Redoc and Swagger UI

http4k Core

Http4k makes it easy to include Swagger UI or Redoc in your application. These UIs can often replace traditional hand-written documentation for API consumers to learn your API, and can even serve as useful debugging tools.

Build the OpenAPI spec

Swagger UI and Redoc both require an OpenApi v2 or v3 description to function. Http4k can generate a description for your API with the http4k-contract module, but any hand-crafted or external description can be used as well.

For more detail on generating OpenAPI descriptions, see:

Example

This simple description will be used for all examples in this guide:

package content.howto.create_a_swagger_ui

import org.http4k.contract.ContractRoutingHttpHandler
import org.http4k.contract.contract
import org.http4k.contract.meta
import org.http4k.contract.openapi.ApiInfo
import org.http4k.contract.openapi.v3.OpenApi3
import org.http4k.core.Body
import org.http4k.core.ContentType
import org.http4k.core.Method
import org.http4k.core.Request
import org.http4k.core.Response
import org.http4k.core.Status
import org.http4k.core.with
import org.http4k.lens.string

fun createContractHandler(descriptionPath: String): ContractRoutingHttpHandler {
    val greetingLens = Body.string(ContentType.TEXT_PLAIN).toLens()

    // Define a single http route for our contract
    val helloHandler = "/v1/hello" meta {
        operationId = "v1Hello"
        summary = "Say Hello"
        returning(Status.OK, greetingLens to "Sample Greeting")
    } bindContract Method.GET to { _: Request ->
        Response(Status.OK).with(greetingLens of "HI!")
    }

    // Define a contract, and render an OpenApi 3 spec at the given path
    return contract {
        routes += helloHandler
        renderer = OpenApi3(
            ApiInfo("Hello Server - Developer UI", "99.3.4")
        )
        this.descriptionPath = descriptionPath
    }
}

Build the UI

The http4-contract module includes functions to configure and serve Swagger UI, Redoc, or both. These “lite” UIs are thin; meaning most of the assets are pulled from an external Public CDN.

Installation (Gradle)

dependencies {
    
    implementation(platform("org.http4k:http4k-bom:5.33.1.0"))

    implementation("org.http4k:http4k-contract")
}

Example

package content.howto.create_a_swagger_ui

import org.http4k.contract.ui.redocLite
import org.http4k.contract.ui.swaggerUiLite
import org.http4k.routing.bind
import org.http4k.routing.routes
import org.http4k.server.SunHttp
import org.http4k.server.asServer

fun main() {
    val http = routes(
        // bind the API and OpenApi description off of root
        createContractHandler("/openapi.json"),

        // bind Swagger UI to the root path
        swaggerUiLite {
            url = "/openapi.json"
            pageTitle = "Hello Server - Swagger UI"
            persistAuthorization = true
        },

        // Bind Redoc to another path
        "/redoc" bind redocLite {
            url = "/openapi.json"
            pageTitle = "Hello Server - Redoc"
            options["disable-search"] = "true"
        }
    )

    // run the server.  The default UI is available at http://localhost:8080
    http.asServer(SunHttp(8080))
        .start()
        .block()
}

Bundle the UI with Webjars

The “lite” UIs included in the http4k-contract module are great for serverless APIs, where binary size is a major concern. For more control over the assets, http4k has optional modules to bundle the assets into your application.

Installation (Gradle)

dependencies {
    
    implementation(platform("org.http4k:http4k-bom:5.33.1.0"))

    implementation("org.http4k:http4k-contract-ui-swagger")
    implementation("org.http4k:http4k-contract-ui-redoc")
}

You can pick and choose whether you want Redoc, Swagger UI, or both bundled with your application.

Example

package content.howto.create_a_swagger_ui

import org.http4k.contract.ui.redoc.redocWebjar
import org.http4k.contract.ui.swagger.swaggerUiWebjar
import org.http4k.routing.bind
import org.http4k.routing.routes
import org.http4k.server.SunHttp
import org.http4k.server.asServer

fun main() {
    val http = routes(
        // bind the API and OpenApi description off of root
        createContractHandler("/openapi.json"),

        // Bind Redoc to the root path
        redocWebjar {
            url = "/openapi.json"
            pageTitle = "Hello Server - WebJar"
            options["disable-search"] = "true"
        },

        // Bind Swagger UI to another path
        "/swagger" bind swaggerUiWebjar {
            url = "/openapi.json"
            pageTitle = "Hello Server"
            displayOperationId = true
        }
    )

    // run the server.  The default UI is available at http://localhost:8080
    http.asServer(SunHttp(8080))
        .start()
        .block()
}