# OpenFeign/feign

Feign makes writing java http clients easier

Repository: https://github.com/OpenFeign/feign
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/feign
Language: Java
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: java, http-client, jax-rs, okhttp3, slf4j, interface
Last push: 2026-08-25T17:06:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 98, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4816, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 14, "gap_med": 7.5, "n_releases_24m": 15}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 9796, forks 1947 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:37.215808+00:00)

## What it is
Feign is a Java library that simplifies writing HTTP clients by binding annotated interfaces to templatized HTTP requests. It supports pluggable decoders, encoders, and error handling for text-based REST and SOAP APIs.

## Use cases
- write declarative java http clients for rest apis
- call third-party rest apis from a spring microservice
- generate http client code from annotated interfaces
- consume soap or jax-rs services in java
- customize request encoding and response decoding for an http api
- unit test http api bindings without a server

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, annotation-driven alternative to Retrofit or Jersey clients on the JVM
- you need pluggable decoders, encoders, and error handling for text-based APIs
- you are building Java 8+ microservices that call many HTTP APIs
- you want minimal boilerplate when binding interfaces to HTTP endpoints

## When to avoid
- you need a non-JVM language client
- you require binary protocols or non-text-based APIs
- you need a full-featured async/reactive HTTP client with streaming
- your project must run on JDK 6 (only legacy Feign 9.x supports that)

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: http-client, serialization, middleware
- domain: web-development, apis, developer-tools, backend
- platform: jvm, cross-platform
- tags: declarative-http-client, rest-client, annotation-driven, retrofit-alternative, soap, jax-rs

## Member repositories
- OpenFeign/feign (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:37.215808+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:21:00.350547+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/OpenFeign/feign (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:37.215808+00:00, sha 5d0ab893c251)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.