Riptide
A next-generation HTTP client for Spring that implements client-side response routing, embracing HTTP's full power.
What is Riptide?
Riptide is a next-generation HTTP client library for Spring that implements client-side response routing. It allows Java developers to fully leverage HTTP's capabilities by dispatching responses to different callbacks based on status codes, content types, or other conditions, rather than forcing a single-return paradigm. The library provides built-in resilience features, asynchronous communication, and a type-safe API.
Java developers building Spring-based applications who need robust, flexible HTTP client capabilities with fine-grained control over response handling and resilience patterns.
Developers choose Riptide because it doesn't abstract HTTP away but embraces it, offering unique response routing, built-in resilience, and a plugin-based extensibility model that integrates seamlessly with Spring's ecosystem.
Overview
Client-side response routing for Spring
Use Cases
Best For
- Handling multiple distinct happy-case responses in HTTP APIs
- Implementing resilient HTTP clients with retries and circuit breakers
- Building asynchronous, non-blocking HTTP communication in Spring apps
- Dispatching responses based on status codes or content types
- Integrating custom plugins for authorization, metrics, or fault detection
- Replacing Feign or Retrofit with a more HTTP-aware client
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring simple, declarative HTTP clients without complex callback routing
- Teams using non-Spring frameworks or older Java versions (pre-Java 17)
- Applications prioritizing minimal configuration and quick setup over advanced HTTP control
Pros & Cons
Pros
Enables dispatching responses to different callbacks based on status codes, series, or content types, allowing multiple happy-case handling as demonstrated in the example with SUCCESSFUL and CLIENT_ERROR series.
Includes isolated thread pools, connection pools, bounded queues, and integrations for retries, circuit breakers, and fault detection via modules like riptide-failsafe and riptide-faults.
Returns CompletableFuture for non-blocking IO, with optional synchronous return values through riptide-capture, promoting scalable application design.
Offers a plugin system for adding custom functionality like authorization, metrics, and transient fault detection, as seen with plugins such as AuthorizationPlugin and MicrometerPlugin.
Cons
Requires manual setup of executors, request factories, and plugins, with even the bare minimum configuration needing explicit thread pool management, increasing initial overhead.
Frequent major version upgrades (e.g., from 4.x to 5.x) come with migration guides for breaking changes, which can disrupt existing implementations and require significant updates.
Tightly coupled with Spring framework versions, necessitating Java 17 and Spring 7, limiting flexibility for projects outside this ecosystem or with legacy dependencies.
Open Source Alternative To
Riptide is an open-source alternative to the following products:
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
FeignFeign makes writing java http clients easier
Async Http ClientHigh-Performance Asynchronous HTTP and WebSocket Client Library for Java
ribbonRibbon is a Inter Process Communication (remote procedure calls) library with built in software load balancers. The primary usage model involves REST calls with various serialization scheme support.
unirest-javaUnirest in Java: Simplified, lightweight HTTP client library.
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.