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Javers is a popular Java library for auditing and tracking changes to domain objects. FlowWarden Javers connects Javers audit snapshots to FlowWarden’s Change Stream engine, letting you react to audit events in real time with deserialized domain objects and full Javers metadata.

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How it works

When you use @JaversSpringDataAuditable on a Spring Data repository, Javers inserts a snapshot document into the jv_snapshots collection every time an entity is saved or deleted. FlowWarden Javers watches this collection via MongoDB Change Streams and delivers events to your handler:

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Setup

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1. Add dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.flowwarden</groupId>
    <artifactId>flowwarden-stream-core</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0-MVP-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>io.flowwarden</groupId>
    <artifactId>flowwarden-javers</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0-MVP-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.javers</groupId>
    <artifactId>javers-spring-boot-starter-mongo</artifactId>
    <version>7.7.0</version>
</dependency>

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2. Audit your repository

@JaversSpringDataAuditable
public interface ProductRepository extends MongoRepository<Product, String> {
}

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3. Create a Javers stream handler

@JaversStream(entityType = Product.class)
@Checkpoint(saveEveryN = 1)
public class ProductAuditHandler {

    @OnInitial
    void onCreated(Product product, JaversChangeContext<Product> ctx) {
        log.info("Created '{}' by {}", product.getName(),
            ctx.getCommitMetadata().getAuthor());
    }

    @OnUpdate
    void onUpdated(Product product, JaversChangeContext<Product> ctx) {
        log.info("Updated '{}' — changed: {} (v{})",
            product.getName(), ctx.getChangedProperties(), ctx.getVersion());
    }

    @OnTerminal
    void onDeleted(JaversChangeContext<Product> ctx) {
        log.info("Deleted entity {} by {}",
            ctx.getEntityId(), ctx.getCommitMetadata().getAuthor());
    }
}

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Javers snapshot types

Javers defines three snapshot types that map to FlowWarden handler annotations:
Javers TypeFlowWarden AnnotationWhen it fires
INITIAL@OnInitialFirst time Javers audits an entity (creation)
UPDATE@OnUpdateSubsequent modifications to an audited entity
TERMINAL@OnTerminalEntity is deleted from the audited repository

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Handler signatures

Each handler annotation supports three signature styles: 
// Entity + context — full access
@OnInitial
void handle(Product product, JaversChangeContext<Product> ctx) { }

// Context only — useful for @OnTerminal where entity state may be minimal
@OnTerminal
void handle(JaversChangeContext<Product> ctx) { }

// Entity only — simple cases
@OnUpdate
void handle(Product product) { }

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JaversChangeContext

The JaversChangeContext<T> gives you access to both Javers audit data and FlowWarden event metadata:

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Javers data

MethodReturnsDescription
getSnapshot()CdoSnapshotFull Javers snapshot (native Javers type)
getSnapshotType()SnapshotTypeINITIAL, UPDATE, or TERMINAL
getCommitMetadata()CommitMetadataAuthor, date, commit ID, custom properties
getChangedProperties()List<String>Property names that changed in this snapshot
getVersion()longJavers version number for this entity
getEntityId()StringEntity ID from Javers global ID

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FlowWarden data

MethodReturnsDescription
getEventId()StringUnique FlowWarden event ID
getClusterTime()InstantMongoDB cluster timestamp
getResumeToken()BsonDocumentChange Stream resume token
saveCheckpointNow()voidForce immediate checkpoint save
sendToDlq(reason)voidManually route to Dead Letter Queue

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FlowWarden annotations

All standard FlowWarden annotations work on @JaversStream classes: 
@JaversStream(entityType = Order.class)
@Checkpoint(saveEveryN = 1)
@RetryPolicy(maxAttempts = 3)
@DeadLetterQueue(ttlDays = 30)
public class OrderAuditHandler {

    @OnUpdate
    void onUpdated(Order order, JaversChangeContext<Order> ctx) {
        // If this throws, FlowWarden retries 3 times then sends to DLQ
        externalService.notifyOrderChange(order, ctx.getChangedProperties());
    }

    @Filter
    boolean filter(ChangeStreamContext<?> ctx) {
        // Application-side filtering before dispatch
        return true;
    }
}
@Pipeline also works and is applied in addition to the automatic entity type filter. Use it for extra server-side filtering (e.g., filtering by specific changedProperties or commitMetadata.author).

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Snapshot collection configuration

The Javers snapshot collection name is resolved in order:
  1. Explicit: @JaversStream(snapshotCollection = "custom_snapshots")
  2. Javers property: javers.snapshotCollectionName from application.yml
  3. Default: jv_snapshots
# application.yml — if you customized the Javers collection name
javers:
  snapshotCollectionName: my_audit_snapshots
If you changed the Javers collection name via properties and don’t set snapshotCollection explicitly on @JaversStream, FlowWarden will auto-detect it from the Javers configuration. Make sure the property is set before the application context initializes.

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Entity deserialization

FlowWarden deserializes the Javers state field into your domain object using Spring Data MongoDB’s MongoConverter. This means:
  • Standard Spring Data annotations (@Field, @Id, etc.) are respected
  • Custom converters registered with Spring are used
  • For @OnTerminal events, the entity represents the last known state before deletion