This version is still in development and is not considered stable yet. For the latest stable version, please use Spring Framework 6.0.26!

Filters

You can register a client filter (ExchangeFilterFunction) through the WebClient.Builder in order to intercept and modify requests, as the following example shows:

Java
Kotlin

WebClient client = WebClient.builder()
		.filter((request, next) -> {

			ClientRequest filtered = ClientRequest.from(request)
					.header("foo", "bar")
					.build();

			return next.exchange(filtered);
		})
		.build();

val client = WebClient.builder()
		.filter { request, next ->

			val filtered = ClientRequest.from(request)
					.header("foo", "bar")
					.build()

			next.exchange(filtered)
		}
		.build()

This can be used for cross-cutting concerns, such as authentication. The following example uses a filter for basic authentication through a static factory method:

Java
Kotlin

import static org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.ExchangeFilterFunctions.basicAuthentication;

WebClient client = WebClient.builder()
		.filter(basicAuthentication("user", "password"))
		.build();

import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.ExchangeFilterFunctions.basicAuthentication

val client = WebClient.builder()
		.filter(basicAuthentication("user", "password"))
		.build()

Filters can be added or removed by mutating an existing WebClient instance, resulting in a new WebClient instance that does not affect the original one. For example:

Java
Kotlin

import static org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.ExchangeFilterFunctions.basicAuthentication;

WebClient client = webClient.mutate()
		.filters(filterList -> {
			filterList.add(0, basicAuthentication("user", "password"));
		})
		.build();

val client = webClient.mutate()
		.filters { it.add(0, basicAuthentication("user", "password")) }
		.build()

WebClient is a thin facade around the chain of filters followed by an ExchangeFunction. It provides a workflow to make requests, to encode to and from higher level objects, and it helps to ensure that response content is always consumed. When filters handle the response in some way, extra care must be taken to always consume its content or to otherwise propagate it downstream to the WebClient which will ensure the same. Below is a filter that handles the UNAUTHORIZED status code but ensures that any response content, whether expected or not, is released:

Java
Kotlin

public ExchangeFilterFunction renewTokenFilter() {
	return (request, next) -> next.exchange(request).flatMap(response -> {
		if (response.statusCode().value() == HttpStatus.UNAUTHORIZED.value()) {
			return response.releaseBody()
					.then(renewToken())
					.flatMap(token -> {
						ClientRequest newRequest = ClientRequest.from(request).build();
						return next.exchange(newRequest);
					});
		} else {
			return Mono.just(response);
		}
	});
}

fun renewTokenFilter(): ExchangeFilterFunction? {
	return ExchangeFilterFunction { request: ClientRequest?, next: ExchangeFunction ->
		next.exchange(request!!).flatMap { response: ClientResponse ->
			if (response.statusCode().value() == HttpStatus.UNAUTHORIZED.value()) {
				return@flatMap response.releaseBody()
						.then(renewToken())
						.flatMap { token: String? ->
							val newRequest = ClientRequest.from(request).build()
							next.exchange(newRequest)
						}
			} else {
				return@flatMap Mono.just(response)
			}
		}
	}
}