Front end <--> API Service -> Service -> Repository -> DB
Right. This's the basic design by segregation of concerns proposed by Spring Framework. So you are in the "Spring's right way".
Despite Repositories are frequently used as DAOs, the truth is that Spring developers took the notion of Repository from Eric Evans' DDD. Repository interfaces will look often very similar to DAOs because of the CRUD methods and because many developers strive to make repositories' interfaces so generics that, in the end, they have no difference with the EntityManager (the true DAO here)1 but the support of queries and criteria.
Translated into Spring components, your design is similar to
@RestController > @Service > @Repository > EntityManager
The Repository is already an abstraction in between services and data stores. When we extend Spring Data JPA repository interfaces, we are implementing this design implicitly. When we do this, we are paying a tax: a tight coupling with Spring's components. Additionally, we break LoD and YAGNI by inheriting several methods we might not need or wish not have. Not to mention that such an interface doesn't provide us with any valuable insight about the domain needs they serve.
That said, extending Spring Data JPA repositories is not mandatory and you can avoid these tradeoffs by implementing a more plain and custom hierarchy of classes.
@Repository
public class DBRepository implements MyRepository{
private EntityManager em;
@Autowire
public MyRepository (EntityManager em){
this.em = em;
}
//Interface implentation
//...
}
Changing the data source now just takes a new implementation which replaces the EntityManager with a different data source.
//@RestController > @Service > @Repository > RestTemplate
@Repository
public class WebRepository implements MyRepository{
private RestTemplate rt;
@Autowire
public WebRepository (RestTemplate rt){
this.rt = rt;
}
//Interface implentation
//...
}
//@RestController > @Service > @Repository > File
@Repository
public class FileRepository implements MyRepository{
private File file;
public FileRepository (File file){
this.file = file;
}
//Interface implentation
//...
}
//@RestController > @Service > @Repository > SoapWSClient
@Repository
public class WSRepository implements MyRepository{
private MyWebServiceClient wsClient;
@Autowire
public WSRepository (MyWebServiceClient wsClient){
this.wsClient = wsClient;
}
//Interface implentation
//...
}
and so on.2
Back to the question, whether you should add one more abstraction layer, I would say no, because it's not necessary. Your example is only adding more complexity. The layer you propose is going to end up as a proxy between services and repositories or as a pseudo-service-repository layer when specific logic is needed and you don't where to place it.
1: Unlike many developers think, repository interfaces can be totally different from each other because each repository serves different domain needs. In Spring Data JPA, the role DAO is played by the EntityManager. It manages the sessions, the access to the DataSource, mappings, etc.
2: A similar solution is enhancing Spring's repository interfaces mixing them up with custom interfaces. For more info, look for BaseRepositoryFactoryBean and @NoRepositoryBean. However, I have found this approach cumbersome and confusing.