How to Use Health Endpoint Actuator in Spring Boot

To use the /actuator/health endpoint in Spring Boot, add the spring-boot-starter-actuator dependency and enable the health endpoint in your application.properties. Accessing /actuator/health returns the app's health status in JSON format.

Syntax

The health endpoint is accessed via the URL /actuator/health. It is part of Spring Boot Actuator, which provides production-ready features. You enable it by adding the actuator starter and configuring properties.

• spring-boot-starter-actuator: Adds actuator support.
• management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health: Exposes the health endpoint over HTTP.
• /actuator/health: The URL path to check health status.

properties

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator'
}

# application.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health

Example

This example shows a minimal Spring Boot application with the health endpoint enabled. When you run the app and visit http://localhost:8080/actuator/health, it returns the health status in JSON.

java

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class HealthEndpointApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(HealthEndpointApplication.class, args);
    }
}

# application.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health

Output

{
  "status": "UP"
}

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes include:

• Not adding the spring-boot-starter-actuator dependency, so the endpoint is missing.
• Forgetting to expose the health endpoint via management.endpoints.web.exposure.include, which keeps it hidden by default.
• Accessing the wrong URL path or port.

Always check your configuration and dependencies.

properties

## Wrong: Missing actuator dependency
# No actuator starter added, so health endpoint won't exist

## Wrong: Not exposing health endpoint
# application.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=info

## Right: Include health endpoint
# application.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health,info

Quick Reference

Property / URL	Description
/actuator/health	URL to access the health status JSON
spring-boot-starter-actuator	Dependency to add actuator support
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include	Property to expose endpoints like health
status	Field in JSON showing health status (e.g., UP, DOWN)

Key Takeaways

Add spring-boot-starter-actuator to enable actuator features including health endpoint.

Expose the health endpoint by setting management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=health in application.properties.

Access the health status at /actuator/health URL to get JSON output of app health.

Without exposing the endpoint, it remains hidden even if actuator is added.

The health endpoint helps monitor app status simply and effectively.