Installing DRF0%
Serializers Overview

Installing DRF

Beginner12 min read•Updated: Jul 11, 2026
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Installing and Configuring Django REST Framework

Django REST Framework (DRF) is the industry-standard toolkit for building Web APIs in Python. It equips Django with browsable web APIs, serializers, content negotiation, pagination, throttling, and modular authentication schemes. Configuring DRF correctly in settings.py establishes the architectural defaults for your entire API.

1. Installation

Bash / Terminal
# Install Django REST Framework
pip install djangorestframework
 
# Optional recommended companion packages
pip install markdown # Markdown support for the browsable API
pip install django-filter # Advanced filtering backends

Add rest_framework to INSTALLED_APPS:

Python
# config/settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
# Core Django apps...
"django.contrib.admin",
"django.contrib.auth",
"django.contrib.contenttypes",
"django.contrib.sessions",
"django.contrib.messages",
"django.contrib.staticfiles",
 
# Third-party applications
"rest_framework",
"django_filters",
 
# Local apps
"api",
]

2. Global REST_FRAMEWORK Configuration

The REST_FRAMEWORK dictionary in settings.py defines global defaults across all endpoints:

Python
# config/settings.py
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
# 1. Global Authentication Policies
"DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES": [
"rest_framework.authentication.SessionAuthentication", # For Browsable API & cookies
"rest_framework_simplejwt.authentication.JWTAuthentication", # For SPA & Mobile
],
 
# 2. Global Permission Policies
"DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES": [
"rest_framework.permissions.IsAuthenticated", # Secure by default: require login!
],
 
# 3. Global Pagination
"DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS": "rest_framework.pagination.PageNumberPagination",
"PAGE_SIZE": 25,
 
# 4. Global Filtering & Search Backends
"DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS": [
"django_filters.rest_framework.DjangoFilterBackend",
"rest_framework.filters.SearchFilter",
"rest_framework.filters.OrderingFilter",
],
 
# 5. Global Throttling (Rate Limiting)
"DEFAULT_THROTTLE_CLASSES": [
"rest_framework.throttling.AnonRateThrottle",
"rest_framework.throttling.UserRateThrottle",
],
"DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES": {
"anon": "100/day",
"user": "1000/hour",
},
 
# 6. Renderers (JSON in production, HTML Browsable API in dev)
"DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES": [
"rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer",
"rest_framework.renderers.BrowsableAPIRenderer",
],
}

3. The Interactive Browsable API

One of DRF's premier features is the Browsable API. When an endpoint is requested via a web browser (Accept: text/html), DRF renders a fully interactive HTML interface allowing developers to inspect JSON outputs, execute test POST / PUT forms, and view response headers directly in the browser!

To enable login/logout in the browsable API, include DRF's authentication views in urls.py:

Python
# config/urls.py
from django.urls import path, include
 
urlpatterns = [
# ... your routes
path("api-auth/", include("rest_framework.urls")), # Enables login in browsable UI
]

4. Production Security: Disabling Browsable API

In high-security production environments, you may wish to disable the HTML Browsable API to save bandwidth and avoid exposing form schemas:

Python
# In production settings:
if not DEBUG:
REST_FRAMEWORK["DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES"] = [
"rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer",
]
Interactive Quiz

Practice Quiz

Question 1
What entry must be added to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py to activate Django REST Framework?
Question 2
What is the primary benefit of the BrowsableAPIRenderer?
Question 3
Why is configuring DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES: ['rest_framework.permissions.IsAuthenticated'] considered an enterprise security best practice?
Question 4
What does adding path("api-auth/", include("rest_framework.urls")) enable in urls.py?
Question 5
What is the purpose of DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES in DRF settings?
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