Feign Hystrix Fallbacks

Hystrix supports the notion of a fallback: a default code path that is executed when they circuit is open or there is an error. To enable fallbacks for a given @FeignClient set the fallback attribute to the class name that implements the fallback. You also need to declare your implementation as a Spring bean.

@FeignClient(name = "hello", fallback = HystrixClientFallback.class)
protected interface HystrixClient {
    @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET, value = "/hello")
    Hello iFailSometimes();
}

static class HystrixClientFallback implements HystrixClient {
    @Override
    public Hello iFailSometimes() {
        return new Hello("fallback");
    }
}

If one needs access to the cause that made the fallback trigger, one can use the fallbackFactory attribute inside @FeignClient.

@FeignClient(name = "hello", fallbackFactory = HystrixClientFallbackFactory.class)
protected interface HystrixClient {
	@RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET, value = "/hello")
	Hello iFailSometimes();
}

@Component
static class HystrixClientFallbackFactory implements FallbackFactory<HystrixClient> {
	@Override
	public HystrixClient create(Throwable cause) {
		return new HystrixClient() {
			@Override
			public Hello iFailSometimes() {
				return new Hello("fallback; reason was: " + cause.getMessage());
			}
		};
	}
}
There is a limitation with the implementation of fallbacks in Feign and how Hystrix fallbacks work. Fallbacks are currently not supported for methods that return com.netflix.hystrix.HystrixCommand and rx.Observable.