vitalik/django-ninja

★ 9,052PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Django Ninja))
    What it does
      REST API layer
      Auto validation
      Auto documentation
    How it works
      Python type hints
      Pydantic validation
      OpenAPI standard
    Features
      Swagger UI docs
      Async support
      Django ORM compatible
    Setup
      pip install
      One router file
      Two URL config lines
    Audience
      Django developers
      API builders

mindmap root((Django Ninja)) What it does REST API layer Auto validation Auto documentation How it works Python type hints Pydantic validation OpenAPI standard Features Swagger UI docs Async support Django ORM compatible Setup pip install One router file Two URL config lines Audience Django developers API builders

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Add a REST API to an existing Django app by decorating Python functions with type hints instead of writing serializers by hand.

USE CASE 2

Generate interactive API documentation automatically from your Django Ninja endpoints and let teammates test them in the browser.

USE CASE 3

Build an async API on top of Django that can handle many simultaneous requests by using async/await in endpoint functions.

USE CASE 4

Expose your Django database models to a mobile frontend or third-party service via a type-safe, OpenAPI-compliant API.

Tech stack

PythonDjangoPydantic

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

In plain English

Django Ninja is a Python library for building web APIs on top of Django, a popular web framework used to create websites and backends. If you already have a Django project, Django Ninja lets you add a clean API layer with very little code. An API here means a set of web addresses (endpoints) that other apps or frontends can call to send and receive data. The main appeal is speed in multiple senses. Writing the code is fast because you define your endpoints using Python type hints, which are annotations developers add to function arguments to declare what type of data they expect. Django Ninja reads those hints to handle validation and type conversion automatically, so you write less boilerplate. The library also runs quickly at execution time by using Pydantic (a data validation library) and support for Python's async features. Another benefit is that Django Ninja generates interactive API documentation automatically. Once you wire up your API, you can visit a browser page and see a full listing of your endpoints with the ability to test them directly, powered by a tool called Swagger UI. This documentation is produced from the OpenAPI standard, which is a widely used specification for describing APIs. Installation is a single pip command, and the basic setup involves creating one new file in your Django project and adding two lines to your URL configuration. The README includes a minimal working example: a single endpoint that takes two numbers, adds them, and returns the result as JSON. The project is production-ready according to the README, with multiple companies using it in live applications. It is compatible with Django's built-in database ORM and other Django features. Full documentation is hosted at the project's website. The library is installable from PyPI and has strong download numbers based on the badge shown in the README.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I have an existing Django project and want to add a REST API using Django Ninja. Show me the minimal setup: the router file and how to wire it into urls.py.

Prompt 2

How do I define a POST endpoint in Django Ninja that accepts a JSON body, validates it automatically, and returns a structured JSON response?

Prompt 3

I want my Django Ninja endpoints to use async views. How do I convert a regular endpoint to async?

Prompt 4

How does Django Ninja's automatic Swagger UI documentation work and where do I find it once my API is set up?

Prompt 5

I'm building a mobile app backend with Django. How do I use Django Ninja to expose my existing ORM models as API endpoints?

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