🌱 Spring Boot Initializer for VS Code

Create Spring Boot projects without leaving VS Code.

What is this?

Spring Boot Initializer is a VS Code extension that brings the full Spring Initializr experience natively into your editor.

No browser. No tab switching. No manual ZIP download. No manual extraction.

Just:

Ctrl + Shift + P
       ↓
Spring Boot: Initialize Spring Boot
       ↓
Configure → Select Dependencies → Generate
       ↓
🚀 Start coding

Features

• Native VS Code UI — a polished Webview panel that feels like part of VS Code, not a web form
• Live metadata — Spring Boot versions, Java versions, and dependencies loaded directly from Spring Initializr — always up to date
• Full project configuration — Boot version, Java version, language (Java / Kotlin / Groovy), build tool (Maven / Gradle), packaging (Jar / War), group, artifact, name, description, package name
• Searchable dependencies — browse by category or search across all dependencies; selected deps shown as removable chips
• Auto package name — derived from Group + Artifact, stays editable
• Smart directory handling — generate into current workspace, a new subfolder, or any folder you pick
• Conflict protection — warns before generating into a non-empty directory; strongly warns if an existing Spring project is detected
• Safe ZIP extraction — path traversal protection; no file is ever silently overwritten
• 7-step progress UI — visual feedback during generation
• Workspace integration — Explorer refreshes automatically; option to open project in a new window
• Configurable Initializr server — works with private or enterprise Spring Initializr instances

Installation

From the VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for Spring Boot Initializer
4. Click Install

From a .vsix file

code --install-extension spring-boot-initializer-1.0.0.vsix

Usage

1. Open the Command Palette: Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS)
2. Type: Spring Boot: Initialize Spring Boot
3. Press Enter
4. Configure your project:
   • Project tab — Spring Boot version, Java version, language, build tool, packaging
   • Details tab — Group, Artifact, Name, Description, Package Name
   • Dependencies tab — search and select dependencies
5. Choose where to generate the project
6. Click Generate Project
7. Open or continue in workspace

Screenshots

Configuration

Using a Custom Initializr Server

Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for springBootInitializer:

{
    "springBootInitializer.initializrUrl": "https://your-internal-initializr.company.com"
}

Commands

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or higher
• Internet access to reach Spring Initializr (or a configured private server)
• No Java installation required — the extension generates the project, it does not run it

How It Works

VS Code
   │
   ├── React Webview (UI)
   │       │
   │       │ postMessage()
   │       ▼
   └── Extension Host (Node.js)
               │
               │ HTTPS
               ▼
       Spring Initializr API
       (https://start.spring.io)
               │
               │ ZIP
               ▼
       Extract → Write to disk
               │
               ▼
       VS Code Workspace updated

The Webview handles all user interaction. The Extension Host handles all privileged operations (network, filesystem, VS Code API). They communicate exclusively via postMessage.

Development

Prerequisites

node --version   # 20.x LTS recommended
npm --version    # 10.x+
git --version
vsce --version   # npm install -g @vscode/vsce

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/H-arshal/spring-app-generator.git
cd spring-app-generator

# Install extension host dependencies
npm install

# Install Webview UI dependencies
cd webview-ui
npm install
cd ..

Build

# Build everything (Webview UI + Extension Host)
npm run build

Run in Development

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host — a separate VS Code window with the extension loaded.

Then: Ctrl+Shift+P → Spring Boot: Initialize Spring Boot

Watch Mode

npm run watch

Watches both the Extension Host (src/) and Webview UI (webview-ui/src/) for changes.

Tests

# All tests
npm test

# Unit tests only (no VS Code instance needed)
npm run test:unit

# Integration tests (launches VS Code)
npm run test:integration

Project Structure

spring-boot-initializer/
│
├── src/                        # Extension Host (TypeScript)
│   ├── extension.ts            # Entry point
│   ├── commands/               # Command handlers
│   ├── webview/                # Panel lifecycle + messaging
│   ├── initializr/             # Spring Initializr HTTP client
│   ├── project/                # Generation pipeline + workspace
│   ├── validation/             # Config validators
│   └── utils/                  # Logger, error types
│
├── webview-ui/                 # Webview React app (TypeScript + Vite)
│   └── src/
│       ├── components/         # Reusable UI components
│       ├── pages/              # Project / Details / Dependencies
│       ├── hooks/              # useVsCodeApi, useMetadata, useProjectConfig
│       └── services/           # Typed postMessage service
│
├── test/                       # Unit + integration tests
├── docs/                       # Architecture, design, planning docs
├── media/                      # Extension icon
├── package.json                # Extension manifest
└── .gitignore

Full architecture details: docs/Architecture.md

Documentation

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Make your changes following the coding conventions in docs/Architecture.md
4. Run tests: npm test
5. Commit: git commit -m "feat: add my feature"
6. Push: git push origin feature/my-feature
7. Open a Pull Request

Please read docs/Design.md before contributing to understand the architecture and component boundaries.

Roadmap

1.0.0 — MVP (current target)

• Native Initializr UI inside VS Code
• Full project configuration
• Dependency search and selection
• Safe project generation and extraction
• Workspace integration

1.1.0 — Productivity

• Recent configurations
• Saved project presets
• Manual metadata refresh command

1.2.0 — Spring Project Management

• Add dependency to existing project
• Dependency management

Future

• AI-assisted configuration (natural language → suggested dependencies)

License

MIT

Acknowledgements

• Spring Initializr — the project generation engine this extension is built on
• VS Code Extension API — the platform