django-api-mixins

Django REST Framework API Mixins - A collection of powerful, reusable mixins for Django REST Framework ViewSets and APIViews to simplify common API development patterns. Perfect for building REST APIs with Django.

📦 Available on PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/django-api-mixins/

Keywords: Django REST Framework, DRF, Django API, ViewSets, APIViews, Mixins, Django Mixins, REST API, Serializers, Queryset Filtering

Table of contents

• Features
• Installation
• Requirements
• Quick Start
• FieldLookup Enum
• Combining Mixins
• Contributing
• License

Features

• ModelMixin: Automatic filter field generation for Django models
• ModelFilterFieldsMixin: Automatically sets filterset_fields from models with get_filter_fields() (requires django-filter)
• OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin: Adds OpenAPI/Swagger filter parameters for APIView (requires django-filter and drf-spectacular)
• APIMixin: Dynamic serializer selection based on action (create, update, list, retrieve)
• RelationshipFilterMixin: Automatic filtering for reverse relationships and direct fields
• RoleBasedFilterMixin: Role-based queryset filtering for multi-tenant applications

Installation

Basic installation:

pip install django-api-mixins

With optional dependencies:

# For ModelFilterFieldsMixin (requires django-filter)
pip install django-api-mixins[filters]

# For OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin (requires drf-spectacular)
pip install django-api-mixins[spectacular]

# Install all optional dependencies
pip install django-api-mixins[all]

Upgrade to the latest version:

pip install --upgrade django-api-mixins

Requirements

Core dependencies (required):

• Python 3.8+
• Django 3.2+
• Django REST Framework 3.12+

Optional dependencies:

• django-filter>=23.0 - Required for ModelFilterFieldsMixin and OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin
• drf-spectacular>=0.26.0 - Required for OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin

Quick Start

ModelMixin

Automatically generate filter fields for all model fields:

from django.db import models
from django_api_mixins import ModelMixin

class Product(models.Model, ModelMixin):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)

# Automatically generates filter fields:
# - name: exact, in, isnull
# - price: exact, in, isnull, gte, lte
# - created_at: exact, in, isnull, gte, lte
# - is_active: exact, in, isnull

Use in your ViewSet with Django Filter Backend:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import ModelMixin

class ProductViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Product.objects.all()
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    filterset_fields = Product.get_filter_fields()  # Use auto-generated fields

Filter related models:

# Get filter fields for a related model if Product has a ForeignKey to Category
filter_fields = Product.get_filter_fields_for_related_model('category')
# Returns: {'category__name': [...], 'category__id': [...], ...}

# Get filter fields for a foreign key field if Product is a ForeignKey to Order
filter_fields = Order.get_filter_fields_for_foreign_fields('product')
# Returns: {'product__name': [...], 'product__price': [...], ...}

ModelFilterFieldsMixin

⚠️ Requires: django-filter package. Install with pip install django-filter or pip install django-api-mixins[filters]

Automatically sets filterset_fields from a model that uses ModelMixin (or any model with a get_filter_fields() class method). Works with APIView, GenericAPIView, and ViewSets.

You must set model on the view so the mixin can resolve filter fields (e.g. model = Unit). For ViewSets, use the same model as your queryset.

APIView: default get() — list and detail in one view

When used with APIView, the mixin provides a default get(request, *args, **kwargs) so a single view can serve both list and detail:

• Detail: If the URL includes the lookup key (default pk) in kwargs — e.g. GET /units/5/ — the mixin returns the single object (serialized) or 404 if not found. Filtering still applies to the base queryset before fetching the object.
• List: If the lookup key is not in kwargs — e.g. GET /units/ — the mixin returns the filtered list (no pagination). Query params are applied via django-filter and filterset_fields.

You must set serializer_class on the view for the default get() to work. Optionally set detail_not_found_message (default "Not found"), lookup_url_kwarg (default "pk"), and lookup_field (default "pk").

Example: use the default get() (no override)

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import ModelFilterFieldsMixin

class UnitListDetailAPIView(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    model = Unit  # required
    serializer_class = UnitSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    # Optional: detail_not_found_message = "Unit not found"

    # Optional: override to customize queryset; otherwise mixin uses model.objects.all()
    def get_queryset(self):
        return Unit.objects.all()

    # Do NOT override get() — mixin handles list and detail

• GET /units/ → filtered list (e.g. ?name=foo applied).
• GET /units/42/ → single unit with id 42, or 404.

APIView: override get() for custom behavior

You can override get() and still reuse the mixin's helpers:

• get_filtered_queryset() — base queryset with all filter backends applied.
• get_object(pk=None) — single instance by pk (from URL kwargs if pk omitted); raises Http404 if not found.
• get_detail_data(request, *args, **kwargs) — returns (body, status_code) for the detail response (serialized object or 404 body).
• get_list_data(request, *args, queryset=None, **kwargs) — returns (data, status_code) for the list response; if queryset is passed (e.g. a paginated page), that is used instead of the full filtered queryset.

Example: add pagination for list only; detail unchanged

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework.pagination import PageNumberPagination
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import ModelFilterFieldsMixin

class UnitListDetailAPIView(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    model = Unit
    serializer_class = UnitSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    pagination_class = PageNumberPagination

    def get_queryset(self):
        return Unit.objects.all()

    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        pk = kwargs.get(self.lookup_url_kwarg)  # default: 'pk'
        if pk is not None:
            # Detail: single object or 404
            data, status_code = self.get_detail_data(request, *args, **kwargs)
            return Response(data, status=status_code)
        # List: paginate filtered queryset, then serialize
        queryset = self.get_filtered_queryset()
        paginator = self.pagination_class()
        page = paginator.paginate_queryset(queryset, request)
        if page is not None:
            data, _ = self.get_list_data(request, *args, queryset=page, **kwargs)
            return paginator.get_paginated_response(data)
        data, status_code = self.get_list_data(request, *args, **kwargs)
        return Response(data, status=status_code)

Example: fully custom get() using get_object() and get_filtered_queryset()

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import ModelFilterFieldsMixin

class UnitListDetailAPIView(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    model = Unit
    serializer_class = UnitSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]

    def get_queryset(self):
        return Unit.objects.all()

    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        pk = kwargs.get(self.lookup_url_kwarg)
        if pk is not None:
            # Detail: use get_object(); returns 404 if not found
            obj = self.get_object(pk=pk)
            serializer = self.get_serializer(obj)
            return Response(serializer.data)
        # List: use get_filtered_queryset() and serialize
        queryset = self.get_filtered_queryset()
        serializer = self.get_serializer(queryset, many=True)
        return Response(serializer.data)

Example: list + detail without pagination (with Swagger/OpenAPI filter params)

If you want list and detail in one APIView without pagination and you want filter parameters to appear in Swagger/OpenAPI docs, combine OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin with ModelFilterFieldsMixin and override get():

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework import status
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin, ModelFilterFieldsMixin

# Optional: add to Swagger UI tags (requires drf-spectacular)
# from drf_spectacular.utils import extend_schema
# @extend_schema(tags=["Examples - ModelFilterFieldsMixin"])
class UnitListAPIView(OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin, ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    """
    Plain APIView with ModelFilterFieldsMixin + OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin.
    List and detail in one view; no pagination. Filter params appear in Swagger.
    URL example: path('units-api/', UnitListAPIView.as_view(), name='units-api'),
    """
    model = Unit
    serializer_class = UnitSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    # Optional: set filterset_fields manually; otherwise mixin uses model.get_filter_fields()
    # filterset_fields = Unit.get_filter_fields()

    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        pk = kwargs.get(self.lookup_url_kwarg)
        if pk is not None:
            data, status_code = self.get_detail_data(request, *args, **kwargs)
            return Response(data, status=status_code)
        queryset = self.get_filtered_queryset()
        serializer = self.get_serializer_class()(queryset, many=True)
        return Response(serializer.data, status=status.HTTP_200_OK)

ViewSet / GenericAPIView

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import ModelFilterFieldsMixin

# ViewSet / GenericAPIView: set model (filter fields come from model.get_filter_fields())
class UnitViewSet(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Unit.objects.all()
    model = Unit  # required — Unit must have ModelMixin or get_filter_fields()
    serializer_class = UnitSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    # filterset_fields auto-set from Unit.get_filter_fields()

# Optional: use a different model for filter fields than the queryset model
class MyViewSet(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = SomeProxy.objects.all()
    model = Unit  # required
    filterset_model = Unit  # use Unit.get_filter_fields() instead of SomeProxy
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]

Note: If django-filter is not installed, you'll get a clear error message with installation instructions when you try to use this mixin. You can still set filterset_fields explicitly on the view to override the auto-generated fields.

OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin

⚠️ Requires: Both django-filter and drf-spectacular packages. Install with pip install django-filter drf-spectacular or pip install django-api-mixins[all]

Adds OpenAPI/Swagger filter parameters for plain APIView so Swagger shows the same filter query params as GenericAPIView/ViewSet. For GenericAPIView/ViewSet this mixin is a no-op (Spectacular already adds params).

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin, ModelFilterFieldsMixin

# With Swagger/OpenAPI filter parameters
class UnitListAPIView(OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin, ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    model = Unit  # required
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    
    def get_queryset(self):
        return Unit.objects.all()
    
    def get(self, request):
        queryset = self.filter_queryset(self.get_queryset())
        # ... rest of your logic
        # Filter parameters will appear in Swagger/OpenAPI docs

# Without Swagger params: use only ModelFilterFieldsMixin
class UnitListAPIView(ModelFilterFieldsMixin, APIView):
    model = Unit
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    # Filtering works, but params won't appear in OpenAPI docs

Note: If django-filter or drf-spectacular is not installed, you'll get a clear error message with installation instructions when you try to use this mixin.

APIMixin

Use different serializers for different actions (create, update, list, retrieve):

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_api_mixins import APIMixin

class UserViewSet(APIMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = User.objects.all()
    serializer_class = UserSerializer  # Default serializer
    create_serializer_class = UserCreateSerializer  # For POST requests
    update_serializer_class = UserUpdateSerializer  # For PUT/PATCH requests
    list_serializer_class = UserListSerializer  # For GET list requests
    retrieve_serializer_class = UserDetailSerializer  # For GET detail requests

The mixin also automatically handles list data in requests:

# POST /api/users/
# Body: [{"name": "User1"}, {"name": "User2"}]
# Automatically sets many=True for list data

RelationshipFilterMixin

Automatically apply filters for reverse relationships and direct fields:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_api_mixins import RelationshipFilterMixin

class OrderViewSet(RelationshipFilterMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Order.objects.all()
    
    # Define which reverse relationship filters to allow
    reverse_relation_filters = [
        'customer__name',
        'customer__email',
        'product__category__name',
    ]
    
    # Define which filters support list/array values
    listable_filters = ['customer__id', 'product__id']

Important: Place the mixin BEFORE the ViewSet class:

# ✅ Correct
class OrderViewSet(RelationshipFilterMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    pass

# ❌ Wrong
class OrderViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet, RelationshipFilterMixin):
    pass

Usage examples:

# Filter by customer name
GET /api/orders/?customer__name=John

# Filter by multiple customer IDs (listable filter)
GET /api/orders/?customer__id=1,2,3
# or
GET /api/orders/?customer__id=[1,2,3]

# Filter by product category
GET /api/orders/?product__category__name=Electronics

RoleBasedFilterMixin

Automatically filter querysets based on user roles:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_api_mixins import RoleBasedFilterMixin

class OrderViewSet(RoleBasedFilterMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Order.objects.all()
    
    # Required: field name to filter on
    role_filter_field = 'operator_type'
    
    # Optional: roles that see all data
    admin_roles = ['admin', 'super_admin']
    
    # Optional: roles that see no data
    excluded_roles = ['guest']
    
    # Optional: custom role to field value mapping
    role_mapping = {
        'custom_role': 'custom_value',
        'manager': 'MGR',
    }

Important: Place the mixin BEFORE the ViewSet class:

# ✅ Correct
class OrderViewSet(RoleBasedFilterMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    pass

# ❌ Wrong
class OrderViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet, RoleBasedFilterMixin):
    pass

How it works:

1. Extracts the user's role from user.role.name
2. Admin roles see all data (no filtering)
3. Excluded roles see no data (empty queryset)
4. Other roles are filtered by role_filter_field = role_name (or mapped value)

Example:

# User with role.name = 'operator'
# Model has operator_type field
# Automatically filters: Order.objects.filter(operator_type='operator')

# User with role.name = 'admin'
# Sees all orders (no filtering)

# User with role.name = 'guest'
# Sees no orders (queryset.none())

FieldLookup Enum

The package includes a FieldLookup enum for consistent lookup naming:

from django_api_mixins import FieldLookup

FieldLookup.EXACT      # "exact"
FieldLookup.ICONTAINS  # "icontains"
FieldLookup.CONTAINS   # "contains"
FieldLookup.ISNULL     # "isnull"
FieldLookup.GTE        # "gte"
FieldLookup.LTE        # "lte"
FieldLookup.IN         # "in"

Combining Mixins

You can combine multiple mixins:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from django_api_mixins import (
    ModelFilterFieldsMixin,
    APIMixin,
    RelationshipFilterMixin,
    RoleBasedFilterMixin,
)

class OrderViewSet(
    ModelFilterFieldsMixin,  # Auto-set filterset_fields from model
    RelationshipFilterMixin,
    RoleBasedFilterMixin,
    APIMixin,
    viewsets.ModelViewSet
):
    queryset = Order.objects.all()
    model = Order  # required for ModelFilterFieldsMixin
    serializer_class = OrderSerializer
    create_serializer_class = OrderCreateSerializer
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend]
    
    role_filter_field = 'operator_type'
    reverse_relation_filters = ['customer__name', 'product__category__name']
    listable_filters = ['customer__id']

Note: The order of mixins matters! Place filtering mixins before the ViewSet class.

Optional Dependencies: If using ModelFilterFieldsMixin or OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin, make sure to install the required dependencies:

• ModelFilterFieldsMixin requires: django-filter
• OpenAPIFilterParametersMixin requires: django-filter and drf-spectacular

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here’s how to contribute:

1. Fork the repository on GitHub and clone your fork locally:

   git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/django-api-mixins.git
   cd django-api-mixins

2. Create a virtual environment and install the package in editable mode with dev dependencies:

   python -m venv venv
   # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   # On macOS/Linux: source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -e ".[all]"
   pip install -r requirements-dev.txt   # if present

3. Create a branch for your changes:

   git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
   # or: git checkout -b fix/your-bugfix-name

4. Make your changes — keep code style consistent and add/update tests as needed.

5. Run tests (and linting, if configured):

   pytest
   # or: python -m pytest

6. Commit and push to your fork:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Brief description of your change"
   git push origin feature/your-feature-name

7. Open a Pull Request from your branch to the main repository’s default branch. Describe what you changed and why; link any related issues.

Contributors

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please visit the GitHub repository.

PyPI

This package is published on PyPI and can be installed via pip:

pip install django-api-mixins

PyPI Project Page: https://pypi.org/project/django-api-mixins/

Latest Version: 1.0.2 (Released: Mar 05, 2026)