Retrofit / OkHttp Conversion Guide

When This Applies

Detected when imports match retrofit2.* or okhttp3.*.

Key Rules

1. Interface declarations

Retrofit service interfaces convert directly — Kotlin interfaces are structurally identical to Java interfaces for this purpose.

2. Call<T> to suspend functions

Replace Call<T> return types with suspend fun returning T directly. This requires the Retrofit coroutine adapter (built-in since Retrofit 2.6.0). The Callback<T> async pattern is eliminated entirely.

3. Annotation preservation

All Retrofit annotations transfer directly with no changes:

HTTP method annotations: @GET, @POST, @PUT, @DELETE, @PATCH, @HTTP
Header annotations: @Headers, @Header, @HeaderMap
Parameter annotations: @Path, @Query, @QueryMap, @Body, @Field, @FieldMap, @Part, @PartMap
@FormUrlEncoded, @Multipart, @Streaming

4. Response<T> handling

For endpoints where HTTP status codes matter, keep Response<T> as the return type with suspend fun. For simple cases where only the body is needed, return T directly and let Retrofit throw on non-2xx responses.

5. OkHttpClient.Builder

Java builder chains convert directly. Use .apply {} or .also {} for grouping related configuration:

val client = OkHttpClient.Builder().apply {
    connectTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
    readTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
    addInterceptor(loggingInterceptor)
}.build()

6. Interceptor SAM conversion

Java Interceptor anonymous classes become Kotlin SAM lambdas: Interceptor { chain -> chain.proceed(chain.request()) }

7. Request/Response body handling

RequestBody.create(mediaType, content) → content.toRequestBody(mediaType) when using the okhttp3-kotlin-extensions artifact (or okhttp-bom with Kotlin extensions).

Example: Retrofit Interface with Coroutine Support

Java Input

package com.acme.api;

import java.util.List;
import retrofit2.Call;
import retrofit2.Callback;
import retrofit2.Response;
import retrofit2.http.Body;
import retrofit2.http.DELETE;
import retrofit2.http.GET;
import retrofit2.http.Headers;
import retrofit2.http.PATCH;
import retrofit2.http.POST;
import retrofit2.http.Path;
import retrofit2.http.Query;

/**
 * Retrofit service interface for the Users API.
 */
public interface UserApi {

    @GET("users")
    Call<List<UserDto>> getUsers(@Query("page") int page, @Query("limit") int limit);

    @GET("users/{id}")
    Call<UserDto> getUserById(@Path("id") long id);

    @POST("users")
    @Headers("Content-Type: application/json")
    Call<UserDto> createUser(@Body CreateUserRequest request);

    @PATCH("users/{id}")
    Call<UserDto> updateUser(@Path("id") long id, @Body UpdateUserRequest request);

    @DELETE("users/{id}")
    Call<Void> deleteUser(@Path("id") long id);
}

Kotlin Output

package com.acme.api

import retrofit2.Response
import retrofit2.http.Body
import retrofit2.http.DELETE
import retrofit2.http.GET
import retrofit2.http.Headers
import retrofit2.http.PATCH
import retrofit2.http.POST
import retrofit2.http.Path
import retrofit2.http.Query

/**
 * Retrofit service interface for the Users API.
 */
interface UserApi {

    @GET("users")
    suspend fun getUsers(@Query("page") page: Int, @Query("limit") limit: Int): List<UserDto>

    @GET("users/{id}")
    suspend fun getUserById(@Path("id") id: Long): UserDto

    @POST("users")
    @Headers("Content-Type: application/json")
    suspend fun createUser(@Body request: CreateUserRequest): UserDto

    @PATCH("users/{id}")
    suspend fun updateUser(@Path("id") id: Long, @Body request: UpdateUserRequest): UserDto

    @DELETE("users/{id}")
    suspend fun deleteUser(@Path("id") id: Long): Response<Unit>
}

Key points:

Call<T> is removed — each method becomes a suspend fun returning T directly. Retrofit 2.6.0+ supports this natively without an additional adapter.
Call<Void> becomes Response<Unit>. Unit is Kotlin's equivalent of Void. Response<Unit> is used here to allow checking the HTTP status code on delete.
Call and Callback imports are removed since they are no longer referenced.
All HTTP method and parameter annotations (@GET, @POST, @Path, @Query, @Body, @Headers, etc.) are preserved exactly as-is.
Java int → Kotlin Int, Java long → Kotlin Long.
The public modifier on the interface is removed — Kotlin's default visibility is public.

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