📦 Modular FastAPI Starter Backend

This is a starter backend project built with FastAPI following a clean and modular architecture. It comes with ready-to-use Authentication (JWT), User module, database integration, and .env-based configuration — perfect as a foundation for larger projects.

🗂️ Project Structure

.
├── app
│   ├── api/
│   ├── core/
│   │   ├── config.py         # Environment and settings configuration
│   ├── db/
│   │   └── database.py       # Database connection (PostgreSQL or SQLite)
│   ├── main.py              # FastAPI entry point
│   └── modules/
│       ├── auth/            # Authentication module
│       │   ├── dependencies.py
│       │   ├── routes.py
│       │   ├── schemas.py
│       │   └── services.py
│       └── user/            # User module
│           ├── models.py
│           ├── routes.py
│           ├── schemas.py
│           └── services.py
├── database.db
├── .env
├── .env.example
├── requirements.txt
└── .ropeproject

🚀 Features

✅ Modular structure — auth and user separated cleanly ✅ JWT authentication (login, register, protected routes) ✅ Forgot/Reset password flow ✅ CORS configuration via .env ✅ PostgreSQL or SQLite support ✅ Ready for /api/v1 route versioning ✅ Auto-generated Swagger docs (/docs)

⚙️ Setup & Installation

1️⃣ Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/fastapi-starter-backend.git
cd fastapi-starter-backend

2️⃣ Create a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate   # Linux/Mac
# OR
.venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

3️⃣ Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4️⃣ Configure environment variables

Copy the .env.example to .env and update values:

cp .env.example .env

.env example:

# App info
APP_TITLE=Modular FastAPI API
APP_DESCRIPTION=Backend API for Auth and User Modules
APP_VERSION=1.0.0

# Auth
SECRET_KEY=your_secret
ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES=30
ALGORITHM=HS256

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@localhost:5432/your_db_name
# DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///database.db

# CORS
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000

🔐 Generate a Secret Key

Use Python to generate a secure SECRET_KEY:

python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

Copy the output and paste it into .env as SECRET_KEY.

🗄️ Database Setup

Make sure PostgreSQL is running (or use SQLite). Then create the database:

psql -U postgres -c "CREATE DATABASE your_db_name;"

Or update .env to use SQLite for local development:

DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///./database.db

▶️ Run the Server

From the project root:

uvicorn app.main:app --reload

The API will be available at:

• Swagger UI: http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs
• ReDoc: http://127.0.0.1:8000/redoc

🔑 Authentication Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/v1/auth/register	POST	Register a new user
/api/v1/auth/login	POST	Login and get JWT token
/api/v1/auth/forgot-password	POST	Generate a password reset token
/api/v1/auth/reset-password	POST	Reset password using token

Use the JWT token returned from login as a Bearer Token in protected routes like:

GET /api/v1/users/me
Authorization: Bearer <your_access_token>

🧱 Future Improvements

• Add role-based access (Admin, User)
• Add email service integration for password reset
• Add unit tests and CI/CD

• Author : Ngusa

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to improve this project, feel free to fork the repository, create a new branch, and submit a pull request.

Steps:

1. Fork this repo
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add some feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/your-feature
5. Open a pull request 🚀

📜 License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License © 2025