Spring Java Config: how do you create a prototype-scoped @Bean with runtime arguments?

In a @Configuration class, a @Bean method like so

@Bean
@Scope("prototype")
public Thing thing(String name) {
    return new Thing(name);
}

is used to register a bean definition and provide the factory for creating the bean. The bean that it defines is only instantiated upon request using arguments that are determined either directly or through scanning that ApplicationContext.

In the case of a prototype bean, a new object is created every time and therefore the corresponding @Bean method is also executed.

You can retrieve a bean from the ApplicationContext through its BeanFactory#getBean(String name, Object... args) method which states

Allows for specifying explicit constructor arguments / factory method
arguments, overriding the specified default arguments (if any) in the
bean definition.

Parameters:

args arguments to use if creating a prototype using explicit arguments
to a static factory method. It is invalid to use a non-null args value
in any other case.

In other words, for this prototype scoped bean, you are providing the arguments that will be used, not in the constructor of the bean class, but in the @Bean method invocation. (This method has very weak type guarantees since it uses a name lookup for the bean.)

Alternatively, you can use the typed BeanFactory#getBean(Class requiredType, Object... args) method which looks up the bean by type.

This is at least true for Spring versions 4+.

Note that, if you don’t want to start with the ApplicationContext or BeanFactory for your bean retrieval, you can inject an ObjectProvider (since Spring 4.3).

A variant of ObjectFactory designed specifically for injection points,
allowing for programmatic optionality and lenient not-unique handling.

and use its getObject(Object... args) method

Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object
managed by this factory.

Allows for specifying explicit construction arguments, along the lines
of BeanFactory.getBean(String, Object).

For example,

@Autowired
private ObjectProvider<Thing> things;

[...]
Thing newThing = things.getObject(name);
[...]