D-sektionens API (Django)

This project provides an API for communicating with D-sektionens main server. This API is used by most of D-sektionens other projects.

Requirements

Should be at least Python version 3.12 since PEP 695 – Type Parameter Syntax is used

To check your installed Python version

python3 --version

Disclaimers

Note: This project expects familiarity with Python, Django and Django REST-framework.

Note: While it is possible to run the development server without using Docker, this is not advised. Further down are instructions on how to set it up locally without docker.

1. Environment variables

Certain environment variables must be set before running the project:

Rename and/or copy .env.sample to .env:

mv .env.sample .env

..and open .env in a text editor.

The following environment variable must be set:

CLIENT_ID=
CLIENT_SECRET=
LIU_TENANT_ID=

These values are secret and are given to you by your webmaster/someone on the dev team.

Note: At the moment there is no point in setting SUPERUSER_USERNAME or SUPERUSER_EMAIL fields since Django admin pages require a password (which the current Dockerfile does not set). This will have to be done manually in a later step.

2. Starting the server using Docker

As of October 2025, this project uses Docker Compose. After populating your .env file, start the server and run migrations with:

docker compose up

Note: If you are using MacOS, check out: https://stackoverflow.com/a/53310545/9966843

The server should now be up and running at http://127.0.0.1:8000. This url should give a 404-error and a list of available routes if everything is working. If not, something has gone wrong during previous steps.

When setup is complete, open a new terminal and follow the steps in the following sections.

3. Making migrations

When the database is modified (or during setup) run the following command:

docker compose exec backend python manage.py migrate

This will migrate your tables (models) to the database or create the database if it doesn't exist.

Note: Whenever changes are made to any of your models, you will need to run the migration command. The same applies if you encounter the following error message:

You have 13 unapplied migration(s). Your project may not work properly until you apply the migrations for app(s): admin, auth, contenttypes, sessions.
Run 'python manage.py migrate' to apply them.

4. Accessing content

To manage the database (manage users, approve requests, create meetings etc.) you need an admin account:

docker compose exec backend python manage.py createsuperuser

You will be prompted for additional information. Everything can be left blank except for the password. The default username should be root.

To login and access the admin panel visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin.

5. Frontend

If you want a working frontend, see https://github.com/d-sektionen/medlem and follow README.md to get started. Having a working frontend is necessary if you want to test how the backend interacts with the user interface presented to ordinary members of D-sektionen.

Setting up a local development environment (Without docker)

Setup and activate the virtual environment

Linux/Mac

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Windows

Open Powershell as Administer. This only needs to be run once per computer.

set-executionpolicy remotesigned

In repository root folder

python -m venv .venv
.venv/Scripts/activate

Note: All the following commands assume that you have activated the virtual environment using source .venv/bin/activate in your terminal.

Then install the needed Python dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.development.txt

Optional but recommended: Install pre-commit hooks using (linting, formatting, etc):

pre-commit install

Making migrations

Running the following command is necessary the first time you start the server and everytime you make changes to the database.

python manage.py migrate

Creating a super user

In order to access the admin page at http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin, you'll need to create a super user.

python manage.py createsuperuser

Starting the server

Once all the setup is completed, you can run the server with the following command.

python manage.py runserver

For the frontend, see https://github.com/d-sektionen/medlem.

Technologies used in this project

The following is a list of technologies (including modules and libraries) used in this project:

TODO

Additional resources

You can learn more about the technologies used in this project at:

• docs.djangoproject.com
• www.django-rest-framework.org
• docs.docker.com