dj-notif 0.2.0

A comprehensive Django package for managing notifications with automatic dispatching, WebSocket-based real-time delivery, and category-based organization

Django Notification Manager (dj_notif)

⚠️ BETA VERSION - This package is currently in beta. While functional, it may have breaking changes in future releases. Please test thoroughly in your development environment before using in production.

A comprehensive Django package for managing notifications with automatic dispatching and category-based organization.

Features

• 🔔 Real-time Notifications: WebSocket-based instant notification delivery (live delivery active, management methods coming soon)
• 📱 Category-based Organization: Group notifications by type (task assignments, comments, etc.)
• 📢 Broadcast Notifications: Send notifications to all users with read tracking
• 🔐 JWT Authentication: Secure connections with JWT tokens
• 📊 REST API: Complete REST API for notification management
• 🎯 Automatic Dispatching: Notifications are automatically sent when models are saved
• 📝 Read/Unread Tracking: Mark notifications as read individually or by category
• 🔄 Soft Delete: Built-in soft delete functionality for data integrity
• 🎨 Customizable: Easy to extend with custom notification types

Installation

1. Install the Package

pip install dj_notif

2. Add to Django Settings

Add dj_notif to your INSTALLED_APPS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... other apps
    'dj_notif',
]

3. Configure Channels

Add the following to your Django settings for WebSocket notification delivery:

# Channels Configuration
ASGI_APPLICATION = 'your_project.asgi.application'

# Channel Layers (Redis backend recommended for production)
CHANNEL_LAYERS = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'channels_redis.core.RedisChannelLayer',
        'CONFIG': {
            "hosts": [('127.0.0.1', 6379)],
        },
    },
}

# JWT Settings for Authentication
CHANNEL_LAYERS_JWT_SECRET = 'your-secret-key'

4. Update ASGI Configuration

Update your asgi.py file to include the notification routing for WebSocket delivery:

import os
os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'your_project.settings')
import django
django.setup()

from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
from channels.routing import ProtocolTypeRouter, URLRouter
from django_channels_jwt.middleware import JwtAuthMiddlewareStack
from dj_notif.routes import notification_urlpatterns

django_asgi_app = get_asgi_application()

application = ProtocolTypeRouter({
    "http": django_asgi_app,
    "websocket": JwtAuthMiddlewareStack(
        URLRouter(
            notification_urlpatterns  # Add your other URL patterns here
        ),
    ),
})

5. Include URLs

Add the notification URLs to your main urls.py:

from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    # ... other URL patterns
    path('api/', include('dj_notif.urls')),
]

The package provides the following URL endpoints:

User Notifications:

• /api/notifications/user/ - Get all user notifications
• /api/notifications/user/categories/ - Get unread count by category
• /api/notifications/user/mark_all_as_read/ - Mark all user notifications as read
• /api/notifications/user/category/{category}/ - Get user notifications by category
• /api/notifications/user/category/{category}/mark_all_read - Mark all user notifications in category as read
• /api/notifications/user/category/{category}/mark_read/{id}/ - Mark specific user notification as read

Broadcast Notifications:

• /api/notifications/broadcast/ - Get all broadcast notifications
• /api/notifications/broadcast/category/{category}/ - Get broadcast notifications by category
• /api/notifications/broadcast/category/{category}/mark_read/{id}/ - Mark specific broadcast notification as read

WebSocket:

• /api/notifications/ws_auth/ - WebSocket authentication endpoint (requires authentication, returns UUID)

6. Run Migrations

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

7. Register Custom Notification Models and Serializers

The package automatically discovers notification models and serializers. Ensure your custom notification models and serializers are properly imported in your Django app's __init__.py or apps.py:

# In your app's apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class YourAppConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
    name = 'your_app'

    def ready(self):
        # Import your notification models and serializers to register them
        from .notifications import models, serializers

Or in your app's __init__.py:

# In your app's __init__.py
default_app_config = 'your_app.apps.YourAppConfig'

How Auto-Discovery Works

The package uses Django's app registry to automatically discover:

1. Notification Models: All classes inheriting from BaseNotificationModel
2. Notification Serializers: All classes inheriting from BaseNotificationSerializer

The discovery happens when Django starts up and loads all apps. Each model and serializer must have a notification_class_name attribute that matches between the model and its corresponding serializer.

Important: Make sure your notification models and serializers are imported when Django starts, otherwise they won't be discovered by the package.

Usage

1. Create Custom Notification Models

Create notification models by inheriting from BaseNotificationModel. You can define related models using either PositiveIntegerField (simple ID reference) or ForeignKey (full relationship). This example uses ForeignKey for better relationship management:

from django.db import models
from dj_notif.models import BaseNotificationModel
from your_app.models import Task

class TaskNotification(BaseNotificationModel):
    class NotificationTitle(models.TextChoices):
        created = 'task_created'
        updated = 'task_updated'
        completed = 'task_completed'

    user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='task_notifications', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    title = models.CharField(choices=NotificationTitle.choices, max_length=20)
    task = models.ForeignKey(Task, related_name='notifications', on_delete=models.SET_NULL)

    notification_class_name = 'task'  # Required!

2. Create Custom Serializers

Create serializers by inheriting from BaseNotificationSerializer:

from dj_notif.serializers import BaseNotificationSerializer
from your_app.serializers import TaskSerializer

class TaskNotificationSerializer(BaseNotificationSerializer):
    notification_class_name = 'task'  # Must match model
    task = TaskSerializer(fields=['id', 'name'])

    class Meta:
        model = TaskNotification
        extra_fields = ['user', 'task', 'requested_user']

Broadcast Notification Serializers

For broadcast notifications, inherit from BaseBroadcastNotificationSerializer:

from dj_notif.serializers import BaseBroadcastNotificationSerializer

class BroadcastNotificationSerializer(BaseBroadcastNotificationSerializer):
    notification_class_name = 'broadcast'  # Must match model

    class Meta:
        model = BroadcastNotification
        # No extra_fields needed for broadcast notifications

3. Using Notifications in Your Code

Creating Notifications

# Single notification
TaskNotification.objects.create(
    user=user,
    title=TaskNotification.NotificationTitle.created,
    description=f'Task {task.name} has been created',
    level=1,  # 1=low, 2=medium, 3=high
    task=task
)

# Multiple notifications at once
TaskNotification.create_notifications(
    title='New Project Available',
    description='A new project has been created',
    level=2,
    users=[1, 2, 3, 4]  # List of user IDs
)

# Broadcast notifications (sent to all users)
BroadcastNotification.objects.create(
    title=BroadcastNotification.NotificationTitle.system_notification,
    description='System maintenance scheduled for tomorrow',
    level=2
)

Using in Your Views or Services

# In your views.py or services
def create_task_notification(user_id, task, action):
    """Create a notification when a task is created, updated, or completed"""
    title_map = {
        'created': TaskNotification.NotificationTitle.created,
        'updated': TaskNotification.NotificationTitle.updated,
        'completed': TaskNotification.NotificationTitle.completed,
    }
    
    TaskNotification.objects.create(
        user=user_id,
        title=title_map[action],
        description=f'Task {task.name} has been {action}',
        level=1,
        task=task
    )

# Usage example
create_task_notification(
    user_id=user,
    task=task,
    action='created'
)

4. WebSocket Live Delivery

Notifications are automatically delivered via WebSocket when they are created. To connect to the WebSocket, you need to follow a two-step authentication process:

Step 1: Get WebSocket Authentication UUID

First, make a GET request to the ws_auth endpoint to get a UUID:

// Get WebSocket authentication UUID
async function getWsAuthUuid() {
    const response = await fetch('/api/notifications/ws_auth/', {
        method: 'GET',
        headers: {
            'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
    });
    
    if (response.ok) {
        const data = await response.json();
        return data.uuid; // UUID for WebSocket connection
    } else {
        throw new Error('Failed to get WebSocket auth UUID');
    }
}

Step 2: Connect to WebSocket with UUID

Use the UUID as a query parameter when connecting to the WebSocket:

// Connect to WebSocket with authentication UUID
async function connectToWebSocket() {
    try {
        // Get authentication UUID
        const uuid = await getWsAuthUuid();
        
        // Connect to WebSocket with UUID
        const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:8000/ws/notifications/?uuid=${uuid}`);
        
        ws.onopen = function() {
            console.log('WebSocket connected successfully');
        };
        
        ws.onmessage = function(event) {
            const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
            console.log('New notification:', data);
            
            if (data.type === 'notifications') {
                // Handle notification data
                const notification = data.payload.notification;
                // Update UI, show toast, etc.
            }
        };
        
        ws.onerror = function(error) {
            console.error('WebSocket error:', error);
        };
        
        ws.onclose = function() {
            console.log('WebSocket connection closed');
        };
        
        return ws;
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Failed to connect to WebSocket:', error);
    }
}

// Usage
const wsConnection = connectToWebSocket();

Note: WebSocket methods for getting notifications and marking them as read are not yet implemented. Use the REST API endpoints for these operations.

Authentication Requirements

• The ws_auth endpoint requires IsAuthenticated permission
• You must include your JWT token in the Authorization header
• The returned UUID is valid for a limited time
• Use the UUID as a query parameter when connecting to the WebSocket

Supported Notification Types

The package supports various notification types. Here are examples using ForeignKey relationships:

Task Notifications

from your_app.models import Task

class TaskNotification(BaseNotificationModel):
    class NotificationTitle(models.TextChoices):
        created = 'task_created'
        updated = 'task_updated'
        completed = 'task_completed'
    
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='task_notifications', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    task = models.ForeignKey(Task, on_delete=models.SET_NULL)
    notification_class_name = 'task'

Comment Notifications

from your_app.models import Comment

class CommentNotification(BaseNotificationModel):
    class NotificationTitle(models.TextChoices):
        mention = 'mention'
        reply = 'reply'
    
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='comment_notifications', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    comment = models.ForeignKey(Comment, on_delete=models.SET_NULL)
    notification_class_name = 'comment'

Custom Notifications

class CustomNotification(BaseNotificationModel):
    class NotificationTitle(models.TextChoices):
        info = 'info'
        warning = 'warning'
        error = 'error'
    
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='custom_notifications', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    custom_data = models.JSONField(default=dict)  # Any additional data
    notification_class_name = 'custom'

Broadcast Notifications

class BroadcastNotification(BaseBroadcastNotificationModel):
    class NotificationTitle(models.TextChoices):
        system_notification = 'system_notification'
        admin_notification = 'admin_notification'
    
    title = models.CharField(choices=NotificationTitle.choices, max_length=50)
    description = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    level = models.IntegerField(choices=[(1, 'Low'), (2, 'Medium'), (3, 'High')])
    # user_read_at_receipts field is automatically handled by BaseBroadcastNotificationModel
    notification_class_name = 'broadcast'

API Endpoints

REST API

The package provides two types of notification endpoints:

User Notifications

User-specific notifications that are sent to individual users. These notifications are tied to specific users and can be marked as read by the intended recipient.

Broadcast Notifications

System-wide notifications that are sent to all users. These notifications use a user_read_at_receipts JSON field to track which users have read them, allowing multiple users to mark the same notification as read.

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/notifications/user/	GET	Get all user notifications for authenticated user
/api/notifications/user/categories/	GET	Get unread count by category for user notifications
/api/notifications/user/mark_all_as_read/	POST	Mark all user notifications as read
/api/notifications/user/category/{category}/	GET	Get user notifications by category
/api/notifications/user/category/{category}/mark_all_read	POST	Mark all user notifications in category as read
/api/notifications/user/category/{category}/mark_read/{id}/	POST	Mark specific user notification as read
/api/notifications/broadcast/	GET	Get all broadcast notifications for authenticated user
/api/notifications/broadcast/category/{category}/	GET	Get broadcast notifications by category
/api/notifications/broadcast/category/{category}/mark_read/{id}/	POST	Mark specific broadcast notification as read
/api/notifications/ws_auth/	GET	WebSocket authentication endpoint

WebSocket Live Delivery

Notifications are automatically sent to connected clients when they are created. The WebSocket connection receives notifications in real-time without needing to send commands.

Note: WebSocket commands for getting notifications and marking them as read are not yet implemented. Use the REST API for these operations.

API Usage Examples

User Notifications

// Get all user notifications
const response = await fetch('/api/notifications/user/', {
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

// Get unread count by category
const categories = await fetch('/api/notifications/user/categories/', {
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

// Mark specific notification as read
await fetch('/api/notifications/user/category/task/mark_read/123/', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

Broadcast Notifications

// Get all broadcast notifications
const response = await fetch('/api/notifications/broadcast/', {
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

// Get broadcast notifications by category
const systemNotifs = await fetch('/api/notifications/broadcast/category/pm_broadcast/', {
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

// Mark broadcast notification as read (for current user)
await fetch('/api/notifications/broadcast/category/pm_broadcast/mark_read/456/', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token' }
});

Configuration Options

Notification Levels

class NotificationLevel(models.IntegerChoices):
    low = 1
    medium = 2
    high = 3

Channel Name Format

Notifications are sent to channels in the format: notif_user_{user_id}

Dependencies

• Django >= 5.2
• Django REST Framework >= 3.15.2
• Django Channels >= 4.2.0
• django-channels-jwt >= 0.0.3
• Redis (for channel layers)

Example Project Structure

your_project/
├── apps/
│   └── your_app/
│       ├── notifications/
│       │   ├── __init__.py
│       │   ├── models.py      # Custom notification models
│       │   └── serializers.py # Custom notification serializers
│       ├── models.py          # Your main models
│       ├── signals.py         # Django signals for notifications
│       ├── apps.py            # App configuration
│       └── __init__.py
├── your_project/
│   ├── asgi.py               # ASGI configuration with WebSocket routing
│   ├── settings.py           # Django settings with channels config
│   └── urls.py               # URL configuration
└── manage.py

Recommended File Organization

1. Create a notifications/ subdirectory in each app that needs notifications
2. Place notification models in notifications/models.py
3. Place notification serializers in notifications/serializers.py
4. Import notifications in your app's apps.py or __init__.py
5. Use signals in your main app's signals.py to trigger notifications

Example App Structure

# apps/your_app/notifications/__init__.py
# This file can be empty, but ensures the directory is a Python package

# apps/your_app/notifications/models.py
from dj_notif.models import BaseNotificationModel

class YourNotification(BaseNotificationModel):
    # Your notification model definition
    pass

# apps/your_app/notifications/serializers.py
from dj_notif.serializers import BaseNotificationSerializer

class YourNotificationSerializer(BaseNotificationSerializer):
    # Your notification serializer definition
    pass

# apps/your_app/apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class YourAppConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
    name = 'your_app'

    def ready(self):
        # Import to register notifications
        from .notifications import models, serializers
        from . import signals  # Import signals to register them

Best Practices

1. Notification Naming Conventions

• Use descriptive names for notification classes: TaskAssignmentNotification, CommentMentionNotification
• Use consistent naming for notification_class_name: lowercase with underscores
• Group related notifications in the same model with different titles

2. Signal Organization

• Keep signal handlers focused and lightweight
• Use transaction management for critical operations
• Handle exceptions gracefully to prevent signal failures
• Consider using @receiver decorators with dispatch_uid for unique signal handlers

3. Performance Considerations

• Use bulk_create() for multiple notifications when possible
• Consider using select_related() and prefetch_related() in serializers
• Implement pagination for notification lists
• Use database indexes on frequently queried fields

4. Security Best Practices

• Always validate user permissions before creating notifications
• Use proper authentication for WebSocket connections
• Sanitize notification content to prevent XSS attacks
• Implement rate limiting for notification creation

5. Testing Notifications

from django.test import TestCase
from your_app.notifications.models import TaskNotification

class NotificationTestCase(TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.user_id = 1  # Simple user ID
    
    def test_notification_creation(self):
        notification = TaskNotification.objects.create(
            user=self.user_id,
            title='task_created',
            description='Test notification',
            level=1,
            task_id=123
        )
        self.assertEqual(notification.user, self.user_id)
        self.assertEqual(notification.title, 'task_created')
        self.assertEqual(notification.task_id, 123)
    
    def test_notification_dispatch(self):
        # Test that notifications are dispatched when saved
        with self.assertNumQueries(1):  # Adjust based on your setup
            notification = TaskNotification.objects.create(
                user=self.user_id,
                title='task_created',
                description='Test notification',
                level=1,
                task_id=123
            )

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. WebSocket Connection Fails

   • Ensure Redis is running
   • Check JWT token validity
   • Verify ASGI configuration

2. Notifications Not Sending

   • Check channel layer configuration
   • Ensure notification_class_name is set in models
   • Verify serializer registration

3. Migration Errors

   • Run python manage.py makemigrations dj_notif
   • Ensure all custom notification models are in INSTALLED_APPS

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging in settings:

LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'handlers': {
        'console': {
            'class': 'logging.StreamHandler',
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'notification': {
            'handlers': ['console'],
            'level': 'DEBUG',
        },
    },
}

Deployment

Production Considerations

1. Redis Configuration

   CHANNEL_LAYERS = {
       'default': {
           'BACKEND': 'channels_redis.core.RedisChannelLayer',
           'CONFIG': {
               "hosts": [('your-redis-host', 6379)],
               "capacity": 1500,  # Maximum number of messages in a channel
               "expiry": 10,      # Message expiry in seconds
           },
       },
   }
   

2. ASGI Server

   • Use Daphne or Uvicorn for production
   • Configure proper worker processes
   • Set up load balancing for WebSocket connections

3. Security

   • Use HTTPS/WSS in production
   • Configure proper CORS settings
   • Implement rate limiting
   • Use secure JWT secrets

4. Monitoring

   • Monitor Redis memory usage
   • Track WebSocket connection counts
   • Set up alerts for notification failures
   • Log notification delivery rates

Docker Deployment

# Example Dockerfile
FROM python:3.11

WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install -r requirements.txt

COPY . .

EXPOSE 8000

# Option 1: Using Daphne (ASGI server for WebSocket support)
CMD ["daphne", "-b", "0.0.0.0", "-p", "8000", "your_project.asgi:application"]

# Option 2: Using Gunicorn with Uvicorn (ASGI server for WebSocket support)
CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:8000", "--worker-class", "uvicorn.workers.UvicornWorker", "your_project.asgi:application"]

Environment Variables

# Required environment variables
REDIS_URL=redis://your-redis-host:6379
CHANNEL_LAYERS_JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key
DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=your-django-secret

# Optional
REDIS_CAPACITY=1500
REDIS_EXPIRY=10

Migration and Upgrades

Upgrading from Previous Versions

When upgrading the package, follow these steps:

1. Backup your database before running migrations
2. Update the package: pip install --upgrade dj_notif
3. Run migrations: python manage.py migrate
4. Test your notification system thoroughly
5. Update your code if any breaking changes are introduced

Breaking Changes

Check the CHANGELOG.md file for detailed information about breaking changes between versions.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests
5. Submit a pull request

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/dj_notif.git
cd dj_notif

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install development dependencies
pip install -e .
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

# Run tests
python manage.py test dj_notif

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

For support and questions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository or contact the maintainer.

Changelog

Version 0.2.0 (Latest)

• ✨ Broadcast Notifications: Added support for system-wide notifications sent to all users
• 🔄 Separate ViewSets: Split user notifications and broadcast notifications into separate ViewSets
• 📊 Enhanced API Structure: Reorganized API endpoints with /user/ and /broadcast/ prefixes
• 🎯 Multi-user Read Tracking: Broadcast notifications use user_read_at_receipts JSON field for read status
• 🔧 Improved URL Routing: Better organized URL structure for different notification types
• 📝 BaseBroadcastNotificationModel: New base model for broadcast notifications
• 📝 BaseBroadcastNotificationSerializer: New base serializer for broadcast notifications
• 🚀 Auto-discovery Support: Broadcast notifications work with the existing auto-discovery system

Version 0.1.0

• 🎉 Initial release
• 🔔 WebSocket-based real-time notifications: Live notification delivery via WebSocket connections
• 📊 REST API for notification management: Complete CRUD operations for notifications
• 🔐 JWT authentication support: Secure authentication for both REST API and WebSocket connections
• ⚡ Automatic notification dispatching: Notifications are automatically sent when models are saved
• 📱 Category-based notification organization: Group notifications by type (task assignments, comments, etc.)
• 🔄 Soft delete functionality: Built-in soft delete for data integrity
• 🎨 Customizable notification types: Easy to extend with custom notification models and serializers
• 🔍 Auto-discovery system: Automatic discovery of notification models and serializers
• 📈 Read/unread tracking: Mark notifications as read individually or by category
• 🌐 WebSocket authentication: Secure WebSocket connections with JWT token validation