diff --git a/docs/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md b/docs/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19a5f89b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+---
+id: getting-started-java-spring
+title: Getting started as a Java developer using Spring
+sidebar_label: Getting started as a Java developer using Spring
+description: "Use Spring Boot and the Spring Zeebe SDK to interact with your local Self-Managed Camunda 8 installation."
+keywords: [java, spring, spring zeebe, getting started, user guide, tutorial]
+---
+
+<span class="badge badge--beginner">Beginner</span>
+<span class="badge badge--medium">1 hour</span>
+
+In this guide, we'll step through using Spring Boot and the [Spring Zeebe SDK](/apis-tools/spring-zeebe-sdk/getting-started.md) with Desktop Modeler to interact with your local Self-Managed Camunda 8 installation.
+
+By the end of this tutorial, you'll be able to use Spring and Java code with Zeebe to:
+
+- Deploy a process model.
+- Initiate a process instance.
+- Handle a service task.
+
+For example, in this guide we will outline a BPMN model to receive a payment request, prepare a transaction, charge a credit card, and execute a payment:
+
+![example BPMN model to receive a payment request, prepare a transaction, charge a credit card, and execute a payment](./img/prepare-transaction-example.png)
+
+:::note
+This tutorial is not intended for production purposes.
+:::
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Before getting started, ensure you:
+
+- Can access your preferred code editor or IDE.
+- Have Java [installed locally](https://www.java.com/en/download/). Currently, the Spring Initializr supports Java versions 17, 21, and 22.
+- Have [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/) installed locally.
+- Install [Desktop Modeler](https://camunda.com/download/modeler/).
+
+## Step 1: Install Camunda 8 Self-Managed
+
+If you haven't already, follow [this guide](/self-managed/setup/deploy/local/docker-compose.md) to install Camunda 8 Self-Managed locally via Docker Compose:
+
+1. Use the `docker-compose.yaml` file in [this repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-platform).
+2. Clone this repo and run `docker compose up -d` in your terminal to start your environment.
+
+To confirm Camunda 8 Self-Managed is installed, click into Docker Desktop. Here, you will see the `camunda-platform` container. Alternatively, navigate to the different components and log in with the username `demo` and password `demo`. For example, Operate can be accessed at [http://localhost:8081](http://localhost:8081) (as noted under **Port(s)** in the Docker container). Find additional guidance in the repository [README](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-platform?tab=readme-ov-file#using-docker-compose).
+
+## Step 2: Create a new Spring Boot project
+
+Next, create a new Spring Boot project:
+
+1. Go to [https://start.spring.io/](https://start.spring.io/) to get started.
+2. Under **Project**, select **Maven**. Under **Language**, select **Java**. Under **Spring Boot**, select the latest non-SNAPSHOT version (currently 3.3.0).
+3. Under **Project Metadata**, configure the following:
+   1. **Group**: `io.camunda.demo`
+   2. **Artifact**: `process_payments`
+   3. **Name**: `Process payments`
+   4. **Description**: `Process payments with Camunda`
+   5. **Package name**: `io.camunda.demo.process_payments`
+   6. **Packaging**: `Jar`
+   7. **Java**: Select the Java version you have installed.
+   8. For this tutorial, we will not install any dependencies.
+4. Click **Generate**.
+5. Download the project, extract the `.zip` file, and add the contents to your desired location.
+6. Open this project in your preferred code editor.
+7. Run `mvn spring-boot:run` in your terminal to confirm your Spring project builds.
+8. (Optional) Run `git init` if you'd like to commit milestones along the way, and add a `.gitignore` file containing `target/` to ignore build artifacts.
+
+## Step 3: Create a new BPMN diagram
+
+Next, we'll create a BPMN diagram to represent the transaction model shown at the beginning of this guide:
+
+1. Open Desktop Modeler.
+2. Click **Create a new diagram** in Camunda 8, and name your diagram `Process payments` with an id of `process-payments`.
+3. Add a start event, and name it `Payment request received`.
+4. Append a task named `Prepare transaction`.
+5. Click the wrench-shaped change type context menu icon to change the type of task to a script task, and configure the following properties:
+   1. **Implementation**: `FEEL expression`
+   2. **Script/Result variable**: `totalWithTax`
+   3. **Script/FEEL expression**: `total * 1.1` (this represents the tax applied to the transaction.)
+6. Append a task named `Charge credit card`.
+7. Click on the task and click the wrench-shaped icon to change the type of task to a service task. In the properties panel, change the **Task definition/Type** to `charge-credit-card`.
+8. Append an end event named `Payment executed`.
+9. Save this BPMN file to your Spring project in `src/main/resources`, and name it `process-payments.bpmn`.
+
+## Step 4: Deploy your process
+
+To deploy your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. Open Desktop Modeler and click the rocket icon in the bottom left corner.
+2. Change the **Deployment name** to `process-payments`, and ensure the **Target** is `Camunda 8 Self-Managed`.
+3. Change the **Cluster endpoint** to `http://localhost:26500/`, with no authentication.
+4. Click **Deploy**.
+
+When you open Operate at http://localhost:8081/, you should now note the process deployed to your local Self-Managed setup.
+
+## Step 5: Run your process from Modeler
+
+To run your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. From Desktop Modeler, click the "play" icon (next to the rocket icon to deploy) in the bottom left corner.
+2. In **Variables**, insert the JSON object `{"total": 100}`.
+3. Click **Start**.
+
+From Operate, you should now notice a process instance running. You'll notice the process instance is waiting at **Charge credit card**, because we'll need to configure a job worker.
+
+## Step 6: Implement a service task
+
+To implement a service task, take the following steps:
+
+### Configure Spring Boot Starter
+
+See our documentation on [adding the Spring Zeebe SDK to your project](/apis-tools/spring-zeebe-sdk/getting-started.md#add-the-spring-zeebe-sdk-to-your-project) for more details, also described below:
+
+1. Copy the following code snippet into the `pom.xml` file of your Spring project, below properties and above dependencies:
+
+```
+<repositories>
+   <repository>
+      <releases>
+         <enabled>true</enabled>
+      </releases>
+      <snapshots>
+         <enabled>false</enabled>
+      </snapshots>
+      <id>identity</id>
+      <name>Camunda Identity</name>
+      <url>https://artifacts.camunda.com/artifactory/camunda-identity/</url>
+   </repository>
+</repositories>
+```
+
+2. Add the following dependency to your `pom.xml` file:
+
+```
+<dependency>
+   <groupId>io.camunda</groupId>
+   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-camunda-sdk</artifactId>
+   <version>8.5.0</version>
+</dependency>
+```
+
+### Configure the Zeebe client
+
+Open your `src/main/resources/application.properties` file, and paste the following snippet to connect to the Self-Managed Zeebe broker:
+
+```
+zeebe.client.broker.grpcAddress=http://127.0.0.1:26500
+zeebe.client.broker.restAddress=http://127.0.0.1:8080
+zeebe.client.security.plaintext=true
+```
+
+### Create a worker
+
+1. In `src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/`, create a file called `ChargeCreditCardWorker.java`.
+2. In the file created above, paste the following dependencies and package `package io.camunda.demo.process_payments`:
+
+```java
+package io.camunda.demo.process_payments;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
+
+import io.camunda.zeebe.spring.client.annotation.JobWorker;
+import io.camunda.zeebe.spring.client.annotation.Variable;
+```
+
+3. Next, we can add a `ChargeCreditCardWorker` class decorated with `@Component` and instantiate a logger. Additionally, we will add a `chargeCreditCard` method and decorate it with `@JobWorker`, specifying the type of service tasks it will handle. The method takes a `@Variable(name = "totalWithTax") Double totalWithTax` argument to indicate which variables it needs from the task. The implementation of the method will log the `totalWithTax`, and return a map, to indicate to Zeebe that the task has been handled:
+
+```java
+@Component
+public class ChargeCreditCardWorker {
+  private final static Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ChargeCreditCardWorker.class);
+  @JobWorker(type = "charge-credit-card")
+  public Map<String, Double> chargeCreditCard(@Variable(name = "totalWithTax") Double totalWithTax) {
+    LOG.info("charging credit card: {}", totalWithTax);
+    return Map.of("amountCharged", totalWithTax);
+  }
+}
+```
+
+:::note
+To check your work, visit our [sample repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-get-started-spring/blob/main/src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/ChargeCreditCardWorker.java) with the completed code.
+:::
+
+In your terminal, run `mvn spring-boot:run`, where you should see the `charging credit card` output. In Operate, refresh if needed, and note the payment has executed.
+
+## Step 7: Start a process instance
+
+To start a process instance programmatically, take the following steps:
+
+1. In `ProcessPaymentsApplication.java`, convert the application to a `CommandLineRunner`, by adding `implements CommandLineRunner` to the `ProcessPaymentsApplication` class declaration. Instantiate a static `Logger` variable, and an instance variable named `zeebeClient` with the `@Autowired` annotation.
+
+```java
+@SpringBootApplication
+@Deployment(resources = "classpath:process-payments.bpmn")
+public class ProcessPaymentsApplication implements CommandLineRunner {
+
+	private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ProcessPaymentsApplication.class);
+
+	@Autowired
+	private ZeebeClient zeebeClient;
+
+	public static void main(String[] args) {
+		SpringApplication.run(ProcessPaymentsApplication.class, args);
+	}
+}
+```
+
+2. Implement an overriding `run` method in `ProcessPaymentsApplication`. When the application runs, it will create a new `process-payments` process instance, of the latest version, with specified variables, and send it to our local Self-Managed instance:
+
+```java
+	@Override
+	public void run(final String... args) {
+		var processDefinitionKey = "process-payments";
+		var event = zeebeClient.newCreateInstanceCommand()
+				.bpmnProcessId(processDefinitionKey)
+				.latestVersion()
+				.variables(Map.of("total", 100))
+				.send()
+				.join();
+		LOG.info(String.format("started a process: %d", event.getProcessInstanceKey()));
+	}
+```
+
+:::note
+To check your work, visit our [sample repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-get-started-spring/blob/main/src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/ProcessPaymentsApplication.java) with the completed code.
+:::
+
+Re-run the application in your terminal with `mvn spring-boot:run` to see the process run, and note the instance history in Operate.
+
+## Step 8: Deploy the process
+
+To deploy your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. Decorate the `ProcessPaymentsApplication` class with `@Deployment(resources = "classpath:process-payments.bpmn")` in `ProcessPaymentsApplication.java`:
+2. In Desktop Modeler, change the tax amount calculated to `total * 1.2` under **FEEL expression** and save your changes.
+
+Re-run the application in your terminal with `mvn spring-boot:run` to see the process run. In Operate, note the new version `2` when filtering process instances, and the tax amount has increased for the most recent process instance.
diff --git a/docs/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png b/docs/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0dd39217aa
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png differ
diff --git a/sidebars.js b/sidebars.js
index f02a282602..9587e4f45f 100644
--- a/sidebars.js
+++ b/sidebars.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ module.exports = {
         "guides/orchestrate-human-tasks",
         "guides/orchestrate-apis",
         "guides/orchestrate-microservices",
+        "guides/getting-started-java-spring",
       ],
     },
     {
diff --git a/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md b/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19a5f89b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/getting-started-java-spring.md
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+---
+id: getting-started-java-spring
+title: Getting started as a Java developer using Spring
+sidebar_label: Getting started as a Java developer using Spring
+description: "Use Spring Boot and the Spring Zeebe SDK to interact with your local Self-Managed Camunda 8 installation."
+keywords: [java, spring, spring zeebe, getting started, user guide, tutorial]
+---
+
+<span class="badge badge--beginner">Beginner</span>
+<span class="badge badge--medium">1 hour</span>
+
+In this guide, we'll step through using Spring Boot and the [Spring Zeebe SDK](/apis-tools/spring-zeebe-sdk/getting-started.md) with Desktop Modeler to interact with your local Self-Managed Camunda 8 installation.
+
+By the end of this tutorial, you'll be able to use Spring and Java code with Zeebe to:
+
+- Deploy a process model.
+- Initiate a process instance.
+- Handle a service task.
+
+For example, in this guide we will outline a BPMN model to receive a payment request, prepare a transaction, charge a credit card, and execute a payment:
+
+![example BPMN model to receive a payment request, prepare a transaction, charge a credit card, and execute a payment](./img/prepare-transaction-example.png)
+
+:::note
+This tutorial is not intended for production purposes.
+:::
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Before getting started, ensure you:
+
+- Can access your preferred code editor or IDE.
+- Have Java [installed locally](https://www.java.com/en/download/). Currently, the Spring Initializr supports Java versions 17, 21, and 22.
+- Have [Docker Desktop](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/) installed locally.
+- Install [Desktop Modeler](https://camunda.com/download/modeler/).
+
+## Step 1: Install Camunda 8 Self-Managed
+
+If you haven't already, follow [this guide](/self-managed/setup/deploy/local/docker-compose.md) to install Camunda 8 Self-Managed locally via Docker Compose:
+
+1. Use the `docker-compose.yaml` file in [this repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-platform).
+2. Clone this repo and run `docker compose up -d` in your terminal to start your environment.
+
+To confirm Camunda 8 Self-Managed is installed, click into Docker Desktop. Here, you will see the `camunda-platform` container. Alternatively, navigate to the different components and log in with the username `demo` and password `demo`. For example, Operate can be accessed at [http://localhost:8081](http://localhost:8081) (as noted under **Port(s)** in the Docker container). Find additional guidance in the repository [README](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-platform?tab=readme-ov-file#using-docker-compose).
+
+## Step 2: Create a new Spring Boot project
+
+Next, create a new Spring Boot project:
+
+1. Go to [https://start.spring.io/](https://start.spring.io/) to get started.
+2. Under **Project**, select **Maven**. Under **Language**, select **Java**. Under **Spring Boot**, select the latest non-SNAPSHOT version (currently 3.3.0).
+3. Under **Project Metadata**, configure the following:
+   1. **Group**: `io.camunda.demo`
+   2. **Artifact**: `process_payments`
+   3. **Name**: `Process payments`
+   4. **Description**: `Process payments with Camunda`
+   5. **Package name**: `io.camunda.demo.process_payments`
+   6. **Packaging**: `Jar`
+   7. **Java**: Select the Java version you have installed.
+   8. For this tutorial, we will not install any dependencies.
+4. Click **Generate**.
+5. Download the project, extract the `.zip` file, and add the contents to your desired location.
+6. Open this project in your preferred code editor.
+7. Run `mvn spring-boot:run` in your terminal to confirm your Spring project builds.
+8. (Optional) Run `git init` if you'd like to commit milestones along the way, and add a `.gitignore` file containing `target/` to ignore build artifacts.
+
+## Step 3: Create a new BPMN diagram
+
+Next, we'll create a BPMN diagram to represent the transaction model shown at the beginning of this guide:
+
+1. Open Desktop Modeler.
+2. Click **Create a new diagram** in Camunda 8, and name your diagram `Process payments` with an id of `process-payments`.
+3. Add a start event, and name it `Payment request received`.
+4. Append a task named `Prepare transaction`.
+5. Click the wrench-shaped change type context menu icon to change the type of task to a script task, and configure the following properties:
+   1. **Implementation**: `FEEL expression`
+   2. **Script/Result variable**: `totalWithTax`
+   3. **Script/FEEL expression**: `total * 1.1` (this represents the tax applied to the transaction.)
+6. Append a task named `Charge credit card`.
+7. Click on the task and click the wrench-shaped icon to change the type of task to a service task. In the properties panel, change the **Task definition/Type** to `charge-credit-card`.
+8. Append an end event named `Payment executed`.
+9. Save this BPMN file to your Spring project in `src/main/resources`, and name it `process-payments.bpmn`.
+
+## Step 4: Deploy your process
+
+To deploy your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. Open Desktop Modeler and click the rocket icon in the bottom left corner.
+2. Change the **Deployment name** to `process-payments`, and ensure the **Target** is `Camunda 8 Self-Managed`.
+3. Change the **Cluster endpoint** to `http://localhost:26500/`, with no authentication.
+4. Click **Deploy**.
+
+When you open Operate at http://localhost:8081/, you should now note the process deployed to your local Self-Managed setup.
+
+## Step 5: Run your process from Modeler
+
+To run your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. From Desktop Modeler, click the "play" icon (next to the rocket icon to deploy) in the bottom left corner.
+2. In **Variables**, insert the JSON object `{"total": 100}`.
+3. Click **Start**.
+
+From Operate, you should now notice a process instance running. You'll notice the process instance is waiting at **Charge credit card**, because we'll need to configure a job worker.
+
+## Step 6: Implement a service task
+
+To implement a service task, take the following steps:
+
+### Configure Spring Boot Starter
+
+See our documentation on [adding the Spring Zeebe SDK to your project](/apis-tools/spring-zeebe-sdk/getting-started.md#add-the-spring-zeebe-sdk-to-your-project) for more details, also described below:
+
+1. Copy the following code snippet into the `pom.xml` file of your Spring project, below properties and above dependencies:
+
+```
+<repositories>
+   <repository>
+      <releases>
+         <enabled>true</enabled>
+      </releases>
+      <snapshots>
+         <enabled>false</enabled>
+      </snapshots>
+      <id>identity</id>
+      <name>Camunda Identity</name>
+      <url>https://artifacts.camunda.com/artifactory/camunda-identity/</url>
+   </repository>
+</repositories>
+```
+
+2. Add the following dependency to your `pom.xml` file:
+
+```
+<dependency>
+   <groupId>io.camunda</groupId>
+   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-camunda-sdk</artifactId>
+   <version>8.5.0</version>
+</dependency>
+```
+
+### Configure the Zeebe client
+
+Open your `src/main/resources/application.properties` file, and paste the following snippet to connect to the Self-Managed Zeebe broker:
+
+```
+zeebe.client.broker.grpcAddress=http://127.0.0.1:26500
+zeebe.client.broker.restAddress=http://127.0.0.1:8080
+zeebe.client.security.plaintext=true
+```
+
+### Create a worker
+
+1. In `src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/`, create a file called `ChargeCreditCardWorker.java`.
+2. In the file created above, paste the following dependencies and package `package io.camunda.demo.process_payments`:
+
+```java
+package io.camunda.demo.process_payments;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
+
+import io.camunda.zeebe.spring.client.annotation.JobWorker;
+import io.camunda.zeebe.spring.client.annotation.Variable;
+```
+
+3. Next, we can add a `ChargeCreditCardWorker` class decorated with `@Component` and instantiate a logger. Additionally, we will add a `chargeCreditCard` method and decorate it with `@JobWorker`, specifying the type of service tasks it will handle. The method takes a `@Variable(name = "totalWithTax") Double totalWithTax` argument to indicate which variables it needs from the task. The implementation of the method will log the `totalWithTax`, and return a map, to indicate to Zeebe that the task has been handled:
+
+```java
+@Component
+public class ChargeCreditCardWorker {
+  private final static Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ChargeCreditCardWorker.class);
+  @JobWorker(type = "charge-credit-card")
+  public Map<String, Double> chargeCreditCard(@Variable(name = "totalWithTax") Double totalWithTax) {
+    LOG.info("charging credit card: {}", totalWithTax);
+    return Map.of("amountCharged", totalWithTax);
+  }
+}
+```
+
+:::note
+To check your work, visit our [sample repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-get-started-spring/blob/main/src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/ChargeCreditCardWorker.java) with the completed code.
+:::
+
+In your terminal, run `mvn spring-boot:run`, where you should see the `charging credit card` output. In Operate, refresh if needed, and note the payment has executed.
+
+## Step 7: Start a process instance
+
+To start a process instance programmatically, take the following steps:
+
+1. In `ProcessPaymentsApplication.java`, convert the application to a `CommandLineRunner`, by adding `implements CommandLineRunner` to the `ProcessPaymentsApplication` class declaration. Instantiate a static `Logger` variable, and an instance variable named `zeebeClient` with the `@Autowired` annotation.
+
+```java
+@SpringBootApplication
+@Deployment(resources = "classpath:process-payments.bpmn")
+public class ProcessPaymentsApplication implements CommandLineRunner {
+
+	private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ProcessPaymentsApplication.class);
+
+	@Autowired
+	private ZeebeClient zeebeClient;
+
+	public static void main(String[] args) {
+		SpringApplication.run(ProcessPaymentsApplication.class, args);
+	}
+}
+```
+
+2. Implement an overriding `run` method in `ProcessPaymentsApplication`. When the application runs, it will create a new `process-payments` process instance, of the latest version, with specified variables, and send it to our local Self-Managed instance:
+
+```java
+	@Override
+	public void run(final String... args) {
+		var processDefinitionKey = "process-payments";
+		var event = zeebeClient.newCreateInstanceCommand()
+				.bpmnProcessId(processDefinitionKey)
+				.latestVersion()
+				.variables(Map.of("total", 100))
+				.send()
+				.join();
+		LOG.info(String.format("started a process: %d", event.getProcessInstanceKey()));
+	}
+```
+
+:::note
+To check your work, visit our [sample repository](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-get-started-spring/blob/main/src/main/java/io/camunda/demo/process_payments/ProcessPaymentsApplication.java) with the completed code.
+:::
+
+Re-run the application in your terminal with `mvn spring-boot:run` to see the process run, and note the instance history in Operate.
+
+## Step 8: Deploy the process
+
+To deploy your process, take the following steps:
+
+1. Decorate the `ProcessPaymentsApplication` class with `@Deployment(resources = "classpath:process-payments.bpmn")` in `ProcessPaymentsApplication.java`:
+2. In Desktop Modeler, change the tax amount calculated to `total * 1.2` under **FEEL expression** and save your changes.
+
+Re-run the application in your terminal with `mvn spring-boot:run` to see the process run. In Operate, note the new version `2` when filtering process instances, and the tax amount has increased for the most recent process instance.
diff --git a/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png b/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0dd39217aa
Binary files /dev/null and b/versioned_docs/version-8.5/guides/img/prepare-transaction-example.png differ
diff --git a/versioned_sidebars/version-8.5-sidebars.json b/versioned_sidebars/version-8.5-sidebars.json
index b68fd7df96..8d0a1eb8ba 100644
--- a/versioned_sidebars/version-8.5-sidebars.json
+++ b/versioned_sidebars/version-8.5-sidebars.json
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
         "guides/model-your-first-process",
         "guides/orchestrate-human-tasks",
         "guides/orchestrate-apis",
-        "guides/orchestrate-microservices"
+        "guides/orchestrate-microservices",
+        "guides/getting-started-java-spring"
       ]
     },
     {