DBOS Java Best Practices

Guide for building reliable, fault-tolerant Java applications with DBOS durable workflows.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Adding DBOS to existing Java or Kotlin code
• Creating workflows and steps
• Using queues for concurrency control
• Implementing workflow communication (events, messages, streams)
• Configuring and launching DBOS applications, including with Spring Boot
• Using DBOSClient from external applications
• Testing DBOS applications

Rule Categories by Priority

Critical Rules

Installation

Add the DBOS dependency (Java 17+, Gradle 8+ recommended):

dependencies {
    implementation("dev.dbos:transact:1.2.0")
    implementation("org.slf4j:slf4j-simple:2.0.17") // to see DBOS log messages
}

DBOS requires a PostgreSQL-compatible database. Connection settings are typically supplied through DBOS_SYSTEM_JDBC_URL, PGUSER, and PGPASSWORD.

DBOS Configuration and Launch

A DBOS application MUST create a DBOS instance, register its workflow classes, then launch:

import dev.dbos.transact.DBOS;
import dev.dbos.transact.config.DBOSConfig;
import dev.dbos.transact.workflow.Workflow;

interface Example {
  String workflow(String input);
}

class ExampleImpl implements Example {
  private final DBOS dbos;

  ExampleImpl(DBOS dbos) {
    this.dbos = dbos;
  }

  @Override
  @Workflow
  public String workflow(String input) {
    return dbos.runStep(() -> fetchData(input), "fetchData");
  }

  private String fetchData(String input) { /* external call */ return input; }
}

public class App {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    DBOSConfig config = DBOSConfig.defaultsFromEnv("my-app")
        .withAppVersion("0.1.0");
    DBOS dbos = new DBOS(config);

    Example proxy = dbos.registerProxy(Example.class, new ExampleImpl(dbos));

    dbos.launch();

    proxy.workflow("input"); // durable: called through the proxy
  }
}

When creating a new application, set withAppVersion("0.1.0"). If omitted, DBOS derives an opaque hash from the workflow code, SDK version, and application name. When editing an existing application, leave its configured version alone — changing it is a deployment decision (see references/advanced-versioning.md). Version names are unique across a shared system database, so applications sharing one need distinct version strings (for example "billing-0.1.0"; see references/advanced-shared-database.md).

The name passed to DBOSConfig.defaults(appName) / defaultsFromEnv(appName) identifies the application and owns everything it creates. Multiple applications (in any language) can share one system database, isolated by application name (1.1+, see references/advanced-shared-database.md).

Workflow and Step Structure

Workflows are ordinary methods annotated @Workflow on a class registered with registerProxy. Any operation that is complex, non-deterministic, or calls an external service must run as a step, either through dbos.runStep or as a @Step-annotated method invoked through the proxy:

@Workflow
public String myWorkflow(String url) throws Exception {
  // Inline lambda step — use for one-off work
  String body = dbos.runStep(() -> httpGet(url), "httpGet");
  // Reusable step declared with @Step — MUST be invoked through the proxy (self)
  return self.parse(body);
}

@Step(maxAttempts = 3)
public String parse(String body) { /* ... */ }

Key Constraints

• Workflows and @Step methods are ONLY durable when invoked through the proxy returned by registerProxy (or, with Spring Boot, through an injected self-reference). Calls via this bypass DBOS.
• All workflow classes MUST be registered before launch(); database-backed queues are registered after launch()
• Do NOT start, enqueue, or retrieve workflows from within a step, and do NOT call send, recv, setEvent, or getEvent from a step
• Workflows MUST be deterministic — random numbers, current time, I/O, and threading go in steps
• Do NOT mutate state outside the workflow's own scope from workflows or steps
• Workflow arguments and step/workflow return values MUST be JSON-serializable by Jackson
• Use dbos.sleep, not Thread.sleep, inside workflows

How to Use

Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and examples:

references/lifecycle-config.md
references/workflow-registration.md
references/queue-concurrency.md

References

• https://docs.dbos.dev/
• https://github.com/dbos-inc/dbos-transact-java