Settings - Django REST Framework

All REST Framework settings are namespaced under the REST_FRAMEWORK dictionary in your Django settings.

# settings.py
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    'DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer',
    ],
    'DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.parsers.JSONParser',
    ],
}

API Policy Settings

Settings that control basic API policies applied to all views.

DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES

list

List of renderer classes for returning responses.Default:

[
    'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer',
    'rest_framework.renderers.BrowsableAPIRenderer',
]

DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES

list

List of parser classes for parsing request data.Default:

[
    'rest_framework.parsers.JSONParser',
    'rest_framework.parsers.FormParser',
    'rest_framework.parsers.MultiPartParser'
]

DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES

list

List of authentication classes.Default:

[
    'rest_framework.authentication.SessionAuthentication',
    'rest_framework.authentication.BasicAuthentication'
]

DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES

list

List of permission classes. All classes must grant permission.Default:

[
    'rest_framework.permissions.AllowAny',
]

DEFAULT_THROTTLE_CLASSES

list

List of throttle classes.Default: []

DEFAULT_CONTENT_NEGOTIATION_CLASS

str

Content negotiation class for selecting renderers.Default: 'rest_framework.negotiation.DefaultContentNegotiation'

DEFAULT_METADATA_CLASS

str

Metadata class for OPTIONS requests.Default: 'rest_framework.metadata.SimpleMetadata'

DEFAULT_VERSIONING_CLASS

str

Versioning class for API versioning.Default: None

DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS

str

Schema class for automatic schema generation.Default: 'rest_framework.schemas.openapi.AutoSchema'

Generic View Settings

Settings that control generic view behavior.

DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS

str

Default pagination class for list views.Default: None (pagination disabled)

DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS

list

List of filter backend classes.Default: []

Pagination Settings

PAGE_SIZE

int

Default page size for pagination.Default: None (pagination disabled)

Filtering Settings

SEARCH_PARAM

str

Query parameter name for SearchFilter.Default: 'search'

ORDERING_PARAM

str

Query parameter name for OrderingFilter.Default: 'ordering'

Versioning Settings

DEFAULT_VERSION

str

Default version when no version is specified.Default: None

ALLOWED_VERSIONS

list

Set of allowed API versions.Default: None (all versions allowed)

VERSION_PARAM

str

Parameter name for versioning.Default: 'version'

Authentication Settings

UNAUTHENTICATED_USER

str

Class for request.user in unauthenticated requests.Default: 'django.contrib.auth.models.AnonymousUser'

UNAUTHENTICATED_TOKEN

str

Class for request.auth in unauthenticated requests.Default: None

View Settings

VIEW_NAME_FUNCTION

str

Function to generate view names.Default: 'rest_framework.views.get_view_name'

VIEW_DESCRIPTION_FUNCTION

str

Function to generate view descriptions.Default: 'rest_framework.views.get_view_description'

Exception Handling Settings

EXCEPTION_HANDLER

str

Function to handle exceptions.Default: 'rest_framework.views.exception_handler'

NON_FIELD_ERRORS_KEY

str

Key for non-field errors in validation errors.Default: 'non_field_errors'

Testing Settings

TEST_REQUEST_DEFAULT_FORMAT

str

Default format for test requests.Default: 'multipart'

TEST_REQUEST_RENDERER_CLASSES

list

Available renderer classes for test requests.Default:

[
    'rest_framework.renderers.MultiPartRenderer',
    'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer'
]

Hyperlink Settings

URL_FORMAT_OVERRIDE

str

Query parameter name for format override.Default: 'format'

FORMAT_SUFFIX_KWARG

str

URL keyword argument name for format suffix.Default: 'format'

URL_FIELD_NAME

str

Field name for URL fields in HyperlinkedModelSerializer.Default: 'url'

Format Settings

DATE_FORMAT

str

Output format for DateField serialization.Default: 'iso-8601' (ISO 8601 format)Use Python strftime format strings or the special value 'iso-8601'.

DATE_INPUT_FORMATS

list

Input formats for DateField parsing.Default: ['iso-8601']

DATETIME_FORMAT

str

Output format for DateTimeField serialization.Default: 'iso-8601'

DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS

list

Input formats for DateTimeField parsing.Default: ['iso-8601']

TIME_FORMAT

str

Output format for TimeField serialization.Default: 'iso-8601'

TIME_INPUT_FORMATS

list

Input formats for TimeField parsing.Default: ['iso-8601']

DURATION_FORMAT

str

Output format for DurationField serialization.Default: 'django-duration' (Django’s duration string format)Possible values: 'django-duration', 'iso-8601'

Encoding Settings

UNICODE_JSON

bool

Render JSON with unicode characters instead of escaped sequences.Default: True

COMPACT_JSON

bool

Render compact JSON (no extra whitespace).Default: True

STRICT_JSON

bool

Use strict JSON encoding (reject NaN and Infinity).Default: True

COERCE_DECIMAL_TO_STRING

bool

Render Decimal values as strings instead of floats.Default: True

COERCE_BIGINT_TO_STRING

bool

Render large integers (>53 bits) as strings to prevent precision loss in JavaScript.Default: False

UPLOADED_FILES_USE_URL

bool

Use URL representation for file fields instead of file name.Default: True

Browsable API Settings

HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF

int

Maximum number of items to display in select dropdowns in browsable API.Default: 1000

HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF_TEXT

str

Text to display when select cutoff is reached.Default: "More than {count} items..."

Throttling Settings

DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES

dict

Default throttle rates for throttle classes.Default:

{
    'user': None,
    'anon': None,
}

Rates use the format 'number/period', e.g.:

'100/hour'
'1000/day'
'5/second'

NUM_PROXIES

int

Number of proxies in front of the API for throttling IP address detection.Default: None

Schema Settings

SCHEMA_COERCE_PATH_PK

bool

Coerce path pk parameters to use {id} in schema generation.Default: True

SCHEMA_COERCE_METHOD_NAMES

dict

Mapping of viewset method names to schema method names.Default:

{
    'retrieve': 'read',
    'destroy': 'delete'
}

Accessing Settings

Access settings using the api_settings object:

from rest_framework.settings import api_settings

print(api_settings.DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES)
print(api_settings.PAGE_SIZE)

Example Configuration

# settings.py
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    # Renderers
    'DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.renderers.JSONRenderer',
    ],
    
    # Parsers
    'DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.parsers.JSONParser',
    ],
    
    # Authentication
    'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework_simplejwt.authentication.JWTAuthentication',
    ],
    
    # Permissions
    'DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.permissions.IsAuthenticated',
    ],
    
    # Pagination
    'DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS': 'rest_framework.pagination.PageNumberPagination',
    'PAGE_SIZE': 100,
    
    # Filtering
    'DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS': [
        'django_filters.rest_framework.DjangoFilterBackend',
        'rest_framework.filters.SearchFilter',
        'rest_framework.filters.OrderingFilter',
    ],
    
    # Throttling
    'DEFAULT_THROTTLE_CLASSES': [
        'rest_framework.throttling.AnonRateThrottle',
        'rest_framework.throttling.UserRateThrottle',
    ],
    'DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES': {
        'anon': '100/hour',
        'user': '1000/hour',
    },
    
    # Versioning
    'DEFAULT_VERSIONING_CLASS': 'rest_framework.versioning.NamespaceVersioning',
    'DEFAULT_VERSION': 'v1',
    'ALLOWED_VERSIONS': ['v1', 'v2'],
    
    # Schema
    'DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS': 'rest_framework.schemas.openapi.AutoSchema',
    
    # Date/Time formats
    'DATETIME_FORMAT': '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S',
    'DATE_FORMAT': '%Y-%m-%d',
    
    # Exception handling
    'EXCEPTION_HANDLER': 'myapp.exceptions.custom_exception_handler',
    
    # Testing
    'TEST_REQUEST_DEFAULT_FORMAT': 'json',
}

Views & ViewSets

Serializers

Requests & Responses

Authentication & Permissions

Parsers & Renderers

Additional Components

​API Policy Settings

​DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES

​DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES

​DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES

​DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES

​DEFAULT_THROTTLE_CLASSES

​DEFAULT_CONTENT_NEGOTIATION_CLASS

​DEFAULT_METADATA_CLASS

​DEFAULT_VERSIONING_CLASS

​DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS

​Generic View Settings

​DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS

​DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS

​Pagination Settings

​PAGE_SIZE

​Filtering Settings

​SEARCH_PARAM

​ORDERING_PARAM

​Versioning Settings

​DEFAULT_VERSION

​ALLOWED_VERSIONS

​VERSION_PARAM

​Authentication Settings

​UNAUTHENTICATED_USER

​UNAUTHENTICATED_TOKEN

​View Settings

​VIEW_NAME_FUNCTION

​VIEW_DESCRIPTION_FUNCTION

​Exception Handling Settings

​EXCEPTION_HANDLER

​NON_FIELD_ERRORS_KEY

​Testing Settings

​TEST_REQUEST_DEFAULT_FORMAT

​TEST_REQUEST_RENDERER_CLASSES

​Hyperlink Settings

​URL_FORMAT_OVERRIDE

​FORMAT_SUFFIX_KWARG

​URL_FIELD_NAME

​Format Settings

​DATE_FORMAT

​DATE_INPUT_FORMATS

​DATETIME_FORMAT

​DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS

​TIME_FORMAT

​TIME_INPUT_FORMATS

​DURATION_FORMAT

​Encoding Settings

​UNICODE_JSON

​COMPACT_JSON

​STRICT_JSON

​COERCE_DECIMAL_TO_STRING

​COERCE_BIGINT_TO_STRING

​UPLOADED_FILES_USE_URL

​Browsable API Settings

​HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF

​HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF_TEXT

​Throttling Settings

​DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES

​NUM_PROXIES

​Schema Settings

​SCHEMA_COERCE_PATH_PK

​SCHEMA_COERCE_METHOD_NAMES

​Accessing Settings

​Example Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

API Policy Settings

DEFAULT_RENDERER_CLASSES

DEFAULT_PARSER_CLASSES

DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES

DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES

DEFAULT_THROTTLE_CLASSES

DEFAULT_CONTENT_NEGOTIATION_CLASS

DEFAULT_METADATA_CLASS

DEFAULT_VERSIONING_CLASS

DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS

Generic View Settings

DEFAULT_PAGINATION_CLASS

DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS

Pagination Settings

PAGE_SIZE

Filtering Settings

SEARCH_PARAM

ORDERING_PARAM

Versioning Settings

DEFAULT_VERSION

ALLOWED_VERSIONS

VERSION_PARAM

Authentication Settings

UNAUTHENTICATED_USER

UNAUTHENTICATED_TOKEN

View Settings

VIEW_NAME_FUNCTION

VIEW_DESCRIPTION_FUNCTION

Exception Handling Settings

EXCEPTION_HANDLER

NON_FIELD_ERRORS_KEY

Testing Settings

TEST_REQUEST_DEFAULT_FORMAT

TEST_REQUEST_RENDERER_CLASSES

Hyperlink Settings

URL_FORMAT_OVERRIDE

FORMAT_SUFFIX_KWARG

URL_FIELD_NAME

Format Settings

DATE_FORMAT

DATE_INPUT_FORMATS

DATETIME_FORMAT

DATETIME_INPUT_FORMATS

TIME_FORMAT

TIME_INPUT_FORMATS

DURATION_FORMAT

Encoding Settings

UNICODE_JSON

COMPACT_JSON

STRICT_JSON

COERCE_DECIMAL_TO_STRING

COERCE_BIGINT_TO_STRING

UPLOADED_FILES_USE_URL

Browsable API Settings

HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF

HTML_SELECT_CUTOFF_TEXT

Throttling Settings

DEFAULT_THROTTLE_RATES

NUM_PROXIES

Schema Settings

SCHEMA_COERCE_PATH_PK

SCHEMA_COERCE_METHOD_NAMES

Accessing Settings

Example Configuration