org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.support.RedirectAttributes to specify the exact set of attributes to use in case of a redirect and also to add flash attributes (attributes stored temporarily on the server-side to make them available to the request after the redirect). RedirectAttributes is used instead of the implicit model if the method returns a "redirect:" prefixed view name or RedirectView.

By default all model attributes are considered to be exposed as URI template variables in the redirect URL. Of the remaining attributes those that are primitive types or collections/arrays of primitive types are automatically appended as query parameters.

In annotated controllers however the model may contain additional attributes originally added for rendering purposes (e.g. drop-down field values). To gain precise control over the attributes used in a redirect scenario, an @RequestMapping method can declare an argument of type RedirectAttributes and use it to add attributes for use in RedirectView. If the controller method does redirect, the content of RedirectAttributes is used. Otherwise the content of the default Model is used.

The RequestMappingHandlerAdapter provides a flag called "ignoreDefaultModelOnRedirect" that can be used to indicate the content of the default Model should never be used if a controller method redirects. Instead the controller method should declare an attribute of type RedirectAttributes or if it doesn’t do so no attributes should be passed on to RedirectView. Both the MVC namespace and the MVC Java config keep this flag set to false in order to maintain backwards compatibility. However, for new applications we recommend setting it to true

The RedirectAttributes interface can also be used to add flash attributes. Unlike other redirect attributes, which end up in the target redirect URL, flash attributes are saved in the HTTP session (and hence do not appear in the URL). The model of the controller serving the target redirect URL automatically receives these flash attributes after which they are removed from the session. See Section 17.6, “Using flash attributes” for an overview of the general support for flash attributes in Spring MVC.