# Return Address

> Tell the receiver where to send the reply — bake the reply address into the request.

- **Category**: Integration
- **Subcategory**: Message Construction
- **Canonical URL**: https://designpattern.fyi/patterns/return_address/

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## Description
Clean, reusable architecture pattern.


## Use Cases
Microservice A sends a validation request to Service B. A includes replyTo="service-a-replies-queue-us-east-1" in the message header. B validates the payload and sends the result directly to that queue. A picks up the response. No config changes on B needed if A changes its queue name.





## Trade-offs


### Advantages

- Dynamic reply routing — each requester can specify its own reply channel

- Enables multiple requesters to share one responder without reply mix-ups

- No hardcoded reply addresses in the responder

- Standard header in JMS, AMQP, and most broker SDKs




### Considerations & Drawbacks

- Requester must manage its reply channel (creation, cleanup, timeout)

- Adds a field to every request message

- Malformed or missing return addresses cause silent failures

- Requires Correlation Identifier to demux replies on shared channels







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**Reference**: [Original Source](https://www.enterpriseintegrationpatterns.com/patterns/messaging/ReturnAddress.html)