spring

Spring Boot application framework CLI

TLDR

Create new project (via start.spring.io)

$ spring init --dependencies=[web,data-jpa,postgresql] [myapp]

Create with specific options

$ spring init --build=[gradle] --java-version=[17] --name=[myapp] [myapp]

Run Spring Boot application

$ ./mvnw spring-boot:run

Run with Gradle

$ ./gradlew bootRun

Package as JAR

$ ./mvnw package

Build native image

$ ./mvnw -Pnative native:compile

List available dependencies

$ spring init --list

Show version

$ spring --version

SYNOPSIS

spring command [options] [args...]
./mvnw spring-boot:goal
./gradlew bootTask

spring CLI and Spring Boot Maven/Gradle plugins manage Spring Boot applications. The CLI scaffolds new projects; plugins handle building and running.
spring init fetches project templates from start.spring.io with selected dependencies. Dependencies like web, data-jpa, security add starters that auto-configure functionality.
Running applications during development uses bootRun (Gradle) or spring-boot:run (Maven). DevTools enables hot reload when included as dependency.
bootJar / package creates an executable JAR with embedded server. Run with java -jar app.jar. bootBuildImage creates OCI container images without Dockerfile.
Native image support via GraalVM compiles to native executables with -Pnative profile. Requires GraalVM and produces fast-startup binaries.

SPRING CLI COMMANDS

init [options] [location]

Create new project from start.spring.io.

shell

Start interactive shell.

version

Show CLI version.

help [command]

Display help.

INIT OPTIONS

-d, --dependencies list

Project dependencies.

-b, --build type

Build system: maven, gradle.

-j, --java-version version

Java version: 17, 21.

-l, --language lang

Language: java, kotlin, groovy.

-n, --name name

Project name.

-g, --group-id group

Maven group ID.

-a, --artifact-id artifact

Maven artifact ID.

-p, --packaging type

Packaging: jar, war.

--boot-version version

Spring Boot version.

--list

List available options.

MAVEN/GRADLE GOALS

spring-boot:run / bootRun

Run application.

spring-boot:build-image / bootBuildImage

Build container image.

package / bootJar

Create executable JAR.

spring-boot:start / bootStart

Start application in background.

spring-boot:stop / bootStop

Stop background application.

CAVEATS

CLI primarily for project creation; Maven/Gradle for ongoing development. Auto-configuration may conflict with custom config. Native image requires additional metadata. DevTools should be excluded from production.

HISTORY

Spring Boot was created by Pivotal (now VMware) team led by Phil Webb and released in 2014. It simplified Spring Framework development with convention over configuration. Spring Boot 2.0 (2018) updated to Spring Framework 5. Version 3.0 (2022) required Java 17 and added native compilation support. Spring Boot is the most widely used Java application framework.