Spring Modulith

Spring Boot 3 baseline

Use the Spring Modulith 1.4 line with Boot 3.5; check the official compatibility matrix for older Boot 3 minors.

Apply within the existing architecture

Inspect the application root package, module boundaries and current dependency graph. Use direct subpackages as modules; keep their API at the module root and implementation in internal subpackages. Expose a named interface only for an intentional shared API. Use allowedDependencies when the architecture needs explicit dependency constraints. Avoid creating a generic shared module that every feature depends on.

Verify boundaries

Add spring-modulith-starter-test with test scope and run ApplicationModules.of(Application.class).verify() in CI. It checks cycles and access to module internals. Add ApplicationModuleTest for behavior confined to a module. A passing structure check does not prove transactional or delivery correctness.

See good module verification and bad cross-module dependency.

Reliable events

Publish immutable event payloads containing IDs and necessary facts, not managed JPA entities. Use ApplicationModuleListener for asynchronous transactional listeners when that timing fits. For delivery that must survive a process crash, configure a persistent event publication registry using the chosen JDBC/JPA starter and manage its schema through migrations. An in-memory registry and a plain after-commit callback are not durable delivery.

Make handlers idempotent: a crash after the business effect but before recording completion can cause redelivery. Define retry/republication and retention explicitly, and test failed listeners and application restarts. For external brokers, use supported event externalization with persistent publication tracking; do not promise end-to-end exactly-once processing.

Gotchas

• Agent imports a repository from another module's internal package - call its public API or consume an event.
• Agent adds Modulith to a simple unrelated task - preserve the requested scope.
• Agent assumes ApplicationModuleListener alone guarantees durability - configure persistent publication tracking.
• Agent publishes an entity with lazy associations - publish an immutable event contract.
• Agent tests only the happy path - verify cycles, module access and event redelivery.

Official sources

• Module verification
• Events and publication registry
• Compatibility