initializr/README.adoc

= Spring Initializr image:https://ci.spring.io/api/v1/teams/initializr/pipelines/initializr/jobs/build/badge["Build Status", link="https://ci.spring.io/teams/initializr/pipelines/initializr?groups=Build"] image:https://badges.gitter.im/spring-io/initializr.svg[link="https://gitter.im/spring-io/initializr?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge"]

:boot-doc: http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/htmlsingle
:code: https://github.com/spring-io/initializr/blob/master
:docs: http://docs.spring.io/initializr/docs/current-SNAPSHOT/reference
:service: https://github.com/spring-io/start.spring.io

Spring Initializr provides an extensible API to generate quickstart projects. It also
provides a configurable service (you can see our default instance at
link:https://start.spring.io[]). It provides a simple web UI to configure the project
to generate and endpoints that you can use via plain HTTP.

Spring Initializr also exposes an endpoint that serves its metadata in a well-known
format to allow third-party clients to provide the necessary assistance.

Finally, Initializr offers a configuration structure to define all the aspects
related to the project to generate: list of dependencies, supported java and boot
versions, etc. Check {service}[the companion project] that defines
https://start.spring.io and, in particular, the
{service}/blob/master/src/main/resources/application.yml[configuration of our instance]
for an example. Such configuration is also described in details in the documentation.

NOTE: Check the https://github.com/spring-io/initializr/milestones[milestones page] for an
overview of the changes.

== Installation and Getting Started
The reference documentation is available in {docs}/html/[HTML format].


== Modules
Spring Initializr has the following modules:

* `initializr-generator`: standalone project generation library that can be reused
in many environments (including embedded in your own project)
* `initializr-web`: REST endpoints and web interface
* `initializr-actuator`: optional module to provide statistics and metrics on project
generation
* `initializr-docs`: documentation

== Supported interfaces

Spring Initializr can be used as follows:

* With your browser (i.e. link:https://start.spring.io[])
* In your IDE if you are using STS, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or NetBeans (with
https://github.com/AlexFalappa/nb-springboot[this plugin])
* On the command-line with {boot-doc}/#cli-init[the Spring Boot CLI] or simply with
`cURL` or `HTTPie`

[TIP]
====
You can "curl" an instance to get a usage page with examples (try
`curl start.spring.io`)
====

== Generating a project
If you click on "Generate Project" on the web ui of our instance, it will download a
project archive with a Maven-based project and the necessary infrastructure to start
a basic Spring Boot app.

You could achieve the same result with a simple `curl` command

[source,bash]
----
$ curl https://start.spring.io/starter.zip -o demo.zip
----

The web ui exposes a bunch of options that you can configure. These are mapped to the
following request attributes:

* Basic information for the generated project: `groupId`, `artifactId`, `version`,
`name`, `description` and `packageName`
** The `name` attribute is also used to generate a default application name. The
logic is that the name of the application is equal to the `name` attribute with an
`Application` suffix (unless said suffix is already present). Of course, if the
specified name contains an invalid character for a java identifier, `Application` is
used as fallback.
** The `artifactId` attribute not only defines the identifier of the project in the
build but also the name of the generated archive.
* `dependencies` (or `style`): the identifiers of the dependencies to add to the
project. Such identifiers are defined through configuration and are exposed in the
<<metadata,metadata>>.
* `type`: the _kind_ of project to generate (e.g. `maven-project`). Again, each
service exposes an arbitrary number of supported types and these are available in the
<<metadata,metadata>>.
* `javaVersion`: the language level (e.g. `1.8`).
* `bootVersion`: the Spring Boot version to use (e.g. `1.2.0.RELEASE`).
* `language`: the programming language to use (e.g. `java`).
* `packaging`: the packaging of the project (e.g. `jar`).
* `applicationName`: the name of the application class (inferred by the `name`
attribute by default).
* `baseDir`: the name of the base directory to create in the archive. By default, the
project is stored in the root.

This command generates an `another-project` directory holding a Gradle web-based
Groovy project using the actuator:

[source,bash]
----
$ curl https://start.spring.io/starter.tgz -d dependencies=web,actuator \
-d language=groovy -d type=gradle-project -d baseDir=another-project | tar -xzvf -
----

NOTE: The `/starter.tgz` endpoint offers the same feature as `/starter.zip` but
generates a compressed tarball instead.

You could use this infrastructure to create your own client since the project is
generated via a plain HTTP call.

[[customize-form]]
== Customize form inputs

You can share or bookmark URLs that will automatically customize form inputs. For
instance, the following URL from the default instance uses `groovy` by default and
set the name to `Groovy Sample`:

[source,bash]
----
https://start.spring.io/#!language=groovy&name=Groovy%20Sample
----

The following hashbang parameters are supported: `type`, `groupId`, `artifactId`,
`name`, `description`, `packageName`, `packaging`, `javaVersion` and `language`.
Review the section above for a description of each of them.

[[metadata]]
== Service metadata

The service metadata is used by the web UI and is exposed to ease the creation of
third-party clients. You can grab the metadata by _curling_ the root

[source,bash]
----
$ curl -H 'Accept: application/json' https://start.spring.io
----

NOTE: As stated above, if you use `curl` without an accept header, you'll retrieve a
human readable text version of the metadata. `HTTPie` is also supported:

[source,bash]
----
$ http https://start.spring.io Accept:application/json
----

The metadata basically lists the _capabilities_ of the service, that is the available
options for all request parameters (`dependencies`, `type`, `bootVersion`, etc.) The
web UI uses that information to initialize the select options and the tree of
available dependencies.

The metadata also lists the default values for simple _text_ parameter (i.e. the
default `name` for the project).

NOTE: More details about the structure of the metadata are
{docs}/htmlsingle/#metadata-format[available in the documentation].

== Running your own instance

You can easily run your own instance. The `initializr-web` modules uses Spring Boot
so when it is added to a project, it will trigger the necessary auto-configuration to
deploy the service.

You first need to create or update your configuration to define the necessary
attributes that your instance will use. Again, check the documentation for a
{docs}/htmlsingle/#configuration-format[description of the configuration] and
{service}[review our own config] for a sample.

You can integrate the library in a traditional Java-based project or by writing the
super-simple script below:

[source,groovy]
----
package org.acme.myapp

@Grab('io.spring.initializr:initializr-web:1.0.0.BUILD-SNAPSHOT')
@Grab('spring-boot-starter-web')
class YourInitializrApplication { }
----

NOTE: Spring Initializr is not available on Maven central yet so you will have to
build it <<build,from source>> in order to use it in your own environment.

Once you have created that script (`my-instance.groovy`), place your configuration
in the same directory and simply execute this command to start the service:

[source,bash]
----
$ spring run my-instance.groovy
----

You may also want to https://github.com/spring-io/start.spring.io#run-app[run the default
instance locally].


[[build]]
== Building from Source

You need Java 1.8 and a bash-like shell.

[[building]]
=== Building

Just invoke the build at the root of the project

[indent=0]
----
    $ ./mvnw clean install
----

If you want to run the smoke tests using Geb, you need to enable the
`smokeTests` profile. Firefox should also be installed on your machine:

[indent=0]
----
    $ ./mvnw verify -PsmokeTests
----

To generate the docs as well, you should enable the `full` profile:

[indent=0]
----
    $ ./mvnw clean install -Pfull
----

== License
Spring Initializr is Open Source software released under the
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html[Apache 2.0 license].