java
public void test() {
   Map<String, Object> parameters = new LinkedHashMap<>();
   this.demoClient.test(parameters);
}
```
Result
```
http://localhost:8080/test
```

*Undefined*
```java
public void test() {
   Map<String, Object> parameters = new LinkedHashMap<>();
   parameters.put("param", null);
   this.demoClient.test(parameters);
}
```
Result
```
http://localhost:8080/test
```

See [Advanced Usage](#advanced-usage) for more examples.

> **What about slashes? `/`**
>
> @RequestLine templates do not encode slash `/` characters by default.  To change this behavior, set the `decodeSlash` property on the `@RequestLine` to `false`.

> **What about plus? `+`**
>
> Per the URI specification, a `+` sign is allowed in both the path and query segments of a URI, however, handling of
> the symbol on the query can be inconsistent.  In some legacy systems, the `+` is equivalent to the a space.  Feign takes the approach of modern systems, where a
> `+` symbol should not represent a space and is explicitly encoded as `%2B` when found on a query string.
>
> If you wish to use `+` as a space, then use the literal ` ` character or encode the value directly as `%20`

##### Custom Expansion

The `@Param` annotation has an optional property `expander` allowing for complete control over the individual parameter's expansion.
The `expander` property must reference a class that implements the `Expander` interface:

```java
public interface Expander {
    String expand(Object value);
}
```
The result of this method adheres to the same rules stated above.  If the result is `null` or an empty string,
the value is omitted.  If the value is not pct-encoded, it will be.  See [Custom @Param Expansion](#custom-param-expansion) for more examples.

#### Request Headers Expansion

`Headers` and `HeaderMap` templates follow the same rules as [Request Parameter Expansion](#request-parameter-expansion)
with the following alterations:

* Unresolved expressions are omitted.  If the result is an empty header value, the entire header is removed.
* No pct-encoding is performed.

See [Headers](#headers) for examples.

> **A Note on `@Param` parameters and their names**:
>
> All expressions with the same name, regardless of their position on the `@RequestLine`, `@QueryMap`, `@BodyTemplate`, or `@Headers` will resolve to the same value.
> In the following example, the value of `contentType`, will be used to resolve both the header and path expression:
>
> ```java
> public interface ContentService {
>   @RequestLine("GET /api/documents/{contentType}")
>   @Headers("Accept: {contentType}")
>   String getDocumentByType(@Param("contentType") String type);
> }
>```
>
> Keep this in mind when designing your interfaces.

#### Request Body Expansion

`Body` templates follow the same rules as [Request Parameter Expansion](#request-parameter-expansion)
with the following alterations:

* Unresolved expressions are omitted.
* Expanded value will **not** be passed through an `Encoder` before being placed on the request body.
* A `Content-Type` header must be specified.  See [Body Templates](#body-templates) for examples.

---
### Customization

Feign has several aspects that can be customized.  
For simple cases, you can use `Feign.builder()` to construct an API interface with your custom components.<br>
For request setting, you can use `options(Request.Options options)` on `target()` to set connectTimeout, connectTimeoutUnit, readTimeout, readTimeoutUnit, followRedirects.<br>
For example:

```java
interface Bank {
  @RequestLine("POST /account/{id}")
  Account getAccountInfo(@Param("id") String id);
}

public class BankService {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Bank bank = Feign.builder()
        .decoder(new AccountDecoder())
        .options(new Request.Options(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS, 60, TimeUnit.SECONDS, true))
        .target(Bank.class, "https://api.examplebank.com");
  }
}
```

### Multiple Interfaces
Feign can produce multiple api interfaces.  These are defined as `Target<T>` (default `HardCodedTarget<T>`), which allow for dynamic discovery and decoration of requests prior to execution.

For example, the following pattern might decorate each request with the current url and auth token from the identity service.

```java
public class CloudService {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    CloudDNS cloudDNS = Feign.builder()
      .target(new CloudIdentityTarget<CloudDNS>(user, apiKey));
  }

class CloudIdentityTarget extends Target<CloudDNS> {
    /* implementation of a Target */
  }
}
```

### Examples
Feign includes example [GitHub](./example-github) and [Wikipedia](./example-wikipedia) clients. The denominator project can also be scraped for Feign in practice. Particularly, look at its [example daemon](https://github.com/Netflix/denominator/tree/master/example-daemon).

---
### Integrations
Feign intends to work well with other Open Source tools.  Modules are welcome to integrate with your favorite projects!

### Encoder/Decoder

#### Gson
[Gson](./gson) includes a codec you can use with a JSON API.

```java
GitHub github = Feign.builder()
                     .codec(new GsonCodec())
                     .target(GitHub.class, "https://api.github.com");
```