---
title: Inject objects into a node instance
description: A node instance is constructed every time the node is reached in a tree and is discarded as soon as it's been used to process the state once.
component: pingam
version: 8.1
page_id: pingam:auth-nodes:core-inject
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingam/8.1/auth-nodes/core-inject.html
keywords: ["Extensibility", "Nodes & Trees", "Scripts"]
section_ids:
  using-a-cache: Use a cache
  send-http-request: Send an HTTP request
  custon-guice-bindings: Custom Guice bindings
---

# Inject objects into a node instance

A node instance is constructed every time the node is reached in a tree and is discarded as soon as it's been used to process the state once.

State stored in a node is lost when the node's process method completes. To make state available for other nodes in the tree, nodes must return the state to the user or store it in the *shared state*.

AM uses Google's *Guice* dependency injection framework for authentication nodes and uses Guice to manage most of its object lifecycles. Use *just-in-time* bindings from the constructor to inject an object from Guice.

The following node-specific instances are available from Guice:

* @Assisted Realm

  The realm that the node is in.

* @Assisted UUID

  The unique ID of the node instance.

* @Assisted TreeMetadata

  The metadata for the tree that the node belongs to.

* \<T> @Assisted T

  The configuration object that is an instance of the interface specified in the `configClass` metadata parameter.

|   |                                                                                                     |
| - | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | Any other objects in AM that are managed by Guice can also be obtained from within the constructor. |

The following example is the configuration injection used by the [Debug node](https://docs.pingidentity.com/auth-node-ref/8.1/am-only/debug.html):

```java
@Inject
public DebugNode(@Assisted DebugNode.Config config) {
  this.config = config;
  ...
}
```

Learn more in the [Inject](https://google.github.io/guice/api-docs/latest/javadoc/com/google/inject/Inject.html) and [Assisted](https://google.github.io/guice/api-docs/latest/javadoc/com/google/inject/assistedinject/Assisted.html) annotation types in the *Google Guice Javadoc*.

## Use a cache

You can use Guice injection to cache information in a node by annotating the object that contains the cache with the `@Singleton` annotation.

|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|   | The Guice injected singleton will be used by multiple threads, so it must be thread safe. The following example uses the Google `LoadingCache`, which is thread safe. Alternatively, use `java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap` if you prefer to use a built-in Java class. |

For example:

```java
@Node.Metadata(
  outcomeProvider = SingleOutcomeNode.OutcomeProvider.class,
  configClass = MyCustomNode.Config.class)
  public class MyCustomNode extends SingleOutcomeNode {

    public interface Config {
      String url();
    }

    private final Config config;
    private final MyCustomNodeCache cache;

    @Inject
    public MyCustomNode(@Assisted Config config, MyCustomNodeCache cache) {
      this.config = config;
      this.cache = cache;
    }

    @Override
    public Action process(TreeContext context) {
      CachedThing thing = cache.getThing(config.url());
      // implement node logic here
    }
}

@Singleton
class MyCustomNodeCache {
   private final LoadingCache<String, CachedThing> cache =
      CacheBuilder.newBuilder()
         .build(CacheLoader.from(url -> read(url)));

   public CachedThing get(String url) {
      return cache.get(url);
   }

   private CachedThing read(String url) {
      // Access resource and construct
   }
}
```

## Send an HTTP request

You can use Guice injection to send an HTTP request by injecting the `CloseableHttpClientHandler` into the node instance. This means the node uses the standard AM HTTP client handler, and all the httpClient settings and tuning apply.

The following example demonstrates sending an HTTP POST request to the `https://www.example.com/api` endpoint:

```java
@Inject
public MyCustomNode(@Named("CloseableHttpClientHandler") Handler httpClientHandler) {
  this.httpClientHandler = httpClientHandler;
}

@Override
public Action process(TreeContext context) {
   URI uri = URI.create("https://www.example.com/api");

   Request request = new Request()
           .setUri(uri)
           .setMethod(HttpConstants.Methods.POST);

   JsonValue body = json(object(field("sampleKey", "sampleValue")));
   request.getEntity().setJson(body);

   Response response = httpClientHandler.handle(new RootContext(), request).getOrThrow();
}
```

## Custom Guice bindings

If just-in-time bindings aren't sufficient for your use case, you can add your own Guice module into the injector configuration by implementing your own `com.google.inject.Module` and registering it using the service loader mechanism. For example:

```java
// com/example/MyCustomModule.java
public class MyCustomModule extends AbstractModule {
   @Override
   protected void configure() {
      bind(Thing.class).to(MyThing.class);
      // and so on
   }
}
```

```java
// META-INF/services/com.google.inject.Module
// Learn more in https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/ext/basics/spi.html
com.example.MyCustomModule
```

The `MyCustomModule` object will then be automatically configured as part of the injector creation.