Question
Can a global Spring `@ControllerAdvice` effectively handle `HttpClientErrorException.Forbidden` and provide a consistent error response for an API acting as a client?
Asked by: USER8621
166 Viewed
166 Answers
Answer (166)
Yes, a global `@ControllerAdvice` can be used to provide a consistent error response for `HttpClientErrorException.Forbidden`. While this exception is thrown when your Spring application *consumes* an external API, you might want your own API (acting as a proxy or orchestrator) to return a structured error when such an event occurs. You would define an `@ExceptionHandler` specifically for `HttpClientErrorException.Forbidden.class`:
```java
@ControllerAdvice
public class GlobalExceptionHandler {
@ExceptionHandler(HttpClientErrorException.Forbidden.class)
@ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN)
public ResponseEntity handleExternalForbidden(HttpClientErrorException.Forbidden ex) {
// Log the details of the external 403
System.err.println("External service returned 403 Forbidden: " + ex.getResponseBodyAsString());
// Create and return a custom error response for your API
ErrorResponse errorResponse = new ErrorResponse(
HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN.value(),
"Access denied by external service",
ex.getResponseBodyAsString() // Potentially expose external error message
);
return new ResponseEntity<>(errorResponse, HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN);
}
}
```
This allows your application to catch the error from the `WebClient` call and translate it into a standardized API response for its own clients.