Routing APIs with DRF0%
Custom Middleware

Routing APIs with DRF

Beginner12 min read•Updated: Jul 11, 2026
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Routing APIs with DRF

When working with Django REST Framework ViewSets, manually writing individual path() entries for every CRUD endpoint (list, create, retrieve, update, destroy) is tedious and error-prone. DRF Routers automatically generate standardized, consistent RESTful URL routing schemes, including trailing slash management and the browsable API root.

1. How DRF Routers Work

A DRF router inspects a ViewSet and automatically generates the complete set of standard REST URL patterns:

Output
ArticleViewSet registered at 'articles':
GET /api/v1/articles/ ──► ArticleViewSet.list()
POST /api/v1/articles/ ──► ArticleViewSet.create()
GET /api/v1/articles/{slug}/ ──► ArticleViewSet.retrieve()
PUT /api/v1/articles/{slug}/ ──► ArticleViewSet.update()
PATCH /api/v1/articles/{slug}/ ──► ArticleViewSet.partial_update()
DELETE /api/v1/articles/{slug}/ ──► ArticleViewSet.destroy()

2. Configuring DefaultRouter vs SimpleRouter

DRF provides two main router classes:

  • SimpleRouter: Generates only the basic CRUD URL patterns.
  • DefaultRouter: Extends SimpleRouter by adding a default API Root endpoint displaying hyperlinks to all registered resources, as well as optional .json / format suffix patterns.
Python
# articles/urls.py
from django.urls import path, include
from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from .views import ArticleViewSet, CategoryViewSet
 
# 1. Instantiate the router
router = DefaultRouter()
 
# 2. Register viewsets with URL prefixes
router.register(r"articles", ArticleViewSet, basename="article")
router.register(r"categories", CategoryViewSet, basename="category")
 
# 3. Include router.urls in urlpatterns
app_name = "articles_api"
 
urlpatterns = [
path("", include(router.urls)),
]

Visiting http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1/ renders DRF's interactive Browsable API Root with clickable links to /articles/ and /categories/!

3. When is basename Required?

If a ViewSet has a queryset attribute, DRF automatically derives the basename from the model name:

Python
class ArticleViewSet(ModelViewSet):
queryset = Article.objects.all() # DRF automatically uses basename="article"

However, if your ViewSet overrides get_queryset() and omits the static queryset attribute, you must specify basename:

Python
router.register(r"my-articles", MyArticlesViewSet, basename="my-article")

4. Nested Routers with drf-nested-routers

For hierarchical REST APIs (e.g. /articles/{article_id}/comments/{comment_id}/), use the drf-nested-routers package:

Python
from rest_framework_nested import routers
from .views import ArticleViewSet, CommentViewSet
 
# Parent router
router = routers.SimpleRouter()
router.register(r"articles", ArticleViewSet)
 
# Nested child router
articles_router = routers.NestedSimpleRouter(router, r"articles", lookup="article")
articles_router.register(r"comments", CommentViewSet, basename="article-comments")
 
urlpatterns = [
path("", include(router.urls)),
path("", include(articles_router.urls)),
]
Interactive Quiz

Practice Quiz

Question 1
What is the primary advantage of using DRF Routers with ViewSets?
Question 2
What extra feature does DefaultRouter offer over SimpleRouter?
Question 3
When is the basename parameter strictly mandatory when calling router.register()?
Question 4
How does DRF's router construct the named URL for a retrieve action on a viewset registered with basename="article"?
Question 5
What package provides clean URL routing for nested endpoints like /articles/{id}/comments/?
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