Can You Build a Non-Web Application with Spring Boot?

Yes! Spring Boot isn’t just for web apps. Learn how to create non-web (console-based) applications using CommandLineRunner, ApplicationRunner, and disable the web server in Spring Boot.

When most developers think of Spring Boot, they think of REST APIs, web applications, or microservices. But did you know you can use Spring Boot to build non-web, console-based applications too?

Yes, Spring Boot supports non-web applications out of the box, and it’s a great fit for:

• Command-line tools
• Batch processors
• Scheduled jobs
• Message consumers
• File or database utilities

Let’s walk through how it works 👇

🧠 What is a Non-Web Application?

A non-web application doesn’t use a servlet container like Tomcat or Jetty. It:

• Does not expose HTTP endpoints
• Runs in the console or background
• Executes business logic and exits (or runs as a daemon)

You get all the Spring Boot benefits — auto-configuration, dependency injection, external configs — but without the web layer.

🚀 Step-by-Step: Building a Non-Web Spring Boot…