django-rest-framework/docs/index.md

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Django REST framework

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

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Note: This documentation is for the 2.0 version of REST framework. If you are looking for earlier versions please see the 0.4.x branch on GitHub.

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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.

If you are considering using REST framework for your API, we recommend reading the REST framework 2 announcment which gives a good overview of the framework and it's capabilities.

There is also a sandbox API you can use for testing purposes, available here.

Below: Screenshot from the browseable API

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

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 browseable 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 URL path can be whatever you want, but you must include rest_framework.urls with the rest_framework namespace.

Quickstart

Can't wait to get started? The quickstart guide is the fastest way to get up and running 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
• 2 - Requests & Responses
• 3 - Class based views
• 4 - Authentication & permissions
• 5 - Relationships & hyperlinked APIs

API Guide

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

• Requests
• Responses
• Views
• Generic views
• Parsers
• Renderers
• Serializers
• Serializer fields
• Authentication
• Permissions
• Throttling
• Pagination
• Content negotiation
• Format suffixes
• Returning URLs
• Exceptions
• Status codes
• Settings

Topics

General guides to using REST framework.

• Browser enhancements
• The Browsable API
• REST, Hypermedia & HATEOAS
• 2.0 Announcement
• Release Notes
• 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

Support

For support please see the REST framework discussion group, or try the #restframework channel on irc.freenode.net.

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

License

Copyright (c) 2011-2012, 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.