Master Spring Retry: Using @Retryable and @Recover for Robust Backend Retries

Preface

In real work, retry is a common scenario, such as message sending failure, remote service call failure, or lock acquisition failure. These errors may be caused by network fluctuations; waiting and retrying can succeed. Usually try/catch or while loops are used, but they lack uniformity. Spring‑retry provides annotation‑based, non‑intrusive retry functionality.

What is @Retryable?

spring-retry is a utility module that helps handle retries in a standard way. All configuration is based on simple annotations.

Usage Steps

POM Dependency

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.retry</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-retry</artifactId>
</dependency>

Enable @Retryable

@EnableRetry
@SpringBootApplication
public class HelloApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(HelloApplication.class, args);
    }
}

Add @Retryable on Method

import com.mail.elegant.service.TestRetryService;
import org.springframework.retry.annotation.Backoff;
import org.springframework.retry.annotation.Retryable;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
import java.time.LocalTime;

@Service
public class TestRetryServiceImpl implements TestRetryService {

    @Override
    @Retryable(value = Exception.class, maxAttempts = 3,
               backoff = @Backoff(delay = 2000, multiplier = 1.5))
    public int test(int code) throws Exception {
        System.out.println("test被调用,时间：" + LocalTime.now());
        if (code == 0) {
            throw new Exception("情况不对头！");
        }
        System.out.println("test被调用,情况对头了！");
        return 200;
    }
}

Explanation of annotation parameters: value: retry only for the specified exception types. include: same as value; default empty meaning all exceptions when exclude is also empty. exclude: exceptions that should not be retried. maxAttempts: maximum number of retry attempts, default is 3. backoff: retry waiting strategy using @Backoff. The default delay is 1000 ms; here it is set to 2000 ms. multiplier defines the delay multiplier; setting it to 1.5 yields delays of 2 s, 3 s, and 4.5 s for successive attempts.

@Recover

@Recover
public int recover(Exception e, int code) {
    System.out.println("回调方法执行！！！！");
    // log to database or other actions
    return 400;
}

When retries are exhausted, RetryOperations can delegate to a RecoveryCallback. Spring‑retry also provides the @Recover annotation for handling failed retries. The recovery method must have the same return type as the @Retryable method, its first parameter must be a Throwable matching the exception configured, and it must reside in the same class.

Precautions

Because it is based on AOP, self‑invocation within the same class is not supported.

If a retry fails and you need post‑processing via @Recover, the retry method must return void.

Do not use try/catch inside the retry method; let exceptions propagate outward.

The @Recover method must be in the same class as the @Retryable method, and its first parameter must be the exception thrown by @Retryable.

Conclusion

This article introduced the use of Spring Boot's @Retryable, its typical scenarios, and important considerations. It is useful when you need to implement retry logic in a clean, annotation‑driven way.