HTTP method support in MappedInterceptor

[SRIRAM9487]

Support HTTP method-restricted interceptors in InterceptorRegistration

This PR implements #35272, adding support for restricting HandlerInterceptor registration to specific HTTP methods.

Motivation

Spring MVC currently allows interceptors to be applied based on path patterns, but not HTTP methods. When method-based filtering is needed, it must be manually implemented within the interceptor itself:

@Override
public boolean preHandle(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Object handler) {
    if (!"POST".equals(request.getMethod())) {
        return true;
    }
    // Logic here
    return true;
}

This approach clutters interceptor logic with method checks and duplicates similar logic across interceptors when needed. Centralizing HTTP method filtering in the registration API provides a cleaner and more declarative configuration style.

Solution

This PR introduces a new method to InterceptorRegistration:

public InterceptorRegistration allowedMethods(HttpMethod... methods)

This allows restricting the interceptor to specific HTTP methods like GET, POST, etc. Under the hood, the framework wraps the given HandlerInterceptor in a new MethodInterceptor that delegates calls only when the request's HTTP method matches one of the allowed methods.

registry.addInterceptor(new MyInterceptor())
        .addPathPatterns("/api/**")
        .allowedMethods(HttpMethod.POST, HttpMethod.PUT);

The interceptor will now be invoked only for POST and PUT requests matching /api/**.

Implementation Details

• InterceptorRegistration stores allowed HTTP methods as a Set<String>.
• If any methods are configured, it wraps the given interceptor using the new MethodInterceptor.
• MethodInterceptor checks the request's method before delegating to the original interceptor.
• The implementation is fully backward compatible; if no methods are provided, all HTTP methods are allowed (default behavior).

Tests

A dedicated test class MethodInterceptorTests is included to validate:

• Delegation occurs only for allowed HTTP methods.
• Interceptor is skipped for disallowed methods.
• All interceptor lifecycle methods (preHandle, postHandle, afterCompletion) are covered.

Example

@Configuration
public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

    @Override
    public void addInterceptors(InterceptorRegistry registry) {
        registry.addInterceptor(new AuditInterceptor())
                .addPathPatterns("/admin/**")
                .allowedMethods(HttpMethod.GET);
    }
}

In this example, AuditInterceptor will apply only for GET requests under /admin/**.

Compatibility

• No breaking changes introduced.
• The feature is opt-in.
• Reuses existing Spring MVC components (MappedInterceptor, HandlerInterceptor) without exposing new public types.

[SRIRAM9487]

@bclozel Thanks for the feedback on #35272. Understood that this feature is not currently planned.

I'll consider maintaining it as an external utility or extension module, since I still believe this helps reduce boilerplate and improves clarity in interceptor setups.

Appreciate your time and the review!

[bclozel]

We have not declined nor reviewed this yet. We don't need both an issue and a PR so we closed the other one.

[SRIRAM9487]

Thanks for the clarification, @bclozel.
Looking forward to your review once it's in the queue. Let me know if anything needs to be adjusted in the meantime!

[rissay2015]

Until then (the review by those grannies) :
->You can work on exclude methodes : applying that interceptor to all except this methodes ....
-> feels like we must fall back to manual logic inside the interceptor for anything more complex.
Otherwise that was impressive young man.

[rstoyanchev]

Aside from the comments below, generally the request seems reasonable with the following implementation related points:

• The existing MappedInterceptor could be enhanced instead to support mapping by HTTP method.
• The terminology allowedMethods could be just httpMethods, or include/excludeHttpMethods for consistency with include/excludePatterns.

[rstoyanchev]

These seem to have been committed by mistake. Could you please remove them from the pull request?

[SRIRAM9487]

I've removed the unintended .factorypath entries from the pull request.

[rstoyanchev]

There are a number of Javadoc style changes, probably applied by the IDE. Could you please undo those? They are not related and in any case inconsistent with the rest of the codebase.

[SRIRAM9487]

I've reverted the unintended Javadoc formatting changes in InterceptorRegistration.java to keep the style consistent with the rest of the codebase.

[rstoyanchev]

Likewise, a number of code style changes. Please, undo those.

[SRIRAM9487]

I've reverted the unintended code style changes in InterceptorRegistration.java to match the existing formatting in the codebase.

[SRIRAM9487]

@rstoyanchev Thanks for the detailed feedback. I understand the requested changes — I’ll work on enhancing MappedInterceptor with HTTP method support, update the naming to includeHttpMethods/excludeHttpMethods, and remove the unintended commits. I should have an updated PR ready in about 2 days. Thanks again for your feedback.