Android Networking with Retrofit

Instructions

When implementing network layers using Retrofit, follow these modern Android best practices (2025).

1. URL Manipulation

Retrofit allows dynamic URL updates through replacement blocks and query parameters.

• Dynamic Paths: Use {name} in the relative URL and @Path("name") in parameters.
• Query Parameters: Use @Query("key") for individual parameters.
• Complex Queries: Use @QueryMap Map<String, String> for dynamic sets of parameters.

interface SearchService {
    @GET("group/{id}/users")
    suspend fun groupList(
        @Path("id") groupId: Int,
        @Query("sort") sort: String?,
        @QueryMap options: Map<String, String> = emptyMap()
    ): List<User>
}

2. Request Body & Form Data

You can send objects as JSON bodies or use form-encoded/multipart formats.

• @Body: Serializes an object using the configured converter (JSON).
• @FormUrlEncoded: Sends data as application/x-www-form-urlencoded. Use @Field.
• @Multipart: Sends data as multipart/form-data. Use @Part.

interface UserService {
    @POST("users/new")
    suspend fun createUser(@Body user: User): User

    @FormUrlEncoded
    @POST("user/edit")
    suspend fun updateUser(
        @Field("first_name") first: String,
        @Field("last_name") last: String
    ): User

    @Multipart
    @PUT("user/photo")
    suspend fun uploadPhoto(
        @Part("description") description: RequestBody,
        @Part photo: MultipartBody.Part
    ): User
}

3. Header Manipulation

Headers can be set statically for a method or dynamically via parameters.

• Static Headers: Use @Headers.
• Dynamic Headers: Use @Header.
• Header Maps: Use @HeaderMap.
• Global Headers: Use an OkHttp Interceptor.

interface WidgetService {
    @Headers("Cache-Control: max-age=640000")
    @GET("widget/list")
    suspend fun widgetList(): List<Widget>

    @GET("user")
    suspend fun getUser(@Header("Authorization") token: String): User
}

4. Kotlin Support & Response Handling

When using suspend functions, you have two choices for return types:

1. Direct Body (User): Returns the deserialized body. Throws HttpException for non-2xx responses.
2. Response<User>: Provides access to the status code, headers, and error body. Does NOT throw on non-2xx results.

@GET("users")
suspend fun getUsers(): List<User> // Throws on error

@GET("users")
suspend fun getUsersResponse(): Response<List<User>> // Manual check

5. Hilt & Serialization Configuration

Provide your Retrofit instances as singletons in a Hilt module.

@Module
@InstallIn(SingletonComponent::class)
object NetworkModule {

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    fun provideJson(): Json = Json {
        ignoreUnknownKeys = true
        coerceInputValues = true
    }

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    fun provideOkHttpClient(): OkHttpClient = OkHttpClient.Builder()
        .addInterceptor(HttpLoggingInterceptor().apply { level = HttpLoggingInterceptor.Level.BODY })
        .connectTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
        .build()

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    fun provideRetrofit(okHttpClient: OkHttpClient, json: Json): Retrofit = Retrofit.Builder()
        .baseUrl("https://api.github.com/")
        .client(okHttpClient)
        .addConverterFactory(json.asConverterFactory("application/json".toMediaType()))
        .build()
}

6. Error Handling in Repositories

Always handle network exceptions in the Repository layer to keep the UI state clean.

class GitHubRepository @Inject constructor(private val service: GitHubService) {
    suspend fun getRepos(username: String): Result<List<Repo>> = runCatching {
        // Direct body call throws HttpException on 4xx/5xx
        service.listRepos(username)
    }.onFailure { exception ->
        // Handle specific exceptions like UnknownHostException or SocketTimeoutException
    }
}

7. Checklist

• Use suspend functions for all network calls.
• Prefer Response<T> if you need to handle specific status codes (e.g., 401 Unauthorized).
• Use @Path and @Query instead of manual string concatenation for URLs.
• Configure OkHttpClient with logging (for debug) and sensible timeouts.
• Map API DTOs to Domain models to decouple layers.