How to Retrieve Auth User Information in Django REST Framework

Описание: Learn how to efficiently retrieve the authenticated user's information using Django REST Framework with easy-to-follow examples.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/63673799/ asked by the user 'kate' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13720388/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/63674365/ provided by the user 'RaideR' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5537876/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Retrieve Auth User Information in Django REST Framework

When developing applications using Django REST Framework (DRF), one common requirement is the ability to retrieve details about the currently authenticated user. This requirement is fundamental for personalizing experiences within web and mobile applications. In this guide, we will explore how to set up an endpoint that allows you to get the authenticated user’s data without needing to specify an ID.

Understanding the Problem

In DRF, it is very typical to have a user profile that you want to display or use for various functionalities within your application. The basic structure allows you to retrieve user information based on their unique ID using an endpoint like user/{id}., but often you want to simplify this to just user when accessing the currently logged-in user.

The main objective here is to create an endpoint that automatically retrieves information for the authenticated user without the need to specify a user ID.

Setting Up the Solution

To accomplish this, we’ll adjust the default behavior of your Django viewsets. Let’s break down the necessary steps clearly.

Step 1: Create a View for User Information

You will need to create a view that handles the logic for retrieving the authenticated user’s data. Below is an example of how you can modify your existing UserInfoViewSet.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Adding the current_user Action

In the code example above, you can see the current_user method added. This method uses the DRF's action decorator, allowing us to bind it to a GET request:

What It Does:

It retrieves the current authenticated user using request.user.

It then serializes this user object using the defined serializer (UserFollowersSerializer).

Finally, it returns the serialized data.

Alternative Methods to Retrieve User Data

If you want additional ways to handle retrieving the authenticated user’s information, consider the following:

Overwriting the get_queryset Method:

You can customize the get_queryset method to return only the authenticated user:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Overwriting the get_object Method:

Alternatively, you could also override the get_object method in the view:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

With these approaches, you can streamline the process of retrieving the authenticated user's information in your Django REST Framework application. By implementing the current_user method or utilizing alternative solutions like get_queryset and get_object, you enhance both the efficiency and user experience of your application.

Feel free to try these methods and customize the output as per your application's requirements!