Spring Shell Application Exits Immediately Without Starting Interactive Mode

[gchape]

Description

Spring Shell application completes startup successfully but exits immediately instead of entering interactive mode. The application context starts, all beans are created, and the application reaches ACCEPTING_TRAFFIC readiness state, but then the shutdown hook is triggered immediately.

Configuration

application.yml

spring:
  application:
    name: mudis
    version: 0.0.1
  profiles:
    active: dev
  shell:
    interactive:
      enabled: true
    command:
      script:
        enabled: false
    context:
      close: false
  main:
    banner-mode: console
  banner:
    location: banner.txt

mudis:
  server:
    port: 8888
    host: localhost

Main Application Class

package io.mudis.mudis;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication(
        proxyBeanMethods = false,
        scanBasePackages = {
                "io.mudis.mudis.client",
                "io.mudis.mudis.server",
                "io.mudis.mudis.command",
        })
public class MudisCLI {

    static void main(String... args) {
        SpringApplication.run(MudisCLI.class, args);
    }
}

Relevant Log Sections

Successful Startup

2026-02-04T16:58:39.723+04:00  INFO 42718 --- [mudis] [           main] io.mudis.mudis.MudisCLI                  : Started MudisCLI in 1.642 seconds (process running for 2.027)
2026-02-04T16:58:39.726+04:00 DEBUG 42718 --- [mudis] [           main] o.s.b.a.ApplicationAvailabilityBean      : Application availability state LivenessState changed to CORRECT
2026-02-04T16:58:39.730+04:00 DEBUG 42718 --- [mudis] [           main] o.s.b.a.ApplicationAvailabilityBean      : Application availability state ReadinessState changed to ACCEPTING_TRAFFIC

Immediate Shutdown

2026-02-04T16:58:39.732+04:00 DEBUG 42718 --- [mudis] [ionShutdownHook] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Closing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@74589991, started on Wed Feb 04 16:58:38 GMT+04:00 2026

Conditional Matches (Shell Configuration)

ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#systemShellRunner matched:
   - @ConditionalOnMissingClass did not find unwanted class 'org.springframework.shell.jline.DefaultJLineShellConfiguration' (OnClassCondition)
   - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.interactive.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#springShellApplicationRunner matched:
   - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.boot.ApplicationRunner; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

Expected Behavior

The application should:

1. Complete startup
2. Display the Spring Shell prompt
3. Wait for user input in interactive mode
4. Remain running until the user exits

Actual Behavior

The application:

1. Completes startup successfully
2. Immediately triggers the shutdown hook
3. Exits with code 0 without entering interactive mode

Additional Context

The logs show that:

• spring.shell.interactive.enabled=true is properly configured
• systemShellRunner bean is created successfully
• springShellApplicationRunner bean is created successfully
• consoleInputProvider bean is created successfully
• All auto-configuration conditions match correctly

However, there's a warning about Netty's sun.misc.Unsafe being unavailable on Java 25, though this appears to be handled gracefully:

2026-02-04T16:58:39.313+04:00 DEBUG 42718 --- [mudis] [           main] i.n.util.internal.PlatformDependent0     : sun.misc.Unsafe: unavailable (io.netty.noUnsafe=true by default on Java 25+)

[gchape]

After adding the JLine dependency, the issue was resolved.

 <dependency>
     <groupId>org.springframework.shell</groupId>
     <artifactId>spring-shell-jline</artifactId>
 </dependency>

For the @SpringBootApplication starter to work, the JLine dependency must be added. I went through the migration guide but couldn't find this detail mentioned.

It would be helpful if this information were included in the documentation.

[lengors]

Agreed. And the fact that it doesn't come when generating a project via spring initializr seems like an oversight, unless I'm missing something?

[fmbenhassine]

Which version of Spring Shell do you use? Is it 4.0.0?

I am asking because I am not able to reproduce the issue with 4.0.1 (which might have been fixed in 4.0.1 in #1276). Here is a link to generate a project from start.spring.io:

https://start.spring.io/#!type=maven-project&language=java&platformVersion=4.0.4&packaging=jar&configurationFileFormat=yaml&jvmVersion=17&groupId=com.example&artifactId=demo&packageName=com.example.demo&dependencies=spring-shell

After building the project with ./mvnw clean package, I run the app and it enters the interactive mode and waits for commands (note I did not add the spring-shell-jline dependency):

>java -jar target/demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

  .   ____          _            __ _ _
 /\\ / ___'_ __ _ _(_)_ __  __ _ \ \ \ \
( ( )\___ | '_ | '_| | '_ \/ _` | \ \ \ \
 \\/  ___)| |_)| | | | | || (_| |  ) ) ) )
  '  |____| .__|_| |_|_| |_\__, | / / / /
 =========|_|==============|___/=/_/_/_/

 :: Spring Boot ::                (v4.0.4)

2026-03-26T12:11:43.427+01:00  INFO 41252 --- [mudis] [           main] com.example.demo.DemoApplication         : Starting DemoApplication v0.0.1 using Java 17.0.2 with PID 41252 (/Users/mbh/Downloads/demo/target/demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar started by mbh in /Users/mbh/Downloads/demo)
2026-03-26T12:11:43.429+01:00  INFO 41252 --- [mudis] [           main] com.example.demo.DemoApplication         : No active profile set, falling back to 1 default profile: "default"
2026-03-26T12:11:43.670+01:00  INFO 41252 --- [mudis] [           main] com.example.demo.DemoApplication         : Started DemoApplication in 0.423 seconds (process running for 0.626)
$>help
AVAILABLE COMMANDS

Built-In Commands
	version: Show version info
	help: Display help about available commands
	clear: Clear the terminal screen
	quit, exit: Exit the shell

$>exit
Exiting the shell

Here is the project I used to test this:

demo-gh1313.zip

[3ric-T]

Description

I am currently facing the same issue than @gchape : my SpringBoot 4 application displays succesfully the Spirng Shell prompt with Spring Shell 3.4.2 but unfortunately after upgrading to version 4.0.1 (and doing all required changes to make it compile) it just starts and immediately stops without any error.
The project built with start.spring.io, following @fmbenhassine 's suggestion starts perfectly well.

Build libraries

With Gradle 9.4.1

dependencies {
(...)
    implementation(platform(libs.springBoot.bom))
    implementation(libs.springBoot.starter.json)
    implementation(libs.springWeb)
    implementation(libs.springPlugin.core)
    implementation(libs.springRestDocs.asciiDoctor)

    implementation(libs.springShell.starter)
    implementation(libs.springShell.jline)
(...)
}

Configuration

application.yml

spring:
  application:
    name: "matos-cli"
  main:
    web-application-type: none
  jackson:
    default-property-inclusion: non_null
  shell:
    interactive:
      enabled: true
    context:
      close: false

Main Application Class

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication()
public class MatosShellApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        SpringApplication shellApp = new SpringApplication(MatosShellApplication.class);
        shellApp.run();
    }
}

Relevant Log Sections

Successful Startup with Spring Shell 3.4.2

2026-04-01 09:18:56.952  INFO 46003 --- [           main] c.idnomic.matos.MatosShellApplication    : Started MatosShellApplication in 3.803 seconds (process running for 4.274)
2026-04-01 09:18:56.954 DEBUG 46003 --- [           main] o.s.b.a.ApplicationAvailabilityBean      : Application availability state LivenessState changed to CORRECT
2026-04-01 09:18:56.984  INFO 46003 --- [           main] .m.s.c.LogTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner : 

Token token-test: successfully connected (..)

2026-04-01 09:18:57.002  INFO 46003 --- [           main] .m.s.c.LogTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner : 

Token token-2: successfully connected  (..)

2026-04-01 09:18:57.002  INFO 46003 --- [           main] c.i.m.s.c.EarlyCliConfigurationRunner    : Auto connection configuration found for  (..)
2026-04-01 09:18:57.002  INFO 46003 --- [           main] c.idnomic.matos.MatosShellApplication    : 

Token ID is now token-test

2026-04-01 09:18:57.027 DEBUG 46003 --- [           main] o.s.shell.DefaultShellApplicationRunner  : Checking shell runners [org.springframework.shell.jline.NonInteractiveShellRunner@74844216, org.springframework.shell.jline.InteractiveShellRunner@19677add]

Successful Startup with Spring Shell 4.0.1

2026-04-01 09:26:33.409  INFO 46806 --- [           main] c.idnomic.matos.MatosShellApplication    : Started MatosShellApplication in 4.708 seconds (process running for 5.332)
2026-04-01 09:26:33.411 DEBUG 46806 --- [           main] o.s.b.a.ApplicationAvailabilityBean      : Application availability state LivenessState changed to CORRECT
2026-04-01 09:26:33.446  INFO 46806 --- [           main] .m.s.c.LogTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner : 

Token token-test: successfully connected  (..)

2026-04-01 09:26:33.464  INFO 46806 --- [           main] .m.s.c.LogTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner : 

Token token-2: successfully connected  (..)

2026-04-01 09:26:33.466  INFO 46806 --- [           main] c.i.m.s.c.EarlyCliConfigurationRunner    : Auto connection configuration found for  (..)
2026-04-01 09:26:33.466  INFO 46806 --- [           main] c.idnomic.matos.MatosShellApplication    : 

Token ID is now token-test

Immediate Shutdown with Spring Shell 4.0.1

2026-04-01 09:26:33.492 DEBUG 46806 --- [           main] o.s.b.a.ApplicationAvailabilityBean      : Application availability state ReadinessState changed to ACCEPTING_TRAFFIC
2026-04-01 09:26:33.501 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Closing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@36b0fcd5, started on Wed Apr 01 09:26:29 CEST 2026
2026-04-01 09:26:33.507 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.c.support.DefaultLifecycleProcessor  : Stopping beans in phase 1073741823
2026-04-01 09:26:33.508 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.c.support.DefaultLifecycleProcessor  : Bean 'applicationTaskExecutor' completed its stop procedure
2026-04-01 09:26:33.508 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.c.support.DefaultLifecycleProcessor  : Stopping beans in phase -2147483647
2026-04-01 09:26:33.508 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.c.support.DefaultLifecycleProcessor  : Bean 'springBootLoggingLifecycle' completed its stop procedure
2026-04-01 09:26:33.509 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.s.c.ThreadPoolTaskScheduler          : Shutting down ExecutorService 'taskScheduler'
2026-04-01 09:26:33.514 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.b.f.support.DisposableBeanAdapter    : Custom destroy method 'close' on bean with name 'simpleMeterRegistry' completed
2026-04-01 09:26:33.515 DEBUG 46806 --- [ionShutdownHook] o.s.s.concurrent.ThreadPoolTaskExecutor  : Shutting down ExecutorService 'applicationTaskExecutor'

Shell condition evaluation report with Spring Shell 4.0.1

Positive matches:
-----------------
(...)
   CommandRegistryAutoConfiguration#commandRegistry matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.core.command.CommandRegistry; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   ComponentFlowAutoConfiguration matched:
      - @ConditionalOnClass found required class 'org.springframework.shell.jline.tui.component.flow.ComponentFlow' (OnClassCondition)

   ComponentFlowAutoConfiguration#componentFlowBuilder matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.jline.tui.component.flow.ComponentFlow$Builder; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   ComponentFlowAutoConfiguration.ComponentFlowConfiguration#shellCommonComponentFlowCustomizer matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.core.autoconfigure.ComponentFlowCustomizer; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration matched:
      - @ConditionalOnClass found required class 'org.jline.reader.History' (OnClassCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration#commandCompleter matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.jline.CommandCompleter; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration#commandHighlighter matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.jline.CommandHighlighter; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration#historyCommand matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.command.history.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration#jlineShellRunner matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.interactive.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration.JLineHistoryConfiguration matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.jline.reader.History; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)
(...)
   ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#commandParser matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.core.command.CommandParser; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#consoleInputProvider matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.core.ConsoleInputProvider; SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)

   SpringShellAutoConfiguration matched:
      - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (SearchStrategy: all) did not find any beans (OnBeanCondition)
(...)
   StandardCommandsAutoConfiguration#clearCommand matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.command.clear.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

   StandardCommandsAutoConfiguration#helpCommand matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.command.help.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

   StandardCommandsAutoConfiguration#scriptCommand matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.command.script.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

   StandardCommandsAutoConfiguration#versionCommand matched:
      - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.command.version.enabled=true) matched (OnPropertyCondition)

Negative matches:
-----------------

   ApplicationRunnerAutoConfiguration#applicationReadyEventListener:
      Did not match:
         - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.context.close=true) found different value in property 'close' (OnPropertyCondition)

   JLineShellAutoConfiguration#promptProvider:
      Did not match:
         - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.shell.jline.PromptProvider; SearchStrategy: all) found beans of type 'org.springframework.shell.jline.PromptProvider' promptProvider (OnBeanCondition)
(...)

   ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#nonInteractiveShellRunner:
      Did not match:
         - @ConditionalOnProperty (spring.shell.interactive.enabled=false) found different value in property 'enabled' (OnPropertyCondition)

   ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#springShellApplicationRunner:
      Did not match:
         - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.boot.ApplicationRunner; SearchStrategy: all) found beans of type 'org.springframework.boot.ApplicationRunner' earlyCliConfigurationRunner, logTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner (OnBeanCondition)

   ShellRunnerAutoConfiguration#systemShellRunner:
      Did not match:
         - @ConditionalOnMissingClass found unwanted class 'org.springframework.shell.jline.DefaultJLineShellConfiguration' (OnClassCondition)

Additional Context

On reading the negative matches of the condition evaluation report, it appears that, unlike in the case of @gchape:

• systemShellRunner is not created: unwanted class org.springframework.shell.jline.DefaultJLineShellConfiguration is present
• springShellApplicationRunner is not created: found beans of type org.springframework.boot.ApplicationRunner earlyCliConfigurationRunner, logTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner

Those two beans earlyCliConfigurationRunner and logTokensOnApplicationReadyRunner are there respectiveley to parse the configuration (application-.yml) looking for « Auto connection configuration » and to log that the connection attempts have been successfull.

I don’t know all the ins and outs of Spring Boot, so if someone could help me fixing this, i'd be very grateful

[3ric-T]

Latest update!
As is often the case, it was when I described my problem that several possible causes occurred to me. And I noticed that my application started up perfectly when I disabled the two custom runners I have.
I now need to work out how to achieve the same result without using ‘runners’.

It could also be a bug as this behaviour does not occur with version 3.4

[gchape]

@fmbenhassine

I can confirm that the issue seems to be related, and I’m not able to reproduce it with Spring Shell 4.0.1.

On my side, the application starts normally and enters interactive mode as expected (without adding the spring-shell-jline dependency).

This suggests the issue might have been fixed in 4.0.1, possibly by #1276.