Use Django + Faker to generate mock data for MSW without duplicating logic

[MenasheKoren]

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow Django's Code of Conduct

Feature Description

Allow Django to generate mock data for MSW in the frontend by reusing existing FactoryBoy + Faker factories. The mock data can be exported as a JSON file or JavaScript handler file that MSW can directly use.

Problem

Right now, we're writing mock data twice: once in Django (with factories) and again manually in MSW. This causes duplication and makes it easy for frontend mocks to fall out of sync with backend models.

Request or proposal

proposal

Additional Details

• The goal is for Django to remain the single source of truth for mock data
• Could support output as .json or .js (with MSW handlers)
• Faker could be seeded for consistent results
• Ideal output lives in or near the Django project, not separately in the frontend

Implementation Suggestions

# Django command (pseudo)
from myapp.factories import PersonFactory
data = PersonFactory.create_batch(10)

# Save to JSON for MSW
with open('frontend/mocks/people.json', 'w') as f:
    json.dump(data, f)

// MSW in React
import people from './mocks/people.json'

export const handlers = [
  rest.get('/api/people', (req, res, ctx) => {
    return res(ctx.status(200), ctx.json(people))
  })
]

[github-actions]

Thank you MenasheKoren for sharing your idea! We have a lot of them so please be patient. You can see the current queue here.

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Reaction Guide

• 👍 This is something I would use
• 👎 This is something that would cause problems for me or Django
• 😕 I’m indifferent to this
• 🎉 This is an easy win

[LilyAcorn]

What is MSW?

[MenasheKoren]

What is MSW?

https://mswjs.io/ It's a mock service worker for JavaScript, React, etc.

[LilyAcorn]

Since Django doesn't have any support for test factories in Python, I think this idea only makes sense as a third party package, so I've added that label.

[nanuxbe]

I would also suggest this to be raised as a feature request on factory_boy as this is one of the most widely used packages for generating mock data (with Faker)