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Using Reactive Routes

Reactive routes propose an alternative approach to implement HTTP endpoints where you declare and chain routes. This approach became very popular in the JavaScript world, with frameworks like Express.Js or Hapi. Quarkus also offers the possibility to use reactive routes. You can implement REST API with routes only or combine them with Jakarta REST resources and servlets.

The code presented in this guide is available in this GitHub repository under the reactive-routes-quickstart directory

Reactive Routes were initially introduced to provide a reactive execution model for HTTP APIs on top of the Quarkus Reactive Architecture. With the introduction of Quarkus REST (formerly RESTEasy Reactive), you can now implement reactive HTTP APIs and still use Jakarta REST annotations. Reactive Routes are still supported, especially if you want a more route-based approach, and something closer to the underlying reactive engine.

Quarkus HTTP

Before going further, let’s have a look at the HTTP layer of Quarkus. Quarkus HTTP support is based on a non-blocking and reactive engine (Eclipse Vert.x and Netty). All the HTTP requests your application receive are handled by event loops (I/O Thread) and then are routed towards the code that manages the request. Depending on the destination, it can invoke the code managing the request on a worker thread (Servlet, Jax-RS) or use the IO Thread (reactive route). Note that because of this, a reactive route must be non-blocking or explicitly declare its blocking nature (which would result by being called on a worker thread).

Quarkus HTTP Architecture

See the Quarkus Reactive Architecture documentation for further details on this topic.

Declaring reactive routes

The first way to use reactive routes is to use the @Route annotation. To have access to this annotation, you need to add the quarkus-reactive-routes extension by running this command:

CLI
quarkus extension add quarkus-reactive-routes
Maven
./mvnw quarkus:add-extension -Dextensions='quarkus-reactive-routes'
Gradle
./gradlew addExtension --extensions='quarkus-reactive-routes'

Esto añadirá lo siguiente a su archivo de construcción:

pom.xml
<dependency>
    <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
    <artifactId>quarkus-reactive-routes</artifactId>
</dependency>
build.gradle
implementation("io.quarkus:quarkus-reactive-routes")

Then in a bean, you can use the @Route annotation as follows:

package org.acme.reactive.routes;

import io.quarkus.vertx.web.Route;
import io.quarkus.vertx.web.Route.HttpMethod;
import io.quarkus.vertx.web.RoutingExchange;
import io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext;

import jakarta.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;

@ApplicationScoped (1)
public class MyDeclarativeRoutes {

    // neither path nor regex is set - match a path derived from the method name
    @Route(methods = Route.HttpMethod.GET) (2)
    void hello(RoutingContext rc) { (3)
        rc.response().end("hello");
    }

    @Route(path = "/world")
    String helloWorld() { (4)
        return "Hello world!";
    }

    @Route(path = "/greetings", methods = Route.HttpMethod.GET)
    void greetingsQueryParam(RoutingExchange ex) { (5)
        ex.ok("hello " + ex.getParam("name").orElse("world")); (6)
    }

    @Route(path = "/greetings/:name", methods = Route.HttpMethod.GET) (7)
    void greetingsPathParam(@Param String name, RoutingExchange ex) {
        ex.ok("hello " + name);
    }
}
1 If there is a reactive route found on a class with no scope annotation then @jakarta.inject.Singleton is added automatically.
2 The @Route annotation indicates that the method is a reactive route. Again, by default, the code contained in the method must not block.
3 The method gets a RoutingContext as a parameter. From the RoutingContext you can retrieve the HTTP request (using request()) and write the response using response().end(…​).
4 If the annotated method does not return void the arguments are optional.
5 RoutingExchange is a convenient wrapper of RoutingContext which provides some useful methods.
6 The RoutingExchange is used to retrieve the request query parameter name.
7 The path defines a parameter name which can be injected inside the method parameters using the annotation @Param.

More details about using the RoutingContext is available in the Vert.x Web documentation.

The @Route annotation allows you to configure:

  • The path - for routing by path, using the Vert.x Web format

  • The regex - for routing with regular expressions, see for more details

  • The methods - the HTTP verbs triggering the route such as GET, POST…​

  • The type - it can be normal (non-blocking), blocking (method dispatched on a worker thread), or failure to indicate that this route is called on failures

  • The order - the order of the route when several routes are involved in handling the incoming request. Must be positive for regular user routes.

  • The produced and consumed mime types using produces, and consumes

For instance, you can declare a blocking route as follows:

@Route(methods = HttpMethod.POST, path = "/post", type = Route.HandlerType.BLOCKING)
public void blocking(RoutingContext rc) {
    // ...
}

Alternatively, you can use @io.smallrye.common.annotation.Blocking and omit the type = Route.HandlerType.BLOCKING:

@Route(methods = HttpMethod.POST, path = "/post")
@Blocking
public void blocking(RoutingContext rc) {
    // ...
}

When @Blocking is used, the type attribute of the @Route is ignored.

The @Route annotation is repeatable and so you can declare several routes for a single method:

@Route(path = "/first") (1)
@Route(path = "/second")
public void route(RoutingContext rc) {
    // ...
}
1 Each route can use different paths, methods…​

If no content-type header is set, then we will try to use the most acceptable content type by matching the accept header with the value of the Route produces attribute as defined by io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext.getAcceptableContentType().

@Route(path = "/person", produces = "text/html") (1)
String person() {
    // ...
}
1 If the accept header matches text/html, we set the content type automatically to text/html.

Executing route on a virtual thread

You can annotate a route method with @io.smallrye.common.annotation.RunOnVirtualThread in order to execute it on a virtual thread. However, keep in mind that not everything can run safely on virtual threads. You should read the Virtual thread support reference carefully and get acquainted with all the details.

Handling conflicting routes

You may end up with multiple routes matching a given path. In the following example, both route matches /accounts/me:

@Route(path = "/accounts/:id", methods = HttpMethod.GET)
void getAccount(RoutingContext rc) {
  ...
}

@Route(path = "/accounts/me", methods = HttpMethod.GET)
void getCurrentUserAccount(RoutingContext rc) {
  ...
}

As a consequence, the result is not the expected one as the first route is called with the path parameter id set to me. To avoid the conflict, use the order attribute:

@Route(path = "/accounts/:id", methods = HttpMethod.GET, order = 2)
void getAccount(RoutingContext rc) {
  ...
}

@Route(path = "/accounts/me", methods = HttpMethod.GET, order = 1)
void getCurrentUserAccount(RoutingContext rc) {
  ...
}

By giving a lower order to the second route, it gets evaluated first. If the request path matches, it is invoked, otherwise the other routes are evaluated.

@RouteBase

This annotation can be used to configure some defaults for reactive routes declared on a class.

@RouteBase(path = "simple", produces = "text/plain") (1) (2)
public class SimpleRoutes {

    @Route(path = "ping") // the final path is /simple/ping
    void ping(RoutingContext rc) {
        rc.response().end("pong");
    }
}
1 The path value is used as a prefix for any route method declared on the class where Route#path() is used.
2 The value of produces() is used for content-based routing for all routes where Route#produces() is empty.

Reactive Route Methods

A route method must be a non-private non-static method of a CDI bean. If the annotated method returns void then it has to accept at least one argument - see the supported types below. If the annotated method does not return void then the arguments are optional.

Methods that return void must end the response or the HTTP request to this route will never end. Some methods of RoutingExchange do it for you, others not and you must call the end() method of the response by yourself, please refer to its JavaDoc for more information.

A route method can accept arguments of the following types:

  • io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext

  • io.quarkus.vertx.web.RoutingExchange

  • io.vertx.core.http.HttpServerRequest

  • io.vertx.core.http.HttpServerResponse

  • io.vertx.mutiny.core.http.HttpServerRequest

  • io.vertx.mutiny.core.http.HttpServerResponse

Furthermore, it is possible to inject the HttpServerRequest parameters into method parameters annotated with @io.quarkus.vertx.web.Param using the following types:

Parameter Type Obtained via

java.lang.String

routingContext.request().getParam()

java.util.Optional<String>

routingContext.request().getParam()

java.util.List<String>

routingContext.request().params().getAll()
Request Parameter Example
@Route
String hello(@Param Optional<String> name) {
   return "Hello " + name.orElse("world");
}

The HttpServerRequest headers can be injected into method parameters annotated with @io.quarkus.vertx.web.Header using the following types:

Parameter Type Obtained via

java.lang.String

routingContext.request().getHeader()

java.util.Optional<String>

routingContext.request().getHeader()

java.util.List<String>

routingContext.request().headers().getAll()
Request Header Example
@Route
String helloFromHeader(@Header("My-Header") String header) {
   return header;
}

The request body can be injected into a method parameter annotated with @io.quarkus.vertx.web.Body using the following types:

Parameter Type Obtained via

java.lang.String

routingContext.getBodyAsString()

io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer

routingContext.getBody()

io.vertx.core.json.JsonObject

routingContext.getBodyAsJson()

io.vertx.core.json.JsonArray

routingContext.getBodyAsJsonArray()

any other type

routingContext.getBodyAsJson().mapTo(MyPojo.class)
Request Body Example
@Route(produces = "application/json")
Person createPerson(@Body Person person, @Param("id") Optional<String> primaryKey) {
  person.setId(primaryKey.map(Integer::valueOf).orElse(42));
  return person;
}

A failure handler can declare a single method parameter whose type extends Throwable. The type of the parameter is used to match the result of RoutingContext#failure().

Failure Handler Example
@Route(type = HandlerType.FAILURE)
void unsupported(UnsupportedOperationException e, HttpServerResponse response) {
  response.setStatusCode(501).end(e.getMessage());
}

Returning Unis

In a reactive route, you can return a Uni directly:

@Route(path = "/hello")
Uni<String> hello() {
    return Uni.createFrom().item("Hello world!");
}

@Route(path = "/person")
Uni<Person> getPerson() {
    return Uni.createFrom().item(() -> new Person("neo", 12345));
}

Returning Unis is convenient when using a reactive client:

@Route(path = "/mail")
Uni<Void> sendEmail() {
    return mailer.send(...);
}

The item produced by the returned Uni can be:

  • A string - written into the HTTP response directly.

  • A io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer - written into the HTTP response directly.

  • An object - written into the HTTP response after having been encoded into JSON. The content-type header is set to application/json if not already set.

If the returned Uni produces a failure (or is null), an HTTP 500 response is written.

Returning a Uni<Void> produces a 204 response (no content).

Returning results

You can also return a result directly:

@Route(path = "/hello")
String helloSync() {
    return "Hello world";
}

Be aware, the processing must be non-blocking as reactive routes are invoked on the IO Thread. Otherwise, set the type attribute of the @Route annotation to Route.HandlerType.BLOCKING, or use the @io.smallrye.common.annotation.Blocking annotation.

The method can return:

  • A string - written into the HTTP response directly.

  • A io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer - written into the HTTP response directly.

  • An object - written into the HTTP response after having been encoded into JSON. The content-type header is set to application/json if not already set.

Returning Multis

A reactive route can return a Multi. The items are written one by one, in the response. The response Transfer-Encoding header is set to chunked.

@Route(path = "/hello")
Multi<String> hellos() {
    return Multi.createFrom().items("hello", "world", "!");  (1)
}
1 Produces helloworld!

The method can return:

  • A Multi<String> - the items are written one by one (one per chunk) in the response.

  • A Multi<Buffer> - the buffers are written one by one (one per chunk) without any processing.

  • A Multi<Object> - the items are encoded to JSON written one by one in the response.

@Route(path = "/people")
Multi<Person> people() {
    return Multi.createFrom().items(
            new Person("superman", 1),
            new Person("batman", 2),
            new Person("spiderman", 3));
}

The previous snippet produces:

{"name":"superman", "id": 1} // chunk 1
{"name":"batman", "id": 2} // chunk 2
{"name":"spiderman", "id": 3} // chunk 3

Streaming JSON Array items

You can return a Multi to produce a JSON Array, where every item is an item from this array. The response is written item by item to the client. To do that set the produces attribute to "application/json" (or ReactiveRoutes.APPLICATION_JSON).

@Route(path = "/people", produces = ReactiveRoutes.APPLICATION_JSON)
Multi<Person> people() {
    return Multi.createFrom().items(
            new Person("superman", 1),
            new Person("batman", 2),
            new Person("spiderman", 3));
}

The previous snippet produces:

[
  {"name":"superman", "id": 1} // chunk 1
  ,{"name":"batman", "id": 2} // chunk 2
  ,{"name":"spiderman", "id": 3} // chunk 3
]
The produces attribute is an array. When you pass a single value you can omit the "{" and "}". Note that "application/json" must be the first value in the array.

Only Multi<String>, Multi<Object> and Multi<Void> can be written into the JSON Array. Using a Multi<Void> produces an empty array. You cannot use Multi<Buffer>. If you need to use Buffer, transform the content into a JSON or String representation first.

Deprecation of asJsonArray

The ReactiveRoutes.asJsonArray has been deprecated as it is not compatible with the security layer of Quarkus.

Event Stream and Server-Sent Event support

You can return a Multi to produce an event source (stream of server sent events). To enable this feature, set the produces attribute to "text/event-stream" (or ReactiveRoutes.EVENT_STREAM), such as in:

@Route(path = "/people", produces = ReactiveRoutes.EVENT_STREAM)
Multi<Person> people() {
    return Multi.createFrom().items(
            new Person("superman", 1),
            new Person("batman", 2),
            new Person("spiderman", 3));
}

This method would produce:

data: {"name":"superman", "id": 1}
id: 0

data: {"name":"batman", "id": 2}
id: 1

data: {"name":"spiderman", "id": 3}
id: 2
The produces attribute is an array. When you pass a single value you can omit the "{" and "}". Note that "text/event-stream" must be the first value in the array.

You can also implement the io.quarkus.vertx.web.ReactiveRoutes.ServerSentEvent interface to customize the event and id section of the server sent event:

class PersonEvent implements ReactiveRoutes.ServerSentEvent<Person> {
    public String name;
    public int id;

    public PersonEvent(String name, int id) {
        this.name = name;
        this.id = id;
    }

    @Override
    public Person data() {
        return new Person(name, id); // Will be JSON encoded
    }

    @Override
    public long id() {
        return id;
    }

    @Override
    public String event() {
        return "person";
    }
}

Using a Multi<PersonEvent> would produce:

event: person
data: {"name":"superman", "id": 1}
id: 1

event: person
data: {"name":"batman", "id": 2}
id: 2

event: person
data: {"name":"spiderman", "id": 3}
id: 3
Deprecation of asEventStream

The ReactiveRoutes.asEventStream has been deprecated as it is not compatible with the security layer of Quarkus.

Json Stream in NDJSON format

You can return a Multi to produce a newline delimited stream of JSON values. To enable this feature, set the produces attribute of the @Route annotation to "application/x-ndjson" (or ReactiveRoutes.ND_JSON):

@Route(path = "/people", produces = ReactiveRoutes.ND_JSON)
Multi<Person> people() {
    return ReactiveRoutes.asJsonStream(Multi.createFrom().items(
            new Person("superman", 1),
            new Person("batman", 2),
            new Person("spiderman", 3)
            ));
}

This method would produce:

{"name":"superman", "id": 1}
{"name":"batman", "id": 2}
{"name":"spiderman", "id": 3}
The produces attribute is an array. When you pass a single value you can omit the "{" and "}". Note that "application/x-ndjson" must be the first value in the array.

You can also provide strings instead of objects, in that case the strings will be wrapped in quotes to become valid JSON values:

@Route(path = "/people", produces = ReactiveRoutes.ND_JSON)
Multi<Person> people() {
    return ReactiveRoutes.asJsonStream(Multi.createFrom().items(
            "superman",
            "batman",
            "spiderman"
            ));
}
"superman"
"batman"
"spiderman"
Deprecation of asJsonStream

The ReactiveRoutes.asJsonStream has been deprecated as it is not compatible with the security layer of Quarkus.

Using Bean Validation

You can combine reactive routes and Bean Validation. First, don’t forget to add the quarkus-hibernate-validator extension to your project. Then, you can add constraints to your route parameter (annotated with @Param or @Body):

@Route(produces = "application/json")
Person createPerson(@Body @Valid Person person, @NonNull @Param("id") String primaryKey) {
  // ...
}

If the parameters do not pass the tests, it returns an HTTP 400 response. If the request accepts JSON payload, the response follows the Problem format.

When returning an object or a Uni, you can also use the @Valid annotation:

@Route(...)
@Valid Uni<Person> createPerson(@Body @Valid Person person, @NonNull @Param("id") String primaryKey) {
  // ...
}

If the item produced by the route does not pass the validation, it returns an HTTP 500 response. If the request accepts JSON payload, the response follows the Problem format.

Note that only @Valid is supported on the return type. The returned class can use any constraint. In the case of Uni, it checks the item produced asynchronously.

Using the Vert.x Web Router

You can also register your route directly on the HTTP routing layer by registering routes directly on the Router object. To retrieve the Router instance at startup:

public void init(@Observes Router router) {
    router.get("/my-route").handler(rc -> rc.response().end("Hello from my route"));
}

Check the Vert.x Web documentation to know more about the route registration, options, and available handlers.

Router access is provided by the quarkus-vertx-http extension. If you use quarkus-rest or quarkus-reactive-routes, the extension will be added automatically.

You can also receive the Mutiny variant of the Router (io.vertx.mutiny.ext.web.Router):

public void init(@Observes io.vertx.mutiny.ext.web.Router router) {
    router.get("/my-route").handler(rc -> rc.response().endAndForget("Hello from my route"));
}

Intercepting HTTP requests

You can also register filters that would intercept incoming HTTP requests. Note that these filters are also applied for servlets, Jakarta REST resources, and reactive routes.

For example, the following code snippet registers a filter adding an HTTP header:

package org.acme.reactive.routes;

import io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext;

public class MyFilters {

    @RouteFilter(100) (1)
    void myFilter(RoutingContext rc) {
       rc.response().putHeader("X-Header", "intercepting the request");
       rc.next(); (2)
    }
}
1 The RouteFilter#value() defines the priority used to sort the filters - filters with higher priority are called first.
2 The filter is likely required to call the next() method to continue the chain.

HTTP Compression

The body of an HTTP response is not compressed by default. You can enable the HTTP compression support by means of quarkus.http.enable-compression=true.

If compression support is enabled then the response body is compressed if:

  • the route method is annotated with @io.quarkus.vertx.http.Compressed, or

  • the Content-Type header is set and the value is a compressed media type as configured via quarkus.http.compress-media-types.

The response body is never compressed if:

  • the route method is annotated with @io.quarkus.vertx.http.Uncompressed, or

  • the Content-Type header is not set.

By default, the following list of media types is compressed: text/html, text/plain, text/xml, text/css, text/javascript, application/javascript, application/json, application/graphql+json and application/xhtml+xml.
If the client does not support HTTP compression then the response body is not compressed.

Adding OpenAPI and Swagger UI

You can add support for OpenAPI and Swagger UI by using the quarkus-smallrye-openapi extension.

Add the extension by running this command:

CLI
quarkus extension add quarkus-smallrye-openapi
Maven
./mvnw quarkus:add-extension -Dextensions='quarkus-smallrye-openapi'
Gradle
./gradlew addExtension --extensions='quarkus-smallrye-openapi'

Esto añadirá lo siguiente a su archivo de construcción:

pom.xml
<dependency>
    <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
    <artifactId>quarkus-smallrye-openapi</artifactId>
</dependency>
build.gradle
implementation("io.quarkus:quarkus-smallrye-openapi")

This is enough to generate a basic OpenAPI schema document from your Vert.x Routes:

curl http://localhost:8080/q/openapi

You will see the generated OpenAPI schema document:

---
openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Generated API
  version: "1.0"
paths:
  /greetings:
    get:
      responses:
        "204":
          description: No Content
  /hello:
    get:
      responses:
        "204":
          description: No Content
  /world:
    get:
      responses:
        "200":
          description: OK
          content:
            '*/*':
              schema:
                type: string

Also see the OpenAPI Guide.

Adding MicroProfile OpenAPI Annotations

You can use MicroProfile OpenAPI to better document your schema, for instance, adding header info, or specifying the return type on void methods might be useful:

@OpenAPIDefinition( (1)
    info = @Info(
        title="Greeting API",
        version = "1.0.1",
        contact = @Contact(
            name = "Greeting API Support",
            url = "http://exampleurl.com/contact",
            email = "techsupport@example.com"),
        license = @License(
            name = "Apache 2.0",
            url = "https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html"))
)
@ApplicationScoped
public class MyDeclarativeRoutes {

    // neither path nor regex is set - match a path derived from the method name
    @Route(methods = Route.HttpMethod.GET)
    @APIResponse(responseCode="200",
            description="Say hello",
            content=@Content(mediaType="application/json", schema=@Schema(type=SchemaType.STRING))) (2)
    void hello(RoutingContext rc) {
        rc.response().end("hello");
    }

    @Route(path = "/world")
    String helloWorld() {
        return "Hello world!";
    }

    @Route(path = "/greetings", methods = HttpMethod.GET)
    @APIResponse(responseCode="200",
            description="Greeting",
            content=@Content(mediaType="application/json", schema=@Schema(type=SchemaType.STRING)))
    void greetings(RoutingExchange ex) {
        ex.ok("hello " + ex.getParam("name").orElse("world"));
    }
}
1 Header information about your API.
2 Defining the response.

This will generate this OpenAPI schema:

---
openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Greeting API
  contact:
    name: Greeting API Support
    url: http://exampleurl.com/contact
    email: techsupport@example.com
  license:
    name: Apache 2.0
    url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
  version: 1.0.1
paths:
  /greetings:
    get:
      responses:
        "200":
          description: Greeting
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: string
  /hello:
    get:
      responses:
        "200":
          description: Say hello
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: string
  /world:
    get:
      responses:
        "200":
          description: OK
          content:
            '*/*':
              schema:
                type: string

Using Swagger UI

Swagger UI is included by default when running in dev or test mode, and can optionally be added to prod mode. For more information, see the Swagger UI guide.

Navigate to localhost:8080/q/swagger-ui/ and observe the Swagger UI screen:

Swagger UI

Conclusion

This guide has introduced how you can use reactive routes to define an HTTP endpoint. It also describes the structure of the Quarkus HTTP layer and how to write filters.

Related content

On the same topics

Quarkus is open. All dependencies of this project are available under the Apache Software License 2.0 or compatible license.

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