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Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot
What Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot is
Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot is a free, open-source tool for teams checking how Spring Boot applications respond to disruptions while running. It can introduce request latency or configured runtime exceptions, and apply runtime assaults that affect CPU, memory, or application availability through the AppKiller assault. Watchers can select annotated Spring beans, health indicators, RestTemplate or WebClient beans, and configured beans by name or class. The project can be added as a dependency or loaded externally when a Spring Boot application starts. When Spring Boot Actuator is included, HTTP or JMX endpoints can expose controls for changing configuration at runtime. The documentation also describes Unleash feature-toggle control and using springdoc-openapi to show Chaos Monkey endpoints in Swagger UI. For monitoring, its Micrometer-backed metrics facade is documented with systems including Datadog, Prometheus, New Relic, Graphite, and Influx. Each Chaos Monkey version is built for a particular Spring Boot version; using an external JAR with another version may break the application. The project recommends defining steady states, checking resilience and monitoring, and beginning outside production with a noncritical service. It is maintained as an open-source project by codecentric, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Solingen, Germany.
Who it suits
It suits teams that need to examine the resilience and operational behavior of Spring Boot applications, including request handling and runtime resource use. It is also relevant to teams that want runtime controls or documented monitoring and feature-toggle integrations.
What it does well
- Free and open source, with contributions welcomed.
- Can be added as a project dependency or external dependency.
- Targets annotated beans, health indicators, and outgoing-request clients.
- Runtime configuration controls are available through Actuator HTTP or JMX.
- Documentation covers Unleash and several monitoring systems.
What to know first
- Each version targets a specific Spring Boot version.
- Actuator must be a project dependency for runtime configuration controls.
- The external JAR may break an app using a different Spring Boot version.
Limits
The free plan is the project itself. Each version is built for a specific Spring Boot version, and using the external JAR with a different version may break the application. Runtime configuration through Actuator endpoints requires Actuator as a project dependency.
Getting started
- Open the project website.
- Choose a Chaos Monkey version built for your Spring Boot version.
- Add it as a project dependency or load it as an external dependency when starting the application.
- Include Spring Boot Actuator if you want to change configuration through its HTTP or JMX endpoints.
- Begin experiments with a noncritical service outside production.
Verdict
Choose Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot when your team needs to introduce operational disruptions into a Spring Boot service and inspect its behavior. Check the version compatibility carefully, and begin experiments on a noncritical service outside production as the project advises.
Questions
Is Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot free?
Yes. It is offered as a free, open-source project.
Which platforms does it support?
The listed platforms are API and self-hosted.
How is it added to an application?
Add it as a project dependency or load it externally when starting a Spring Boot application.
What kinds of disruptions can it introduce?
Documented assaults include latency, exceptions, application termination, memory pressure, and CPU load.
What integrations are documented?
The documentation covers Unleash for feature toggles, springdoc-openapi for Swagger UI, and Micrometer-backed monitoring with systems including Datadog, Prometheus, New Relic, Graphite, and Influx.
Who makes it?
The project is associated with codecentric, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Solingen, Germany.
Facts from Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot's own pages
- Activation
- You can add it as a project dependency or load it as an external dependency when starting a Spring Boot application. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Attack types
- Documented assaults include latency, exceptions, application termination, memory, and CPU load. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Compatibility limit
- Each Chaos Monkey release is built for a specific Spring Boot version, and using the external JAR with a different version may break the application. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Configuration
- Configuration can be changed at runtime through Spring Boot Actuator HTTP or JMX endpoints; Actuator must be included in the project dependencies for this feature. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Feature flags
- The project supports feature toggles and includes minimal configuration for using Unleash to control them. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2004 · codecentric.github.io, 28 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Solingen, Germany · codecentric.github.io, 28 Sept 2026
- Integration
- Add it as a project dependency or load it as an external dependency when starting a Spring Boot app. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The documentation describes using Unleash to control feature toggles and springdoc-openapi to show Chaos Monkey endpoints in Swagger UI. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The project is focused on Spring Boot applications and aims to help test application behavior such as fallbacks, network latency, and service failures. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Monitoring integrations
- Through Spring Boot’s Micrometer-backed metrics facade, the guide lists monitoring systems including Datadog, Prometheus, New Relic, Graphite, and Influx. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Open source
- The project is open source and welcomes contributions. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Operational guidance
- The project recommends checking service resilience and monitoring, defining steady states, and starting experiments on a noncritical service outside production. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot tests Spring Boot applications by injecting failures during operation. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Request attacks
- Request assaults can add latency or throw configured runtime exceptions when watched methods are called. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Runtime attacks
- Runtime assaults can target the application’s CPU, memory, or availability through the AppKiller assault. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
- Runtime controls
- Spring Boot Actuator HTTP and JMX endpoints can expose controls for changing configuration at runtime. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Security and compliance
- The repository identifies its license as Apache-2.0; the project pages opened do not state a product security certification or compliance claim. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Security guidance
- The project advises checking resilience and monitoring, defining steady states, starting with a noncritical service, and gaining experience outside production before running experiments in production. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project directs bug reports and feature requests to GitHub Issues and general usage questions to Stack Overflow with the spring-boot-chaos-monkey tag. · github.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Targets
- Watchers can target annotated classes, Actuator components, and outgoing requests. · codecentric.github.io, 7 Oct 2026
- Watchers
- Watchers can target annotated Spring beans, Spring Boot health indicators, RestTemplate and WebClient beans, or configured beans by name or class. · codecentric.github.io, 8 Oct 2026
Where Chaos Monkey for Spring Boot stands on Freedom251
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