Module 24: Spring Boot Client

Use the autoconfigured ACP client in a Spring Boot application. Connect to agents with just properties — no manual transport or client construction.

Prerequisites

Java 21+ (Spring Boot 4.x requirement)
Module 23: Spring Boot Agent built and available

What You’ll Learn

Injecting AcpSyncClient from autoconfiguration
Configuring the client transport via application.properties
Property-driven transport selection (stdio vs WebSocket)

Dependencies

Same starter as the agent side:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springaicommunity</groupId>
    <artifactId>acp-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
    <version>0.11.0</version>
</dependency>

The Client

The autoconfigured AcpSyncClient is injected like any Spring bean:

@SpringBootApplication
public class ClientApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(ClientApplication.class, args);
    }

    @Bean
    CommandLineRunner demo(AcpSyncClient client) {
        return args -> {
            // Initialize the connection
            client.initialize();

            // Create a session
            String cwd = System.getProperty("user.dir");
            var session = client.newSession(new NewSessionRequest(cwd, List.of()));

            // Send a prompt
            var response = client.prompt(new PromptRequest(
                session.sessionId(),
                List.of(new TextContent("Hello from Spring Boot client!"))));

            System.out.println("Stop reason: " + response.stopReason());
        };
    }
}

Configuration

application.properties:

# Connect to the module-23 agent via stdio transport
spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.command=java
spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.args=-jar,module-23-spring-boot-agent/target/module-23-spring-boot-agent-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

# Increase timeout for Spring Boot agent startup
spring.acp.client.request-timeout=60s

The autoconfiguration detects the stdio.command property and creates a StdioAcpClientTransport that launches the agent as a subprocess.

What the Autoconfiguration Does

Detects transport properties — stdio.command triggers stdio transport; websocket.uri triggers WebSocket
Creates AcpSyncClient and AcpAsyncClient — configured with timeout and client capabilities
Manages shutdown — DisposableBean calls closeGracefully() on context close

Transport Selection

The autoconfiguration picks the transport based on which properties are set:

Properties Set	Transport Created
`spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.command`	`StdioAcpClientTransport`
`spring.acp.client.transport.websocket.uri`	`WebSocketAcpClientTransport`
`spring.acp.client.transport.type=stdio`	Explicit stdio selection
`spring.acp.client.transport.type=websocket`	Explicit WebSocket selection

Build & Run

# Build both the agent and client
./mvnw package -pl module-23-spring-boot-agent,module-24-spring-boot-client -q

# Run the client (from repo root)
./mvnw spring-boot:run -pl module-24-spring-boot-client

Client Configuration Properties

Property	Default	Description
`spring.acp.client.request-timeout`	`30s`	Request timeout
`spring.acp.client.transport.type`	auto-detect	`stdio` or `websocket`
`spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.command`	—	Command to launch agent
`spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.args`	—	Command arguments
`spring.acp.client.transport.stdio.env.*`	—	Environment variables
`spring.acp.client.transport.websocket.uri`	—	WebSocket URI
`spring.acp.client.transport.websocket.connect-timeout`	`10s`	Connection timeout
`spring.acp.client.capabilities.read-text-file`	`true`	Advertise file read capability
`spring.acp.client.capabilities.write-text-file`	`true`	Advertise file write capability
`spring.acp.client.capabilities.terminal`	`false`	Advertise terminal capability

View on GitHub

​Module 24: Spring Boot Client

​Prerequisites

​What You’ll Learn

​Dependencies

​The Client

​Configuration

​What the Autoconfiguration Does

​Transport Selection

​Build & Run

​Client Configuration Properties