🧙‍♂️ Backend Wizards — Stage 0 Task: Dynamic Profile API

This project is a simple RESTful API built with Django, designed to return my profile information along with a dynamic cat fact fetched from an external API.

It’s part of the Backend Wizards Stage 0 Task, which validates understanding of REST APIs, JSON serialization, environment setup, and external API integration.

---

🚀 Features

• Returns personal profile information (name, email, GitHub, bio)
• Fetches a random cat fact dynamically from catfact.ninja
• Includes status codes and error handling
• Uses environment variables for secure configuration
• Ready for deployment on Railway.app

---

🧩 API Endpoint

GET /api/me

✅ Successful Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "profile": {
    "name": "Ogochukwu Stanley Ikegbo",
    "email": "stacymacbrains@gmail.com",
    "github": "https://github.com/stacymacbrains",
    "bio": "Backend developer passionate about APIs and Django."
  },
  "cat_fact": "Cats can rotate their ears 180 degrees."
}

⚠️ Error Response (e.g. timeout)

{
  "status": "error",
  "profile": {
    "name": "Ogochukwu Stanley Ikegbo",
    "email": "stacymacbrains@gmail.com",
    "github": "https://github.com/stacymacbrains",
    "bio": "Backend developer passionate about APIs and Django."
  },
  "cat_fact": "The request to fetch cat fact timed out."
}

---

⚙️ Tech Stack

• Python 3.x
• Django 5.x
• Gunicorn (for production)
• Requests (for external API calls)
• python-dotenv (for environment variables)

---

🧠 How It Works

1. A GET request is made to /api/me.
2. Django returns static profile info.
3. It sends a live HTTP request to the Cat Fact API (https://catfact.ninja/fact) with a 5-second timeout.
4. If successful, it combines both into a JSON response.
5. If the request fails or times out, an error message and status: "error" are returned.

---

🛠️ Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Staneering/backend-wizards-stage0.git
cd backend-wizards-stage0

2. Create and activate a virtual environment

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate    # on Windows
# or
source venv/bin/activate # on macOS/Linux

3. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Add your environment variables

Create a .env file in the project root:

SECRET_KEY=your_django_secret_key
DEBUG=True

5. Run the development server

python manage.py runserver

Visit 👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/me

---

☁️ Deployment on Railway

1. Push your code to GitHub.

2. Connect your repository to Railway.app.

3. Set your environment variables (SECRET_KEY, DEBUG=False) in the Railway dashboard.

4. Add a Procfile to the root of your project:

   web: gunicorn mybackend.wsgi
   

5. Deploy 🎉

---

🧾 Example Project Structure

mybackend/
│
├── api/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   ├── views.py
│
├── mybackend/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── wsgi.py
│
├── manage.py
├── Procfile
├── requirements.txt
└── .env

---

👨‍💻 Author

Ogochukwu Stanley Ikegbo 📧 stacymacbrains@gmail.com 🔗 GitHub: stacymacbrains

---

🐾 Credits

• CatFact Ninja API for the random cat facts
• Backend Wizards for the task challenge