Django REST framework

A toolkit for building well-connected, self-describing Web APIs.

WARNING: This documentation is for the 2.0 redesign of REST framework. It is a work in progress.

Django REST framework is a lightweight library that makes it easy to build Web APIs. It is designed as a modular and easy to customize architecture, based on Django's class based views.

Web APIs built using REST framework are fully self-describing and web browseable - a huge useability win for your developers. It also supports a wide range of media types, authentication and permission policies out of the box.

Requirements

REST framework requires the following:

Python (2.6, 2.7)
Django (1.3, 1.4, 1.5)

The following packages are optional:

Markdown (2.1.0+) - Markdown support for the self describing API.
PyYAML (3.10+) - YAML content-type support.

Installation

WARNING: These instructions will only become valid once this becomes the master version

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

pip install djangorestframework
pip install markdown  # Recommended if using the browseable API.
pip install pyyaml    # Required for yaml content-type support.

...or clone the project from github.

git clone git@github.com:tomchristie/django-rest-framework.git
cd django-rest-framework
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r optionals.txt

Add rest_framework to your INSTALLED_APPS.

INSTALLED_APPS = (
    ...
    'rest_framework',        
)

If you're intending to use the browserable API you'll 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 base URL can be whatever you want, but you must include rest_framework.urls with the rest_framework namespace.

Quickstart

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.

API Guide

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

Topics

General guides to using REST framework.

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

License

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.

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