Django-REST-API

A standalone Django REST API for a forum application.

The API handles all server-side operations — user authentication, forums, posts, comments and replies — and communicates via HTTP requests. It can be consumed by any client (frontend, mobile app, or other services).

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🚀 Overview

• RESTful API built with Django
• CRUD endpoints for users, forums, posts, comments and replies
• Runs inside a virtual environment for dependency isolation
• Requires Python 3.10.0 for full compatibility with dependencies
• JWT-based authentication (access & refresh tokens)

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🖥️ Running the Django API (Windows Instructions)

Follow these steps to set up and run the Django API locally:

0. Verify Python version

Make sure you are using Python 3.10.0 (otherwise some libraries may not work if a different python version is used):

python --version
# Should output: Python 3.10.0

1. Create a virtual environment

Create a new virtual environment inside the project folder:

python -m venv venv

This creates a folder named venv that keeps all project dependencies isolated.

2. Activate the virtual environment

venv\Scripts\activate

When activated, your terminal prompt will show (venv).

3. Install required libraries

Install all dependencies listed in requirements.txt:

pip install -r requirements.txt

This ensures Django and JWT, and other required libraries are installed.

4. Navigate to the Django app directory

cd src

5. Run the Django server

python manage.py runserver 127.0.0.1:8000

The local server will start at (running at port 8000): 👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000

Note: You can choose any address or port number you want ('python manage.py runserver

:')

Examples:

• Getting users: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users
• Getting posts: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/posts
• Getting comments: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/comments

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📝 Concepts

• Forum: A category or section where related discussions take place.
• Post: A message or topic created within a forum.
• Comment: A response to a post.
• Reply: A nested response to a comment, allowing threaded discussions.

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🛠️ Endpoints Reference

Description	Method	Endpoint	Authenticated?	Payload	Query Parameter
Get all users	GET	/api/users	No	None	"q", "username", "page"
Get users by ID	GET	/api/users/:pk	No	None	None
Create users	POST	/api/users	No	"username", "email", "password"	None
Update users	PUT	/api/users/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	"username", "email"	None
Get all followers	GET	/api/users/followers	No	None	None
Get followers by ID	GET	/api/users/:pk/followers	No	None	None
Create followers	POST	/api/users/followers	Yes (Bearer)	"forum"	None
Delete followers	DELETE	/api/users/:pk/followers/	Yes (Bearer)	None	None
Get all forums	GET	/api/forums	No	None	"q", "name", "owner", "page"
Get forum by ID	GET	/api/forums/:pk	No	None	None
Create forum	POST	/api/forums	Yes (Bearer)	"name", "about"	None
Update forum	PUT	/api/forums/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	"name", "about"	None
Delete forum	DELETE	/api/forums/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	None	None
Get all posts	GET	/api/posts	No	None	"forum", "user"
Get posts by ID	GET	/api/posts/:pk	No	None	None
Create posts	POST	/api/posts	Yes (Bearer)	"title", "content", "forum"	None
Update posts	PUT	/api/posts/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	"title", "content"	None
Delete posts	DELETE	/api/posts/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	None	None
Get all comments	GET	/api/comments	No	None	"post", "user"
Get comments by ID	GET	/api/comments/:pk	No	None	None
Create comments	POST	/api/comments	Yes (Bearer)	"content", "post"	None
Update comments	PUT	/api/comments/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	"content"	None
Delete comments	DELETE	/api/comments/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	None	None
Get all replies	GET	/api/replys	No	None	"comment", "user"
Get replies by ID	GET	/api/replys/:pk	No	None	None
Create replies	POST	/api/replys	Yes (Bearer)	"content", "comment"	None
Update replies	PUT	/api/replys/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	"content"	None
Delete replies	DELETE	/api/replys/:pk	Yes (Bearer)	None	None
Create New Access Token	POST	/api/token	No	"username", "password"	None
Create New Access Token	POST	/api/token/refresh	No	"refresh"	None

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🧪 Using the API

1. Authentication

Protected endpoints require a Bearer token in the Authorization header. Example:

POST /api/forums
Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>

• Replace <ACCESS_TOKEN> with the token received from /api/token POST request (access token).
• The refresh token can be used to get a new access token from /api/refresh POST request (in the payload, "token" represents the "refresh" token).
• Endpoints marked Yes (Bearer) in the table require this header.

2. Payload (Request Body)

For endpoints that accept data (POST/PATCH), send a JSON body with the fields listed in the table. Example: Create a forum

POST /api/forums
Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>
Content-Type: application/json

Request Body:

{
  "name": "Programming",
  "about": "All programming related discussions"
}

• Only include the fields required by the endpoint (see Payload column).

3. Query Parameters

Some GET endpoints support query parameters for filtering. Example: Get a user who's username is admin

GET /api/users?username=admin

• Fields listed under Query Parameter in the table can be included in the URL.
• Multiple query parameters can be combined with &, e.g., /api/posts?user=123&forum=456.

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.