Django REST API Template

A modern, production-ready Django REST API template with authentication, email verification, and comprehensive development tools. Built with Django REST Framework, this template provides a solid foundation for building scalable web applications.

🚀 Features

Authentication & Security

• Custom User Model - Email-based authentication with UUID support
• JWT Authentication - Secure token-based authentication with cookies
• Email Verification - Complete email verification flow with beautiful HTML templates
• Password Reset - Secure password reset with email verification
• Verified Users Only - Login restricted to verified users only
• CSRF Protection - Built-in CSRF protection with configurable settings

API & Development

• Django REST Framework - Full REST API support with browsable interface
• Browsable API - Interactive web interface for testing APIs
• Django Debug Toolbar - Comprehensive debugging and profiling tools
• CORS Support - Cross-origin resource sharing configuration
• Import/Export - Data import/export functionality for admin

Email System

• Beautiful HTML Templates - Professional email templates for verification and password reset
• SMTP Configuration - Configurable email backend with TLS support
• Template Customization - Easy-to-customize email templates
• Generic Design - Templates work for any application

Database & Storage

• Multi-Environment Support - SQLite for development, PostgreSQL for production
• Media File Handling - User upload support with proper file management
• Static Files - Optimized static file serving with WhiteNoise

📋 Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• pip
• Git

🛠️ Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Alien501/django-drf-template.git
cd django-template

2. Create Virtual Environment

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

3. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Environment Setup

Create a .env file in the root directory:

# Django Settings
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
JWT_KEY=your-jwt-key-here
ENVIRONMENT=development
COOKIE_DOMAIN=localhost

# Database (Production)
DB_NAME=your_db_name
DB_USER=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password
DB_HOST=your_db_host

# Email Configuration
EMAIL_HOST_USER=your-email@domain.com
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your-email-password

# Frontend URLs
VERIFICATION_URL=http://localhost:3000/verify-email
PASSWORD_RESET_URL=http://localhost:3000/reset-password

5. Database Setup

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

6. Create Superuser

python manage.py createsuperuser

7. Run the Server

python manage.py runserver

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

The project uses python-decouple for environment variable management. Key variables:

• ENVIRONMENT: Set to development for debug mode, production for production
• SECRET_KEY: Django secret key
• JWT_KEY: JWT signing key
• EMAIL_HOST_USER: SMTP email address
• EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD: SMTP password
• VERIFICATION_URL: Frontend verification page URL
• PASSWORD_RESET_URL: Frontend password reset page URL

Database Configuration

Development (SQLite):

• Automatically configured when DEBUG=True

Production (PostgreSQL):

• Configure DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST in .env

Email Configuration

The template uses SMTP for email delivery. Configure your email provider settings:

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.zeptomail.in'  # Change to your provider
EMAIL_PORT = 587
EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
EMAIL_HOST_USER = config('EMAIL_HOST_USER')
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = config('EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD')

📚 API Documentation

Authentication Endpoints

Register User

POST /api/register/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "securepass123",
  "password_confirm": "securepass123",
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe"
}

Login

POST /api/login/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "securepass123"
}

Verify Email

GET /api/verify/?email=user@example.com&token=ABC123

Resend Verification

GET /api/resend_token/?email=user@example.com

Forgot Password

POST /api/forgot_password/
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "newpassword123"
}

Reset Password

GET /api/forgot_password/?email=user@example.com&token=ABC123

Get Profile

GET /api/profile/
Authorization: Bearer <jwt-token>

Logout

POST /api/logout/
Authorization: Bearer <jwt-token>

Testing APIs

Visit http://localhost:8000/api/ to see the browsable API interface where you can test all endpoints interactively.

🎨 Email Templates

Customization

The project includes beautiful HTML email templates:

• Verification Email: templates/email/verification_email.html
• Password Reset: templates/email/forgot_password_email.html

Template Variables

Customize templates by modifying these variables in authentication/models.py:

context = {
    "app_name": "Your App Name",
    "user_name": self.first_name,
    "contact_email": "support@yourapp.com",
    "contact_phone": "+1-234-567-8900",
    "social_media": "@yourapp"
}

🔍 Development Tools

Django Debug Toolbar

When DEBUG=True, the debug toolbar provides:

• SQL query analysis
• Request/response inspection
• Template rendering details
• Performance profiling
• Cache analysis

Access at: http://localhost:8000/__debug__/

API Testing

• Browsable API: Interactive web interface at each endpoint
• Admin Interface: http://localhost:8000/admin/
• API Root: http://localhost:8000/api/

🚀 Deployment

Production Checklist

1. Environment Variables

   ENVIRONMENT=production
   SECRET_KEY=your-production-secret-key
   JWT_KEY=your-production-jwt-key

2. Database

   • Configure PostgreSQL connection
   • Run migrations: python manage.py migrate

3. Static Files

   python manage.py collectstatic

4. Security

   • Set DEBUG=False
   • Configure ALLOWED_HOSTS
   • Use HTTPS in production
   • Set secure cookie settings

5. Email

   • Configure production SMTP settings
   • Update verification URLs to production domain

📁 Project Structure

django-template/
├── AppName/                 # Main project settings
│   ├── settings.py         # Django settings
│   ├── urls.py            # Main URL configuration
│   └── wsgi.py            # WSGI application
├── authentication/         # Authentication app
│   ├── models.py          # User model and related models
│   ├── views.py           # API views
│   ├── serializers.py     # DRF serializers
│   ├── urls.py           # Authentication URLs
│   └── authentication.py  # Custom authentication
├── templates/             # Email templates
│   └── email/
│       ├── verification_email.html
│       └── forgot_password_email.html
├── utils/                 # Utility functions
│   └── send_mail.py      # Email sending utilities
├── static/               # Static files
├── media/                # User uploaded files
├── requirements.txt      # Python dependencies
├── manage.py            # Django management script
└── README.md           # This file

🛡️ Security Features

• JWT Authentication: Secure token-based authentication
• Email Verification: Prevents unauthorized account creation
• Password Validation: Django's built-in password validators
• CSRF Protection: Cross-site request forgery protection
• CORS Configuration: Controlled cross-origin requests
• Secure Cookies: HttpOnly and SameSite cookie settings

🔧 Customization

Adding New Apps

1. Create new app: python manage.py startapp your_app
2. Add to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py
3. Create models, views, serializers
4. Add URLs to main urls.py

Custom User Fields

Modify the User model in authentication/models.py:

class User(AbstractUser):
    # Add your custom fields here
    phone_number = models.CharField(max_length=15, blank=True)
    date_of_birth = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)

Email Template Styling

Modify the CSS in email templates:

• templates/email/verification_email.html
• templates/email/forgot_password_email.html

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Commit changes: git commit -am 'Add feature'
4. Push to branch: git push origin feature-name
5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🆘 Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

1. Check the Django documentation
2. Review the Django REST Framework docs
3. Open an issue in the repository

🎯 Roadmap

• Add user profile management
• Implement social authentication
• Add API rate limiting
• Create comprehensive test suite
• Add Docker support
• Implement caching layer
• Add API documentation with drf-spectacular

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Built with ❤️ using Django and Django REST Framework