Why, When, and How to Use @Bean Annotation in Spring Boot App

Learn why the @Bean annotation is essential in Spring Boot. Discover when to use @Bean, how it differs from @Component, and how it helps define Spring-managed beans manually.

🚀 Introduction

In Spring Boot, the @Bean annotation is used to manually define and manage Spring beans. While Spring automatically detects components using annotations like @Component, @Service, and @Repository, sometimes we need more control over bean creation.

So, when should you use @Bean instead of @Component? This guide will explain why, when, and how to use the @Bean annotation effectively.

What is the @Bean Annotation?

The @Bean annotation in Spring Boot defines a Spring-managed bean inside a configuration class.

✔ It is used inside a class annotated with @Configuration.
✔ The method annotated with @Bean returns an object that Spring registers as a bean.
✔ Unlike @Component, @Bean gives full control over bean creation.

When to Use @Bean in Spring Boot?

You should use @Bean in the following cases:

✅ 1. When You Need to Configure a Third-Party Library