HNG1 - Dynamic Profile Endpoint

This is a Django REST API that implements a dynamic profile endpoint as per the Backend Wizards Stage 0 Task.

Features

• GET /me endpoint returning user profile with dynamic cat facts
• Fetches real-time cat facts from external API
• Dynamic UTC timestamp in ISO 8601 format
• Error handling for external API failures
• CORS enabled for cross-origin requests
• Rate limiting (10 requests per minute per IP)
• Logging for debugging and monitoring
• Redis cache backend for rate limiting (production-ready)

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• Virtual environment (recommended)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/temmy669/HNG1.git
   cd HNG1

2. Create and activate virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   # On Windows:
   venv\Scripts\activate
   # On macOS/Linux:
   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Create a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:

   URL=https://catfact.ninja/fact
   EMAIL=your-email@example.com
   NAME=Your Full Name
   STACK=Your Backend Stack
   

5. Run migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

6. Start the development server:

   python manage.py runserver

The API will be available at http://127.0.0.1:8000/

API Endpoint

GET /me

Returns user profile information with a dynamic cat fact.

Rate Limit: 10 requests per minute per IP address

Response Format:

{
  "status": "success",
  "user": {
    "email": "your-email@example.com",
    "name": "Your Full Name",
    "stack": "Your Backend Stack"
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-10-15T12:34:56.789Z",
  "fact": "A random cat fact from the API"
}

Error Response (Rate Limit Exceeded):

{
  "status": "error",
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Too many requests from your IP address.",
  "retry_after_seconds": 60,
  "error_code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED"
}

API Documentation

The API includes comprehensive documentation accessible through multiple formats:

Swagger UI

Interactive API documentation with testing capabilities:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/docs/swagger/

ReDoc

Alternative documentation view with clean, responsive design:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/docs/redoc/

OpenAPI Schema

Raw OpenAPI 3.0 specification in JSON format:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/schema/

The documentation includes:

• Detailed endpoint descriptions
• Request/response schemas
• Example responses
• Rate limiting information
• Error response formats

Dependencies

• Django==5.2.7
• djangorestframework==3.16.1
• python-decouple==3.8
• django-cors-headers==4.9.0
• requests==2.32.5
• django-ratelimit==4.1.0
• django-redis==6.0.0
• redis (for production cache backend)

Environment Variables

• URL: Cat Facts API endpoint (default: https://catfact.ninja/fact)
• EMAIL: Your email address
• NAME: Your full name
• STACK: Your backend technology stack

Testing

Test the endpoint using curl:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/me

Or open in browser: http://127.0.0.1:8000/me

Deployment

This API can be deployed to platforms like Railway, Heroku, or AWS. Ensure environment variables are set in your deployment platform's configuration.

Production Cache Configuration

For production deployment, update the cache configuration in settings.py to use Redis:

CACHES = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache',
        'LOCATION': 'redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1',  # Update with your Redis URL
    }
}

Install Redis and update the LOCATION with your Redis connection string.