You can either add an @AllArgsConstructor annotation, because

@Builder generates an all-args constructor if there are no other constructors defined.

(Quoting @Andrew Tobilko)

Or set an attribute to @Builder : @Builder(toBuilder = true) This give you the functionality of a copy constructor.

@Builder(toBuilder = true)
class Foo {
    // fields, etc
}

Foo foo = getReferenceToFooInstance();
Foo copy = foo.toBuilder().build();

Consider:

Order order = new Order("Alan", "Smith", 2, 6, "Susan", "Smith");

What do the parameters mean? We have to look at the constructor spec to find out.

Now with a builder:

Order order = Order.builder()
    .originatorFirstName("Alan")
    .originatorLastName("Smith")
    .lineItemNumber(2)
    .quantity(6)
    .recipientFirstName("Susan")
    .recipientLastName("Smith")
    .build();

It's more wordy, but it's very clear to read, and with IDE assistance it's easy to write too. The builders themselves are a bit of a chore to write, but code-generation tools like Lombok help with that.

Some people argue that if your code needs builders to be readable, that's exposing other smells. You're using too many basic types; you're putting too many fields in one class. For example, consider:

Order order = new Order(
     new Originator("Alan", "Smith"),
     new ItemSet(new Item(2), 6),
     new Recipient("Susan", "Smith"));

... which is self-explanatory without using a builder, because we are using more classes with single-responsibilities and fewer fields.

Updated

Based on the feedback and John's answer I have updated the answer to no longer use @Tolerate or @Data and instead we create accessors and mutators via @Getter and @Setter, create the default constructor via @NoArgsConstructor, and finally we create the all args constructor that the builder requires via @AllArgsConstructor.

Since you want to use the builder pattern I imagine you want to restrict visibility of the constructor and mutators methods. To achieve this we set the visibility to package private via the access attribute on the @NoArgsConstructor and @AllArgsConstructor annotations and the value attribute on the @Setterannotation.

Important

Remember to properly override toString, equals, and hashCode. See the following posts by Vlad Mihalcea for details:

• the-best-way-to-implement-equals-hashcode-and-tostring-with-jpa-and-hibernate
• how-to-implement-equals-and-hashcode-using-the-jpa-entity-identifier
• hibernate-facts-equals-and-hashcode

package com.stackoverflow.SO34299054;

import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.Random;

import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;

import org.junit.Test;

import lombok.AccessLevel;
import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
import lombok.Builder;
import lombok.Getter;
import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
import lombok.Setter;

@SuppressWarnings("javadoc")
public class Answer {

    @Entity
    @Builder(toBuilder = true)
    @AllArgsConstructor(access = AccessLevel.PACKAGE)
    @NoArgsConstructor(access = AccessLevel.PACKAGE)
    @Setter(value = AccessLevel.PACKAGE)
    @Getter
    public static class Person {

        @Id
        @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
        private Long id;

        /*
         * IMPORTANT:
         * Set toString, equals, and hashCode as described in these
         * documents:
         * - https://vladmihalcea.com/the-best-way-to-implement-equals-hashcode-and-tostring-with-jpa-and-hibernate/
         * - https://vladmihalcea.com/how-to-implement-equals-and-hashcode-using-the-jpa-entity-identifier/
         * - https://vladmihalcea.com/hibernate-facts-equals-and-hashcode/
         */
    }

    /**
     * Test person builder.
     */
    @Test
    public void testPersonBuilder() {

        final Long expectedId = new Random().nextLong();
        final Person fromBuilder = Person.builder()
            .id(expectedId)
            .build();
        assertEquals(expectedId, fromBuilder.getId());

    }

    /**
     * Test person constructor.
     */
    @Test
    public void testPersonConstructor() {

        final Long expectedId = new Random().nextLong();
        final Person fromNoArgConstructor = new Person();
        fromNoArgConstructor.setId(expectedId);
        assertEquals(expectedId, fromNoArgConstructor.getId());
    }
}

Old Version using @Tolerate and @Data:

Using @Tolerate worked to allow adding a noarg constructor.

Since you want to use the builder pattern I imagine you want to control visibility of the setter methods.

The @Data annotation makes the generated setters public, applying @Setter(value = AccessLevel.PROTECTED) to the fields makes them protected.

Remember to properly override toString, equals, and hashCode. See the following posts by Vlad Mihalcea for details:

• the-best-way-to-implement-equals-hashcode-and-tostring-with-jpa-and-hibernate
• how-to-implement-equals-and-hashcode-using-the-jpa-entity-identifier
• hibernate-facts-equals-and-hashcode

package lombok.javac.handlers.stackoverflow;

import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.Random;

import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.Id;

import lombok.AccessLevel;
import lombok.Builder;
import lombok.Data;
import lombok.Setter;
import lombok.experimental.Tolerate;

import org.junit.Test;

public class So34241718 {

    @Builder
    @Data
    public static class Person {

        @Id
        @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
        @Setter(value = AccessLevel.PROTECTED)
        Long id;

        @Tolerate
        Person() {}

       /* IMPORTANT:
          Override toString, equals, and hashCode as described in these 
          documents:
          - https://vladmihalcea.com/the-best-way-to-implement-equals-hashcode-and-tostring-with-jpa-and-hibernate/
          - https://vladmihalcea.com/how-to-implement-equals-and-hashcode-using-the-jpa-entity-identifier/
          - https://vladmihalcea.com/hibernate-facts-equals-and-hashcode/
          */
    }

    @Test
    public void testPersonBuilder() {

        Long expectedId = new Random().nextLong();
        final Person fromBuilder = Person.builder()
            .id(expectedId)
            .build();
        assertEquals(expectedId, fromBuilder.getId());

    }

    @Test
    public void testPersonConstructor() {

        Long expectedId = new Random().nextLong();
        final Person fromNoArgConstructor = new Person();
        fromNoArgConstructor .setId(expectedId);
        assertEquals(expectedId, fromNoArgConstructor.getId());
    }
}