django-rest-framework/docs/index.md

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# Django REST framework

**Awesome web-browsable Web APIs.**

Django REST framework is a powerful and flexible toolkit that makes it easy to build Web APIs.

Some reasons you might want to use REST framework:

* The Web browseable API is a huge useability win for your developers.
* Authentication policies including OAuth1a and OAuth2 out of the box.
* Serialization that supports both ORM and non-ORM data sources.
* Customizable all the way down - just use regular function-based views if you don't need the more powerful features.
* Extensive documentation, and great community support.

There is a live example API for testing purposes, [available here][sandbox].

**Below**: *Screenshot from the browsable API*

![Screenshot][image]

## Requirements

REST framework requires the following:

* Python (2.6.5+, 2.7, 3.2, 3.3)
* Django (1.3, 1.4, 1.5)

The following packages are optional:

* [Markdown][markdown] (2.1.0+) - Markdown support for the browsable API.
* [PyYAML][yaml] (3.10+) - YAML content-type support.
* [defusedxml][defusedxml] (0.3+) - XML content-type support.
* [django-filter][django-filter] (0.5.4+) - Filtering support.
* [django-oauth-plus][django-oauth-plus] (2.0+) and [oauth2][oauth2] (1.5.211+) - OAuth 1.0a support.
* [django-oauth2-provider][django-oauth2-provider] (0.2.3+) - OAuth 2.0 support.

**Note**: The `oauth2` python package is badly misnamed, and actually provides OAuth 1.0a support.  Also note that packages required for both OAuth 1.0a, and OAuth 2.0 are not yet Python 3 compatible.

## Installation

Install using `pip`, including any optional packages you want...

    pip install djangorestframework
    pip install markdown       # Markdown support for the browsable API.
    pip install django-filter  # Filtering support

...or clone the project from github.

    git clone git@github.com:tomchristie/django-rest-framework.git

Add `'rest_framework'` to your `INSTALLED_APPS` setting.

    INSTALLED_APPS = (
        ...
        'rest_framework',        
    )

If you're intending to use the browsable API you'll probably also want to add REST framework's login and logout views.  Add the following to your root `urls.py` file.

    urlpatterns = patterns('',
        ...
        url(r'^api-auth/', include('rest_framework.urls', namespace='rest_framework'))
    )

Note that the URL path can be whatever you want, but you must include `'rest_framework.urls'` with the `'rest_framework'` namespace.

## Example

Let's take a look at a quick example of using REST framework to build a simple model-backed API.

We'll create a read-write API for accessing users and groups.

Any global settings for a REST framework API are kept in a single configuration dictionary named `REST_FRAMEWORK`.  Start off by adding the following to your `settings.py` module:

    REST_FRAMEWORK = {
        # Use hyperlinked styles by default.
        # Only used if the `serializer_class` attribute is not set on a view.
        'DEFAULT_MODEL_SERIALIZER_CLASS':
            'rest_framework.serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer',

        # Use Django's standard `django.contrib.auth` permissions,
        # or allow read-only access for unauthenticated users.
        'DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES': [
            'rest_framework.permissions.DjangoModelPermissionsOrAnonReadOnly'
        ]
    }

Don't forget to make sure you've also added `rest_framework` to your `INSTALLED_APPS`.

We're ready to create our API now.
Here's our project's root `urls.py` module:

    from django.conf.urls.defaults import url, patterns, include
    from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
    from rest_framework import viewsets, routers

    # ViewSets define the view behavior.
    class UserViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
        model = User

    class GroupViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
        model = Group

    
    # Routers provide an easy way of automatically determining the URL conf
    router = routers.DefaultRouter()
    router.register(r'users', UserViewSet)
    router.register(r'groups', GroupViewSet)


    # Wire up our API using automatic URL routing.
    # Additionally, we include login URLs for the browseable API.
    urlpatterns = patterns('',
        url(r'^', include(router.urls)),
        url(r'^api-auth/', include('rest_framework.urls', namespace='rest_framework'))
    )

## Quickstart

Can't wait to get started?  The [quickstart guide][quickstart] is the fastest way to get up and running, and building APIs with REST framework.

## Tutorial

The tutorial will walk you through the building blocks that make up REST framework.   It'll take a little while to get through, but it'll give you a comprehensive understanding of how everything fits together, and is highly recommended reading.

* [1 - Serialization][tut-1]
* [2 - Requests & Responses][tut-2]
* [3 - Class based views][tut-3]
* [4 - Authentication & permissions][tut-4]
* [5 - Relationships & hyperlinked APIs][tut-5]
* [6 - Viewsets & routers][tut-6]

## API Guide

The API guide is your complete reference manual to all the functionality provided by REST framework.

* [Requests][request]
* [Responses][response]
* [Views][views]
* [Generic views][generic-views]
* [Viewsets][viewsets]
* [Routers][routers]
* [Parsers][parsers]
* [Renderers][renderers]
* [Serializers][serializers]
* [Serializer fields][fields]
* [Serializer relations][relations]
* [Authentication][authentication]
* [Permissions][permissions]
* [Throttling][throttling]
* [Filtering][filtering]
* [Pagination][pagination]
* [Content negotiation][contentnegotiation]
* [Format suffixes][formatsuffixes]
* [Returning URLs][reverse]
* [Exceptions][exceptions]
* [Status codes][status]
* [Settings][settings]

## Topics

General guides to using REST framework.

* [AJAX, CSRF & CORS][ajax-csrf-cors]
* [Browser enhancements][browser-enhancements]
* [The Browsable API][browsableapi]
* [REST, Hypermedia & HATEOAS][rest-hypermedia-hateoas]
* [2.0 Announcement][rest-framework-2-announcement]
* [2.2 Announcement][2.2-announcement]
* [2.3 Announcement][2.3-announcement]
* [Release Notes][release-notes]
* [Credits][credits]

## Development

If you want to work on REST framework itself, clone the repository, then...

Build the docs:

    ./mkdocs.py

Run the tests:

    ./rest_framework/runtests/runtests.py

To run the tests against all supported configurations, first install [the tox testing tool][tox] globally, using `pip install tox`, then simply run `tox`: 

    tox

## Support

For support please see the [REST framework discussion group][group], try the  `#restframework` channel on `irc.freenode.net`, or raise a  question on [Stack Overflow][stack-overflow], making sure to include the ['django-rest-framework'][django-rest-framework-tag] tag.

[Paid support is available][paid-support] from [DabApps][dabapps], and can include work on REST framework core, or support with building your REST framework API.  Please [contact DabApps][contact-dabapps] if you'd like to discuss commercial support options.

For updates on REST framework development, you may also want to follow [the author][twitter] on Twitter.

<a style="padding-top: 10px" href="https://twitter.com/_tomchristie" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false">Follow @_tomchristie</a>
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## License

Copyright (c) 2011-2013, Tom Christie
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this 
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this 
list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or 
other materials provided with the distribution.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND 
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED 
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE 
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE 
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR 
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER 
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, 
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE 
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

[travis]: http://travis-ci.org/tomchristie/django-rest-framework?branch=master
[travis-build-image]: https://secure.travis-ci.org/tomchristie/django-rest-framework.png?branch=master
[urlobject]: https://github.com/zacharyvoase/urlobject
[markdown]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown/
[yaml]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyYAML
[defusedxml]: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/defusedxml
[django-filter]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-filter
[oauth2]: https://github.com/simplegeo/python-oauth2
[django-oauth-plus]: https://bitbucket.org/david/django-oauth-plus/wiki/Home
[django-oauth2-provider]: https://github.com/caffeinehit/django-oauth2-provider
[0.4]: https://github.com/tomchristie/django-rest-framework/tree/0.4.X
[image]: img/quickstart.png
[sandbox]: http://restframework.herokuapp.com/

[quickstart]: tutorial/quickstart.md
[tut-1]: tutorial/1-serialization.md
[tut-2]: tutorial/2-requests-and-responses.md
[tut-3]: tutorial/3-class-based-views.md
[tut-4]: tutorial/4-authentication-and-permissions.md
[tut-5]: tutorial/5-relationships-and-hyperlinked-apis.md
[tut-6]: tutorial/6-viewsets-and-routers.md

[request]: api-guide/requests.md
[response]: api-guide/responses.md
[views]: api-guide/views.md
[generic-views]: api-guide/generic-views.md
[viewsets]: api-guide/viewsets.md
[routers]: api-guide/routers.md
[parsers]: api-guide/parsers.md
[renderers]: api-guide/renderers.md
[serializers]: api-guide/serializers.md
[fields]: api-guide/fields.md
[relations]: api-guide/relations.md
[authentication]: api-guide/authentication.md
[permissions]: api-guide/permissions.md
[throttling]: api-guide/throttling.md
[filtering]: api-guide/filtering.md
[pagination]: api-guide/pagination.md
[contentnegotiation]: api-guide/content-negotiation.md
[formatsuffixes]: api-guide/format-suffixes.md
[reverse]: api-guide/reverse.md
[exceptions]: api-guide/exceptions.md
[status]: api-guide/status-codes.md
[settings]: api-guide/settings.md

[ajax-csrf-cors]: topics/ajax-csrf-cors.md
[browser-enhancements]: topics/browser-enhancements.md
[browsableapi]: topics/browsable-api.md
[rest-hypermedia-hateoas]: topics/rest-hypermedia-hateoas.md
[contributing]: topics/contributing.md
[rest-framework-2-announcement]: topics/rest-framework-2-announcement.md
[2.2-announcement]: topics/2.2-announcement.md
[2.3-announcement]: topics/2.3-announcement.md
[release-notes]: topics/release-notes.md
[credits]: topics/credits.md

[tox]: http://testrun.org/tox/latest/

[group]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/django-rest-framework
[stack-overflow]: http://stackoverflow.com/
[django-rest-framework-tag]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/django-rest-framework
[django-tag]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/django
[paid-support]: http://dabapps.com/services/build/api-development/
[dabapps]: http://dabapps.com
[contact-dabapps]: http://dabapps.com/contact/
[twitter]: https://twitter.com/_tomchristie