Skills

Skill 114 of 200

Create Spring Boot Java Project

Create a new Spring Boot Java project (Maven or Gradle) from start.spring.io with sensible defaults for configuration, PostgreSQL, logging, security, testing and Docker.

2 minutes · 378 words · 7 sections

Install

$ npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill create-spring-boot-java-project

$ npx skills add github/awesome-copilot

» /plugin marketplace add github/awesome-copilot

The first command installs just this skill, by the name in its SKILL.md; the second installs the whole repository.

Create a Spring Boot Java project

Scaffold a Spring Boot application with start.spring.io (opens in a new tab), then apply a small set of opinionated defaults. Out of scope for now: front-ends (Vue/React/Angular), cloud deployment (Azure), Git setup, CRaC and AOT images.

Step 0: Detect before you create

If the working directory already contains a pom.xml or build.gradle(.kts), this is an existing project: do not regenerate it. Read its Spring Boot, Java and test-framework versions and follow them. Never upgrade versions implicitly; propose an upgrade and wait for the user’s decision.
Check the tools: java -version (JDK matching the chosen Java version), docker --version (needed for Testcontainers and Compose). On the default path (current Boot via start.spring.io) Maven/Gradle need not be installed: the generated wrapper is used. The Boot 3.5 fallback needs Maven or Gradle installed once to create the wrapper (see versions.md (opens in a new tab)).
Ask only for what is missing: project name, group id, package, build tool (default Maven), dependencies (default: web, actuator, validation, devtools; add data-jpa, postgresql, security, docker-compose, testcontainers when a database or auth is needed).

Step 1: Resolve versions

Follow references/versions.md (opens in a new tab): query https://start.spring.io/metadata/client at run time for the latest stable Spring Boot release, fall back to the documented pinned values if offline. Do not hardcode latest anywhere.

Step 2: Generate the project

Use the start.spring.io HTTP API with explicit, pinned parameters (no piped installers). Replace the values in capitals.

Maven:

curl -fsS https://start.spring.io/starter.zip \
  -d type=maven-project -d language=java -d packaging=jar \
  -d bootVersion=BOOT_VERSION -d javaVersion=JAVA_VERSION \
  -d groupId=com.example -d artifactId=demo -d name=demo \
  -d packageName=com.example.demo -d baseDir=demo \
  -d dependencies=web,actuator,validation,devtools \
  -o demo.zip && unzip -q demo.zip && rm demo.zip

Gradle: same command with -d type=gradle-project (Groovy DSL) or -d type=gradle-project-kotlin (Kotlin DSL; the language stays java).

Inspect the result (ls demo, read the build file) and make sure the wrapper (mvnw or gradlew) is executable. Add -d dependencies=...,data-jpa,postgresql,docker-compose,testcontainers for a database project.

Step 3: Apply the defaults

Area	What to do	Reference
Boot 3 vs 4 differences	Starter names, Jackson 3, test modules	references/spring-boot-4.md (opens in a new tab)
Configuration	`application.properties` or `.yml` (match the project), profiles, `@ConfigurationProperties`, secrets via environment	references/configuration.md (opens in a new tab)
Database	PostgreSQL, Hibernate settings, Compose for dev, Testcontainers for tests	references/database.md (opens in a new tab)
Logging	SLF4J, parameterized messages, levels, structured logging	references/logging.md (opens in a new tab)
Security	Spring Security basics, secure defaults, Problem Details	references/security.md (opens in a new tab)
Docker	JVM image and GraalVM native image Dockerfiles	references/docker.md (opens in a new tab)
Testing	See the `spring-boot-testing` skill (slices, Testcontainers, Failsafe)	`skills/spring-boot-testing`
Best practices	See the `java-springboot` skill and `instructions/springboot.instructions.md`	`skills/java-springboot`

Keep dotfiles minimal: a .gitignore covering target/, build/, .gradle/, IDE folders and .env; never commit .env (commit a .env.sample).

Step 4: Verify

Build and test: ./mvnw verify (Maven) or ./gradlew build (Gradle).
Run: ./mvnw spring-boot:run or ./gradlew bootRun, then curl -fsS localhost:8080/actuator/health must return {"status":"UP"}.
Report the chosen versions and anything that was skipped or deferred.

Provenance

Adapted from the Apache-2.0 skill jdubois/dr-jskill (opens in a new tab); see references/PROVENANCE.md (opens in a new tab).

About this skill

Trigger

Create a new Spring Boot Java project (Maven or Gradle) from start.spring.io with sensible defaults for configuration, PostgreSQL, logging, security, testing and Docker. Use when asked to scaffold, bootstrap or generate a Spring Boot application. Detects existing project versions and never upgrades implicitly.

The verbatim description from this skill’s front matter — the string an agent matches on to decide whether to load it.

Colophon for this issue

Colophon

How this issue was made

Source

github.com/github/awesome-copilot, branch main, last pushed 6 November 2026.

Licence

MIT — the text of every skill is reproduced unmodified, frontmatter included, under the upstream licence.

Discovery

200 skills found by walking the repository tree for SKILL.md, not by matching a directory convention. 2 distinct layouts observed: .github/skills/*/SKILL.md, skills/*/SKILL.md.

Authorship

3 of 200 skills are installed into the repository rather than published from it. They are shelved in the closing “Credited skills” part and remain the work of their own authors. A skill counts as credited when its only copy lives under one agent’s dot directory; visible directories, per-agent mirror sets, and skills installable from this repository on skills.sh all count as published.

Issue colours

Resolved from a curated brand profile — hue 295°, chroma 0.190. Two accent tones are generated per issue and each is proven against its own ground before it ships: a single accent that passes AA on both light and dark paper is arithmetically impossible.

Heading repairs

1 repair applied to this skill so the document has one h1 and no skipped levels:

Shifted “7 headings” from h1 to h2 so the skill title is the only h1.

Spec compliance

Every skill satisfies the Agent Skills specification’s frontmatter rules.

Images

Images inside a skill come from the upstream repository. Where the author gave no alternative text we mark the image decorative rather than inventing a description — a plausible caption we made up is worse than none for the reader who depends on it.

Marketplace

A plugin manifest is published at .github/plugin/marketplace.json by GitHub, declaring 207 plugins. It is read for editorial metadata only — never as the skill index, which is always the repository tree.

Signal

Install counts come from skills.sh. They measure downloads, not quality, and an unranked repository is not an unread one.

Agent surfaces

The whole issue is available as one markdown document at /github/awesome-copilot.md, and each skill at its own .md URL.

Publication

Set by Skills Docs from the source repository. Body text is Literata at the reader’s chosen size and measure; code is Geist Mono. Nothing on this page was written by us except this paragraph.

Create a Spring Boot Java project

Step 0: Detect before you create

If the working directory already contains a pom.xml or build.gradle(.kts), this is an existing project: do not regenerate it. Read its Spring Boot, Java and test-framework versions and follow them. Never upgrade versions implicitly; propose an upgrade and wait for the user’s decision.
Check the tools: java -version (JDK matching the chosen Java version), docker --version (needed for Testcontainers and Compose). On the default path (current Boot via start.spring.io) Maven/Gradle need not be installed: the generated wrapper is used. The Boot 3.5 fallback needs Maven or Gradle installed once to create the wrapper (see versions.md (opens in a new tab)).
Ask only for what is missing: project name, group id, package, build tool (default Maven), dependencies (default: web, actuator, validation, devtools; add data-jpa, postgresql, security, docker-compose, testcontainers when a database or auth is needed).

Step 1: Resolve versions

Step 2: Generate the project

Use the start.spring.io HTTP API with explicit, pinned parameters (no piped installers). Replace the values in capitals.

Maven:

curl -fsS https://start.spring.io/starter.zip \
  -d type=maven-project -d language=java -d packaging=jar \
  -d bootVersion=BOOT_VERSION -d javaVersion=JAVA_VERSION \
  -d groupId=com.example -d artifactId=demo -d name=demo \
  -d packageName=com.example.demo -d baseDir=demo \
  -d dependencies=web,actuator,validation,devtools \
  -o demo.zip && unzip -q demo.zip && rm demo.zip

Gradle: same command with -d type=gradle-project (Groovy DSL) or -d type=gradle-project-kotlin (Kotlin DSL; the language stays java).

Step 3: Apply the defaults

Area	What to do	Reference
Boot 3 vs 4 differences	Starter names, Jackson 3, test modules	references/spring-boot-4.md (opens in a new tab)
Configuration	`application.properties` or `.yml` (match the project), profiles, `@ConfigurationProperties`, secrets via environment	references/configuration.md (opens in a new tab)
Database	PostgreSQL, Hibernate settings, Compose for dev, Testcontainers for tests	references/database.md (opens in a new tab)
Logging	SLF4J, parameterized messages, levels, structured logging	references/logging.md (opens in a new tab)
Security	Spring Security basics, secure defaults, Problem Details	references/security.md (opens in a new tab)
Docker	JVM image and GraalVM native image Dockerfiles	references/docker.md (opens in a new tab)
Testing	See the `spring-boot-testing` skill (slices, Testcontainers, Failsafe)	`skills/spring-boot-testing`
Best practices	See the `java-springboot` skill and `instructions/springboot.instructions.md`	`skills/java-springboot`

Keep dotfiles minimal: a .gitignore covering target/, build/, .gradle/, IDE folders and .env; never commit .env (commit a .env.sample).

Step 4: Verify

Build and test: ./mvnw verify (Maven) or ./gradlew build (Gradle).
Run: ./mvnw spring-boot:run or ./gradlew bootRun, then curl -fsS localhost:8080/actuator/health must return {"status":"UP"}.
Report the chosen versions and anything that was skipped or deferred.

Provenance

Adapted from the Apache-2.0 skill jdubois/dr-jskill (opens in a new tab); see references/PROVENANCE.md (opens in a new tab).

Create Spring Boot Java Project

Create a Spring Boot Java project

Step 0: Detect before you create

Step 1: Resolve versions

Step 2: Generate the project

Step 3: Apply the defaults

Step 4: Verify

Provenance

About this skill

Trigger

Colophon

Create Spring Boot Java Project

Create a Spring Boot Java project

Step 0: Detect before you create

Step 1: Resolve versions

Step 2: Generate the project

Step 3: Apply the defaults

Step 4: Verify

Provenance

Appendix 114.1–114.12

ReferencesMarkdown · 8 files

Assets4 files

About this skill

Trigger

Colophon

Appendix 114.1–114.12

ReferencesMarkdown · 8 files

Assets4 files