Fix default skip policy when only retry is configured

spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/step/builder/ChunkOrientedStepBuilder.java

@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.StepInterruptionPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.ThreadStepInterruptionPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.item.ChunkOrientedStep;
-import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.AlwaysSkipItemSkipPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.LimitCheckingExceptionHierarchySkipPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.SkipLimitExceededException;
 import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.SkipPolicy;
 import org.springframework.batch.infrastructure.item.ItemProcessor;
@@ -320,7 +320,8 @@ public ChunkOrientedStepBuilder<I, O> retryLimit(long retryLimit) {
 	 * Set the skip policy for the step. This policy determines how the step handles
 	 * skipping items in case of failures. It can be used to define the conditions under
 	 * which items should be skipped and how many times an item can be skipped before the
-	 * step fails. Defaults to {@link AlwaysSkipItemSkipPolicy}.
+	 * step fails. Defaults to {@link NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy} when no skip configuration
+	 * is provided, preventing silent data loss after retry exhaustion.
 	 * @param skipPolicy the skip policy to use
 	 * @return this for fluent chaining
 	 */
@@ -420,12 +421,12 @@ public ChunkOrientedStep<I, O> build() {
 		}
 		chunkOrientedStep.setRetryPolicy(this.retryPolicy);
 		if (this.skipPolicy == null) {
-			if (!this.skippableExceptions.isEmpty() || this.skipLimit > 0) {
+			if (!this.skippableExceptions.isEmpty()) {
 				this.skipPolicy = new LimitCheckingExceptionHierarchySkipPolicy(this.skippableExceptions,
 						this.skipLimit);
 			}
 			else {
-				this.skipPolicy = new AlwaysSkipItemSkipPolicy();
+				this.skipPolicy = new NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy();
 			}
 		}
 		chunkOrientedStep.setSkipPolicy(this.skipPolicy);

spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/step/builder/ChunkOrientedStepBuilderTests.java

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.core.step.builder;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.core.repository.JobRepository;
+import org.springframework.batch.core.step.item.ChunkOrientedStep;
+import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.core.step.skip.SkipPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.infrastructure.item.support.ListItemReader;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.support.JdbcTransactionManager;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertInstanceOf;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+/**
+ * @author Mahmoud Ben Hassine
+ */
+class ChunkOrientedStepBuilderTests {
+
+	private final JobRepository jobRepository = mock(JobRepository.class);
+
+	private final JdbcTransactionManager transactionManager = mock(JdbcTransactionManager.class);
+
+	@Test
+	void testDefaultSkipPolicyWhenOnlyRetryConfigured() throws Exception {
+		// Given: ChunkOrientedStepBuilder with only retry configured (no skip)
+		ChunkOrientedStep<String, String> step = new StepBuilder("testStep", jobRepository)
+			.chunk(10, transactionManager)
+			.reader(new ListItemReader<>(List.of("item1")))
+			.writer(items -> {
+			})
+			.faultTolerant()
+			.retry(Exception.class)
+			.retryLimit(3)
+			// No skip configuration!
+			.build();
+
+		// When: We get the SkipPolicy from the built step
+		SkipPolicy skipPolicy = getSkipPolicyFromStep(step);
+
+		// Then: It should be NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy (not AlwaysSkipItemSkipPolicy)
+		assertInstanceOf(NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy.class, skipPolicy,
+				"When only retry is configured, default SkipPolicy should be NeverSkipItemSkipPolicy "
+						+ "to prevent silent data loss after retry exhaustion");
+	}
+
+	private SkipPolicy getSkipPolicyFromStep(ChunkOrientedStep<?, ?> step) throws Exception {
+		Field skipPolicyField = ChunkOrientedStep.class.getDeclaredField("skipPolicy");
+		skipPolicyField.setAccessible(true);
+		return (SkipPolicy) skipPolicyField.get(step);
+	}
+
+}