| name | fle-java |
| summary | Field-Level Encryption with the Couchbase Java SDK — CryptoManager setup, @Encrypted annotation, encrypting and decrypting document fields |
| description | Field-Level Encryption with the Couchbase Java SDK — CryptoManager setup, @Encrypted annotation, encrypting and decrypting document fields |
| compatibility | Java SDK 3.x. couchbase-encryption artifact required. |
| metadata | {"last_verified":"2026-05","min_server_version":"6.0","handoff":[{"condition":"user asks about FLE concepts or supported SDKs","skill":"fle"},{"condition":"user asks about connection setup","skill":"server-connection-java"}]} |
Field-Level Encryption — Java
Setup
<dependency>
<groupId>com.couchbase.client</groupId>
<artifactId>couchbase-encryption</artifactId>
<version>3.0.0</version>
</dependency>
Configure CryptoManager
import com.couchbase.client.encryption.AeadAes256CbcHmacSha512Provider;
import com.couchbase.client.encryption.DefaultCryptoManager;
import com.couchbase.client.encryption.Keyring;
import com.couchbase.client.java.Cluster;
import com.couchbase.client.java.ClusterOptions;
import com.couchbase.client.java.env.ClusterEnvironment;
byte[] keyBytes = new byte[64];
Keyring keyring = Keyring.fromMap(Map.of("my-key-id", keyBytes));
AeadAes256CbcHmacSha512Provider provider =
AeadAes256CbcHmacSha512Provider.builder().keyring(keyring).build();
CryptoManager cryptoManager = DefaultCryptoManager.builder()
.decrypter(provider.decrypter())
.defaultEncrypter(provider.encrypterForKey("my-key-id"))
.build();
ClusterEnvironment env = ClusterEnvironment.builder()
.cryptoManager(cryptoManager)
.build();
Cluster cluster = Cluster.connect("couchbase://localhost",
ClusterOptions.clusterOptions("username", "Password!123").environment(env));
Encrypting Fields with @Encrypted Annotation
import com.couchbase.client.java.encryption.annotation.Encrypted;
public class UserDocument {
public String name;
@Encrypted
public String ssn;
@Encrypted
public String creditCard;
}
UserDocument user = new UserDocument();
user.name = "Alice";
user.ssn = "123-45-6789";
user.creditCard = "4111111111111111";
collection.upsert("user::alice", user);
UserDocument result = collection.get("user::alice").contentAs(UserDocument.class);
System.out.println(result.ssn);
Encrypting JsonObject Fields
JsonObject doc = JsonObject.create()
.put("name", "Alice")
.put("ssn", "123-45-6789");
collection.upsert("user::alice", doc,
UpsertOptions.upsertOptions().encryptFields(Set.of("ssn")));
Limitations
- Encrypted fields cannot be indexed or queried with SQL++
- Adds ~30% overhead to encrypted field size
- See
fle for full concept reference