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--- title: Quickstart for adding feature flags to Spring Boot with Azure App Configuration description: Add feature flags to Spring Boot apps and manage them using Azure App Configuration author: mrm9084 ms.service: azure-app-configuration ms.devlang: java ms.topic: quickstart ms.date: 08/25/2025 ms.author: mametcal ms.custom: devx-track-java, mode-other #Customer intent: As an Spring Boot developer, I want to use feature flags to control feature availability quickly and confidently. --- # Quickstart: Add feature flags to a Spring Boot app In this quickstart, you incorporate Azure App Configuration into a Spring Boot web app to create an end-to-end implementation of feature management. You can use App Configuration to centrally store all your feature flags and control their states. The Spring Boot Feature Management libraries extend the framework with comprehensive feature flag support. These libraries do **not** have a dependency on any Azure libraries. They seamlessly integrate with App Configuration through its Spring Boot configuration provider. ## Prerequisites - An Azure account with an active subscription. [Create one for free](https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/purchase-options/azure-account?cid=msft_learn). - An App Configuration store, as shown in the [tutorial for creating a store](./quickstart-azure-app-configuration-create.md#create-an-app-configuration-store). - A supported [Java Development Kit SDK](/java/azure/jdk) with version 11. - [Apache Maven](https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi) version 3.0 or above. ## Add a feature flag Add a feature flag called *Beta* to the App Configuration store and leave **Label** and **Description** with their default values. For more information about how to add feature flags to a store using the Azure portal or the CLI, go to [Create a feature flag](./manage-feature-flags.md#create-a-feature-flag). > [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] >  ## Create a Spring Boot app To create a new Spring Boot project: 1. Browse to the [Spring Initializr](https://start.spring.io). 1. Specify the following options: * Generate a **Maven** project with **Java**. * Specify a **Spring Boot** version that's equal to or greater than 2.0. * Specify the **Group** and **Artifact** names for your application. This article uses `com.example` and `demo`. * Add the **Spring Web** dependency. 1. After you specify the previous options, select **Generate Project**. When prompted, download the project to your local computer. ## Add feature management 1. After you extract the files on your local system, your Spring Boot application is ready for editing. Locate *pom.xml* in the root directory of your app. 1. Open the *pom.xml* file in a text editor and add the following to the list of `<dependencies>`: ```xml <dependency> <groupId>com.azure.spring</groupId> <artifactId>spring-cloud-azure-appconfiguration-config-web</artifactId> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>com.azure.spring</groupId> <artifactId>spring-cloud-azure-feature-management-web</artifactId> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId> </dependency> <dependencyManagement> <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>com.azure.spring</groupId> <artifactId>spring-cloud-azure-dependencies</artifactId> <version>6.0.0</version> <type>pom</type> <scope>import</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> </dependencyManagement> ``` > [!NOTE] > * There's a non-web Feature Management Library that doesn't have a dependency on spring-web. Refer to GitHub's [documentation](https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-java/tree/main/sdk/spring/spring-cloud-azure-feature-management) for differences. ## Connect to an App Configuration store 1. Navigate to the `resources` directory of your app and open the `bootstrap.properties` or `bootstrap.yaml` file. If the file doesn't exist, create it. You can connect to your App Configuration store using Microsoft Entra ID (recommended), or a connection string. ### [Microsoft Entra ID (recommended)](#tab/entra-id) 1. Update your configuration files. If you're using a properties file, use the following code: ```properties spring.config.import=azureAppConfiguration spring.cloud.azure.appconfiguration.stores[0].endpoint= ${APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT} spring.cloud.azure.appconfiguration.stores[0].feature-flags.enabled=true ``` If you're using a yaml file, use the following code: ```yaml spring: config: import: azureAppConfiguration cloud: azure: appconfiguration: stores: - feature-flags: enabled: true endpoint: ${APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT} ``` You use the `DefaultAzureCredential` to authenticate to your App Configuration store. Follow the [instructions](./concept-enable-rbac.md#authentication-with-token-credentials) to assign your credential the **App Configuration Data Reader** role. Be sure to allow sufficient time for the permission to propagate before running your application. 1. Add the following code to your project, unless you want to use Managed Identity. Create a new file named `AppConfigCredential.java`: ```java import com.azure.data.appconfiguration.ConfigurationClientBuilder; import com.azure.identity.DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder; import com.azure.spring.cloud.appconfiguration.config.ConfigurationClientCustomizer; public class AppConfigCredential implements ConfigurationClientCustomizer { @Override public void customize(ConfigurationClientBuilder builder, String endpoint) { builder.credential(new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder().build()); } } ``` 1. Create a new file named `MyConfiguration.java` and add the following lines: ```java import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean; import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration; @Configuration public class MyConfiguration { @Bean public AppConfigCredential clientSetup() { return new AppConfigCredential(); } } ``` 1. Add configuration Bootstrap Configuration, by creating `spring.factories` file under `resources/META-INF` directory and add the following lines and updating `com.example.MyConfiguration` with your application package: ```factories org.springframework.cloud.bootstrap.BootstrapConfiguration=\ com.example.MyConfiguration ``` ### [Connection string](#tab/connection-string) If you are using a properties file, use the following code: ```properties spring.config.import=azureAppConfiguration spring.cloud.azure.appconfiguration.stores[0].endpoint= ${APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING} spring.cloud.azure.appconfiguration.stores[0].feature-flags.enabled=true ``` If you are using a yaml file, use the following code: ```yaml spring: config: import: azureAppConfiguration cloud: azure: appconfiguration: stores[0]: feature-flags: enabled: 'true' connection-string: ${APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING} ``` --- 1. Create a new Java file named *HelloController.java* in the package directory of your app. ```java package com.example.demo; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired; import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller; import org.springframework.ui.Model; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping; import com.azure.spring.cloud.feature.management.FeatureManager; @Controller public class HelloController { @Autowired private FeatureManager featureManager; @GetMapping("/welcome") public String mainWithParam(Model model) { model.addAttribute("Beta", featureManager.isEnabled("Beta")); return "welcome"; } } ``` 1. Create a new HTML file named *welcome.html* in the templates directory of your app. ```html <!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" xmlns:th="http://www.thymeleaf.org"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"> <title>Feature Management with Spring Cloud Azure</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/main.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.3.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" integrity="sha384-ggOyR0iXCbMQv3Xipma34MD+dH/1fQ784/j6cY/iJTQUOhcWr7x9JvoRxT2MZw1T" crossorigin="anonymous"> <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js" integrity="sha256-/xUj+3OJU5yExlq6GSYGSHk7tPXikynS7ogEvDej/m4=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <script src="https://unpkg.com/@popperjs/core@2"></script> <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.1.3/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js" integrity="sha384-ka7Sk0Gln4gmtz2MlQnikT1wXgYsOg+OMhuP+IlRH9sENBO0LRn5q+8nbTov4+1p" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> </head> <body> <header> <!-- Fixed navbar --> <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md navbar-dark fixed-top bg-dark"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">TestFeatureFlags</a> <button class="navbar-toggler" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="navbarCollapse" aria-label="Toggle navigation" type="button" data-target="#navbarCollapse" data-toggle="collapse"> <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span> </button> <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarCollapse"> <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto"> <li class="nav-item active"> <a class="nav-link" href="#">Home <span class="sr-only">(current)</span></a> </li> <li class="nav-item" th:if="${Beta}"> <a class="nav-link" href="#">Beta</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a class="nav-link" href="#">Privacy</a> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> </header> <div class="container body-content"> <h1 class="mt-5">Welcome</h1> <p>Learn more about <a href="https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-java/tree/main/sdk/spring/spring-cloud-azure-feature-management/README.md">Feature Management with Spring Cloud Azure</a></p> </div> <footer class="footer"> <div class="container"> <span class="text-muted">&copy; 2019 - Projects</span> </div> </footer> </body> </html> ``` 1. Create a new folder named CSS under `static` and inside of it a new CSS file named *main.css*. ```css html { position: relative; min-height: 100%; } body { margin-bottom: 60px; } .footer { position: absolute; bottom: 0; width: 100%; height: 60px; line-height: 60px; background-color: #f5f5f5; } body > .container { padding: 60px 15px 0; } .footer > .container { padding-right: 15px; padding-left: 15px; } code { font-size: 80%; } ``` ## Build and run the app locally 1. Set an environment variable. ### [Microsoft Entra ID (recommended)](#tab/entra-id) Set the environment variable named **APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT** to the endpoint of your App Configuration store found under the *Overview* of your store in the Azure portal. If you use the Windows command prompt, run the following command and restart the command prompt to allow the change to take effect: ```cmd setx APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT "endpoint-of-your-app-configuration-store" ``` If you use PowerShell, run the following command: ```powershell $Env:APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT = "<endpoint-of-your-app-configuration-store>" ``` If you use macOS or Linux, run the following command: ```bash export APP_CONFIGURATION_ENDPOINT='<endpoint-of-your-app-configuration-store>' ``` ### [Connection string](#tab/connection-string) Set the environment variable named **APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING** to the read-only connection string of your App Configuration store found under *Access settings* of your store in the Azure portal. If you use the Windows command prompt, run the following command and restart the command prompt to allow the change to take effect: ```cmd setx APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING "<connection-string-of-your-app-configuration-store>" ``` If you use PowerShell, run the following command: ```powershell $Env:APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING = "<connection-string-of-your-app-configuration-store>" ``` If you use macOS or Linux, run the following command: ```bash export APP_CONFIGURATION_CONNECTION_STRING='<connection-string-of-your-app-configuration-store>' ``` --- Restart the command prompt to allow the change to take effect. Print the value of the environment variable to validate that it is set properly. --- 1. Build your Spring Boot application with Maven and run it. ```shell mvn clean package mvn spring-boot:run ``` 1. Open a browser window, and go to the URL: `http://localhost:8080/welcome`.  1. In the App Configuration portal select **Feature Manager**, and change the state of the **Beta** key to **On**: | Key | State | |---|---| | Beta | On | 1. Refresh the browser page to see the new configuration settings.  ## Clean up resources [!INCLUDE [azure-app-configuration-cleanup](../../includes/azure-app-configuration-cleanup.md)] ## Next steps In this quickstart, you created a new App Configuration store and used it to manage features in a Spring Boot web app via the [Feature Management libraries](https://azure.github.io/azure-sdk-for-java/springboot.html). * Library [reference documentation](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2180917) * Learn more about [feature management](./concept-feature-management.md). * [Manage feature flags](./manage-feature-flags.md). * [Use feature flags in a Spring Boot Core app](./use-feature-flags-spring-boot.md).