Using Django Rest Framework's browsable API with APIViews?

Question

If I have a view like:

class MyAPIView(APIView):
    def get(self, request, name=None):
        return {"hello": name or "world"}

How can I get that included in the generated documentation? Specifically, how can I get it included in the API Root, so it appears when I visit "http://example.com/api/"?

The documentation includes an example of an APIView with description, but doesn't describe the process of actually getting it included in the API browser.

Answer 1

To mix with routers and APIView classes or method based in such a way that the API Root displays both with minimal code views in the APIRoot view I wrote a custom router that extends DefaultRouter and overrides get_urls and get_api_root_view; it looks like as follows :

from rest_framework import routers, views, reverse, response

class HybridRouter(routers.DefaultRouter):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super(HybridRouter, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self._api_view_urls = {}

    def add_api_view(self, name, url):
        self._api_view_urls[name] = url

    def remove_api_view(self, name):
        del self._api_view_urls[name]

    @property
    def api_view_urls(self):
        ret = {}
        ret.update(self._api_view_urls)
        return ret

    def get_urls(self):
        urls = super(HybridRouter, self).get_urls()
        for api_view_key in self._api_view_urls.keys():
            urls.append(self._api_view_urls[api_view_key])
        return urls

    def get_api_root_view(self):
        # Copy the following block from Default Router
        api_root_dict = {}
        list_name = self.routes[0].name
        for prefix, viewset, basename in self.registry:
            api_root_dict[prefix] = list_name.format(basename=basename)
        api_view_urls = self._api_view_urls

        class APIRoot(views.APIView):
            _ignore_model_permissions = True

            def get(self, request, format=None):
                ret = {}
                for key, url_name in api_root_dict.items():
                    ret[key] = reverse.reverse(url_name, request=request, format=format)
                # In addition to what had been added, now add the APIView urls
                for api_view_key in api_view_urls.keys():
                    ret[api_view_key] = reverse.reverse(api_view_urls[api_view_key].name, request=request, format=format)
                return response.Response(ret)

        return APIRoot.as_view()

Then I use it as -

router = routers.HybridRouter()
router.register(r'abc', views.ABCViewSet)
router.add_api_view("api-view", url(r'^aview/$', views.AView.as_view(), name='aview-name'))
urlpatterns = patterns('',
    url(r'^api/', include(router.urls)),

Answer 2

the generated documentation?

Hi David, first up I wouldn't quite describe the browsable API as 'generated documentation'.

If you need static documentation you're best off looking at a third party tool like django-rest-swagger.

The browsable API does mean that the APIs you build will be self-describing, but it's a little different from conventional static documentation tools. The browsable API ensures that all the endpoints you create in your API are able to respond both with machine readable (ie JSON) and human readable (ie HTML) representations. It also ensures you can fully interact directly through the browser - any URL that you would normally interact with using a programmatic client will also be capable of responding with a browser friendly view onto the API.

How can I get that included.

Just add a docstring to the view and it'll be included in the browsable API representation of whichever URLs you route to that view.

By default you can use markdown notation to include HTML markup in the description but you can also customise that behaviour, for example if you'd rather use rst.

Specifically, how can I get it included in the API Root.

You'll just want to explicitly add the URL to into the response returned by whatever view you have wired up to /api/. For example...

from rest_framework import renderers
from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework.reverse import reverse


class APIRoot(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        # Assuming we have views named 'foo-view' and 'bar-view'
        # in our project's URLconf.
        return Response({
            'foo': reverse('foo-view', request=request),
            'bar': reverse('bar-view', request=request)
        })

Answer 3

I have optimized HybridRouter for my use case and removed some code. Check it out:

class HybridRouter(routers.DefaultRouter):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super(HybridRouter, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.view_urls = []

    def add_url(self, view):
        self.view_urls.append(view)

    def get_urls(self):
        return super(HybridRouter, self).get_urls() + self.view_urls

    def get_api_root_view(self):
        original_view = super(HybridRouter, self).get_api_root_view()

        def view(request, *args, **kwargs):
            resp = original_view(request, *args, **kwargs)
            namespace = request.resolver_match.namespace
            for view_url in self.view_urls:
                name = view_url.name
                url_name = name
                if namespace:
                    url_name = namespace + ':' + url_name
                resp.data[name] = reverse(url_name,
                                          args=args,
                                          kwargs=kwargs,
                                          request=request,
                                          format=kwargs.get('format', None))
            return resp
        return view

And usage:

router = routers.HybridRouter(trailing_slash=False)
router.add_url(url(r'^me', v1.me.view, name='me'))
router.add_url(url(r'^status', v1.status.view, name='status'))

urlpatterns = router.urls

Or:

router = routers.HybridRouter(trailing_slash=False)
router.view_urls = [
    url(r'^me', v1.me.view, name='me'),
    url(r'^status', v1.status.view, name='status'),
]

urlpatterns = router.urls

Answer 4

Updated version of @imyousuf code to work with DRF 3.4.1.

class HybridRouter(routers.DefaultRouter):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super(HybridRouter, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self._api_view_urls = {}

    def add_api_view(self, name, url):
        self._api_view_urls[name] = url

    def remove_api_view(self, name):
        del self._api_view_urls[name]

    @property
    def api_view_urls(self):
        ret = {}
        ret.update(self._api_view_urls)
        return ret

    def get_urls(self):
        urls = super(HybridRouter, self).get_urls()
        for api_view_key in self._api_view_urls.keys():
            urls.append(self._api_view_urls[api_view_key])
        return urls

    def get_api_root_view(self, api_urls=None):
        # Copy the following block from Default Router
        api_root_dict = OrderedDict()
        list_name = self.routes[0].name
        for prefix, viewset, basename in self.registry:
            api_root_dict[prefix] = list_name.format(basename=basename)

        view_renderers = list(self.root_renderers)
        schema_media_types = []

        if api_urls and self.schema_title:
            view_renderers += list(self.schema_renderers)
            schema_generator = SchemaGenerator(
                title=self.schema_title,
                url=self.schema_url,
                patterns=api_urls
            )
            schema_media_types = [
                renderer.media_type
                for renderer in self.schema_renderers
                ]

        api_view_urls = self._api_view_urls

        class APIRoot(views.APIView):
            _ignore_model_permissions = True
            renderer_classes = view_renderers

            def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
                if request.accepted_renderer.media_type in schema_media_types:
                    # Return a schema response.
                    schema = schema_generator.get_schema(request)
                    if schema is None:
                        raise exceptions.PermissionDenied()
                    return Response(schema)

                # Return a plain {"name": "hyperlink"} response.
                ret = OrderedDict()
                namespace = request.resolver_match.namespace
                for key, url_name in api_root_dict.items():
                    if namespace:
                        url_name = namespace + ':' + url_name
                    try:
                        ret[key] = reverse.reverse(
                            url_name,
                            args=args,
                            kwargs=kwargs,
                            request=request,
                            format=kwargs.get('format', None)
                        )
                    except NoReverseMatch:
                        # Don't bail out if eg. no list routes exist, only detail routes.
                        continue

                # In addition to what had been added, now add the APIView urls
                for api_view_key in api_view_urls.keys():
                    url_name = api_view_urls[api_view_key].name
                    if namespace:
                        url_name = namespace + ':' + url_name
                    ret[api_view_key] = reverse.reverse(url_name, request=request, format=kwargs.get('format'))

                return response.Response(ret)

        return APIRoot.as_view()

How to use:

mobile_router = HybridRouter()
mobile_router.add_api_view("device", url(r'^device/register/$', DeviceViewSet.as_view({'post': 'register'}), name='device-register'))