spring-projects/spring-boot · error · ReportableException

Failed to {} from service at '{}' ({})

Error message

Failed to {} from service at '{}' ({})

What it means

Thrown by InitializrService.execute when the HTTP client raises an IOException contacting the service. The description string identifies the operation (e.g. 'retrieve metadata' or 'generate project'). This wraps low-level transport failures into a user-reportable ReportableException that includes the URL and the IOException message.

Source

Thrown at cli/spring-boot-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cli/command/init/InitializrService.java:192

	/**
	 * Retrieves the meta-data of the service at the specified URL.
	 * @param url the URL
	 * @return the response
	 */
	private ClassicHttpResponse executeInitializrMetadataRetrieval(String url) {
		HttpGet request = new HttpGet(url);
		request.setHeader(new BasicHeader(HttpHeaders.ACCEPT, ACCEPT_META_DATA));
		return execute(request, URI.create(url), "retrieve metadata");
	}

	private ClassicHttpResponse execute(HttpUriRequest request, URI url, String description) {
		try {
			HttpHost host = HttpHost.create(url);
			request.addHeader("User-Agent", "SpringBootCli/" + getClass().getPackage().getImplementationVersion());
			return getHttp().executeOpen(host, request, null);
		}
		catch (IOException ex) {
			throw new ReportableException(
					"Failed to " + description + " from service at '" + url + "' (" + ex.getMessage() + ")");
		}
	}

	private ReportableException createException(String url, ClassicHttpResponse httpResponse) {
		StatusLine statusLine = new StatusLine(httpResponse);
		String message = "Initializr service call failed using '" + url + "' - service returned "
				+ statusLine.getReasonPhrase();
		String error = extractMessage(httpResponse.getEntity());
		if (StringUtils.hasText(error)) {
			message += ": '" + error + "'";
		}
		else {
			int statusCode = statusLine.getStatusCode();
			message += " (unexpected " + statusCode + " error)";
		}
		throw new ReportableException(message);
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 270dfe353f)

Solutions

1. Confirm network connectivity and DNS resolution for the host
2. Check the --target URL host spelling
3. Retry the command (transient failures)
4. Configure JVM proxy settings (-Dhttp.proxyHost / -Dhttps.proxyHost) if behind a proxy
5. Increase client timeouts if the service is legitimately slow

// Before the call, sanity-check reachability.
java.net.InetAddress.getByName(hostFromUrl(serviceUrl)); // surfaces DNS errors early
// Configure timeouts and proxy on the HttpClient used by InitializrService
// so transient slowness does not immediately throw.

int maxAttempts = 3;
for (int attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
    try {
        return service.generateProject(request);
    } catch (ReportableException ex) {
        if (ex.getMessage().startsWith("Failed to ") && attempt < maxAttempts) {
            Thread.sleep(500L * attempt); // exponential-ish backoff
            continue;
        }
        throw ex;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: DNS resolution failure for the service host; connection refused; socket/read timeout; TLS handshake failure; network unreachable; proxy rejection.

Common situations: Offline or behind a restrictive corporate firewall; typo in the host name; the Initializr service is down; slow network causing read timeouts; missing proxy configuration.

Related errors

• Invalid content received from server ({})
• No content received from server '{}'
• Initializr service call failed using '{}' - service returned
• Failed to delete existing file {}
• Connection to the Docker daemon at '{}' failed with error "{

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-boot@270dfe353f (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a07c2d71e2e175d3. Report an issue: GitHub.