How to Create a basic API using Django Rest Framework ? Last Updated : 24 May, 2025 Comments Improve Suggest changes Like Article Like Report Django REST Framework (DRF) is a powerful extension of Django that helps you build APIs quickly and easily. It simplifies exposing your Django models as RESTfulAPIs, which can be consumed by frontend apps, mobile clients or other services.Before creating an API, there are three main steps to understand:Serialization: Convert complex data like Django models/querysets into JSON or XML format.Viewsets: Define views that handle API requests and responses.URL Routing: Map URLs to your API views so they can be accessed by clients.This article will teach you how to implement Django REST framework to easily create API endpoints by building a simple CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) API for a Book model with three fields: title, author and publish_date.Refer to the following articles to check how to create a project and an app in Django. How to Create a Basic Project using MVT in Django?How to Create an App in Django ?Step 1: Add DRF to Installed AppsIn your settings.py, add 'rest_framework' and you 'app' to INSTALLED_APPS to enable DRF in your Django project: Python # Application definition INSTALLED_APPS = [ 'django.contrib.admin', 'django.contrib.auth', 'django.contrib.contenttypes', 'django.contrib.sessions', 'django.contrib.messages', 'django.contrib.staticfiles', 'rest_framework', 'app' ] Also make sure to install Django restframework module if it isn't already installed using command:pip install djangorestframeworkStep 2: Create the Book ModelIn app/models.py, define the Book model with three fields: Python from django.db import models class Book(models.Model): title = models.CharField(max_length=200) author = models.CharField(max_length=100) publish_date = models.DateField() def __str__(self): return self.title CharField is used for short text (title, author).DateField stores the date when the book was published.__str__ method returns a human-readable representation of each book instance.Step 3: Create a SerializerSerializers convert model instances into JSON and validate incoming JSON data. Create app/serializers.py: Python from rest_framework import serializers from .models import Book class BookSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer): class Meta: model = Book fields = ['id', 'title', 'author', 'publish_date'] ModelSerializer automatically generates fields based on the model.fields tuple specifies which model fields to expose via the API.id field (primary key) is included to uniquely identify each record.Step 4: Define a ViewSetViewSets provide CRUD operations in one place. In app/views.py: Python from rest_framework import viewsets from .models import Book from .serializers import BookSerializer class BookViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet): queryset = Book.objects.all() serializer_class = BookSerializer ModelViewSet automatically provides list, retrieve, create, update and destroy actions.queryset defines the set of objects available via the API.serializer_class tells DRF how to serialize/deserialize the Book data.Step 5: Configure URLs with a RouterDRF routers automatically generate URL patterns for your ViewSets. Create app/urls.py: Python from django.urls import path, include from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter from .views import BookViewSet router = DefaultRouter() router.register(r'books', BookViewSet) urlpatterns = [ path('', include(router.urls)), ] Using DefaultRouter, you don’t need to manually define each URL for CRUD operations. It automatically creates standard RESTful endpoints like:GET /books/ (list all books)POST /books/ (create new book)GET /books/{id}/ (retrieve a single book)PUT /books/{id}/ (update a book)DELETE /books/{id}/ (delete a book)Including these URLs in your main projectName/urls.py will expose the API.Step 6: Migrate and Run the ServerRun the following commands to create your database tables and start the server:python manage.py makemigrationspython manage.py migratepython manage.py runserver You can now:See a list of books (empty at first)Use POST requests to add new booksAccess individual books, update or delete them using standard HTTP methodsAccessing the API Endpoints:Because in your projectName/urls.py you included your app’s URLs with the prefix api/, all your API endpoints will be accessed through URLs starting with /api/.For example, the DefaultRouter in your app/urls.py registered the BookViewSet with the route books. So, the endpoints you can use are:HTTP MethodEndpoint URLDescriptionGEThttp://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/List all booksPOSThttp://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/Create a new bookGEThttp://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/{id}/Retrieve a book by its IDPUThttp://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/{id}/Update a book by its IDDELETEhttp://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/{id}/Delete a book by its IDNote:Replace {id} with the actual book ID you want to retrieve, update or delete.The /api/ prefix is required because you included your app URLs under path('api/', include('app.urls')) in the main urls.py.Output:Below is the snapshot of the /books/ endpoint after adding some entries:Snapshot after adding three entriesLet's look at the options we get when we navigate the /book/{id}/ with id of some book:Django REST FrameworkIn the above snapshot, we are getting the options of performing all the CRUD operations, which means out app is working fine. 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