django-bulk-drf 0.1.12

Django REST Framework mixins for asynchronous bulk operations with Celery and Redis

Django Bulk DRF

Asynchronous bulk operations for Django REST Framework using Celery workers and Redis for progress tracking.

Installation

pip install django-bulk-drf

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Django 4.0+
• Django REST Framework 3.14+
• Celery 5.2+
• Redis 4.3+
• django-redis 5.2+

Quick Setup

1. Add to your INSTALLED_APPS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... your other apps
    'rest_framework',
    'django_bulk_drf',
]

2. Configure Redis cache:

CACHES = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django_redis.cache.RedisCache',
        'LOCATION': 'redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'CLIENT_CLASS': 'django_redis.client.DefaultClient',
        }
    }
}

3. Configure Celery:

# settings.py
CELERY_BROKER_URL = 'redis://127.0.0.1:6379/0'
CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = 'redis://127.0.0.1:6379/0'

This implementation provides asynchronous bulk operations for your Django REST Framework API endpoints using Celery workers and Redis for progress tracking.

Overview

The bulk operations system consists of:

1. Bulk Processing Tasks (django_bulk_drf.bulk_processing) - Celery tasks for handling bulk operations
2. Bulk Mixins (django_bulk_drf.bulk_mixins) - DRF ViewSet mixins to add bulk endpoints
3. Redis Cache (django_bulk_drf.bulk_cache) - Progress tracking and result caching
4. Status Views (django_bulk_drf.bulk_views) - API endpoints to check task status

Features

• ✅ Asynchronous Processing: Long-running bulk operations don't block the API
• ✅ Progress Tracking: Real-time progress updates via Redis
• ✅ Error Handling: Detailed error reporting for failed items
• ✅ Result Caching: Final results cached in Redis for 24 hours
• ✅ Validation: Full DRF serializer validation for all items
• ✅ Atomic Operations: Database transactions ensure data consistency
• ✅ Unified Endpoint: Single /bulk endpoint supports both JSON and CSV via Content-Type detection
• ✅ RESTful Design: Uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, PATCH, PUT, DELETE) for different operations

Content-Type Detection

The system automatically detects the input format based on the HTTP Content-Type header:

• Content-Type: application/json → JSON data processing
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data → CSV file upload processing

This means you can use the same /bulk endpoint for both JSON and CSV operations, making the API clean and RESTful.

Available Operations

JSON-based Operations

1. Bulk Retrieve

• Endpoint: GET /api/{model}/bulk/?ids=1,2,3
• Method: GET
• Input: Query parameters (ids) or request body (complex filters)
• Output: Serialized data (direct) or Task ID for large results

2. Bulk Create

• Endpoint: POST /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: POST
• Input: Array of objects to create
• Output: Task ID and status URL

3. Bulk Update (Partial)

• Endpoint: PATCH /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: PATCH
• Input: Array of objects with id and partial update data
• Output: Task ID and status URL

4. Bulk Replace (Full Update)

• Endpoint: PUT /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: PUT
• Input: Array of complete objects with id and all required fields
• Output: Task ID and status URL

5. Bulk Delete

• Endpoint: DELETE /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: DELETE
• Input: Array of IDs to delete
• Output: Task ID and status URL

CSV-based Operations (Salesforce-style)

All CSV operations use the same /bulk endpoint with Content-Type: multipart/form-data:

6. CSV Bulk Create

• Endpoint: POST /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: POST
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data
• Input: CSV file upload with headers matching model fields
• Output: Task ID and status URL

7. CSV Bulk Update (Partial)

• Endpoint: PATCH /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: PATCH
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data
• Input: CSV file with id column and fields to update
• Output: Task ID and status URL

8. CSV Bulk Replace (Full Update)

• Endpoint: PUT /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: PUT
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data
• Input: CSV file with id column and all required fields
• Output: Task ID and status URL

9. CSV Bulk Delete

• Endpoint: DELETE /api/{model}/bulk/
• Method: DELETE
• Content-Type: multipart/form-data
• Input: CSV file with id column containing IDs to delete
• Output: Task ID and status URL

10. Status Tracking

• Endpoint: GET /api/bulk-operations/{task_id}/status/
• Output: Task status, progress, and results

HTTP Method Differences

• GET: Retrieve multiple records by IDs or complex queries
• POST: Creates new records (all fields required based on your model)
• PATCH: Partial updates - only include fields you want to change (requires id)
• PUT: Full replacement - all required fields must be provided (requires id)
• DELETE: Removes records (provide array of IDs)

Usage

Adding Bulk Operations to a ViewSet

from django_bulk_drf.bulk_mixins import BulkOperationsMixin

class FinancialTransactionViewSet(BulkOperationsMixin, viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = FinancialTransaction.objects.all()
    serializer_class = FinancialTransactionSerializer

OpenAPI/Swagger Documentation

The bulk operations include proper OpenAPI schema definitions for Swagger documentation. To enable this:

1. Install drf-spectacular (optional dependency):

pip install drf-spectacular

2. Add to INSTALLED_APPS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... your other apps
    'drf_spectacular',
]

3. Configure DRF settings:

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    'DEFAULT_SCHEMA_CLASS': 'drf_spectacular.openapi.AutoSchema',
}

SPECTACULAR_SETTINGS = {
    'TITLE': 'Your API',
    'DESCRIPTION': 'Your API description',
    'VERSION': '1.0.0',
}

4. Add URL patterns:

from drf_spectacular.views import SpectacularAPIView, SpectacularSwaggerView

urlpatterns = [
    # ... your other URLs
    path('api/schema/', SpectacularAPIView.as_view(), name='schema'),
    path('api/docs/', SpectacularSwaggerView.as_view(url_name='schema'), name='swagger-ui'),
]

The bulk endpoints will now show proper OpenAPI documentation with:

• ✅ Array payloads correctly specified for all bulk operations
• ✅ Request/response examples for each operation type
• ✅ Proper schema references for your model fields
• ✅ CSV upload support documented for file operations

Note: If drf-spectacular is not installed, the mixins will work normally but without enhanced OpenAPI documentation.

Example API Calls

Bulk Retrieve (Simple ID-based)

# Small result set - returns data directly
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/?ids=1,2,3,4,5"

Bulk Retrieve (Large ID-based - Async)

# Large result set - returns task ID
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/?ids=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,...,150"

Bulk Retrieve (Complex Query)

# Complex filtering via request body
curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '{
    "filters": {
      "amount": {"gte": 100, "lte": 1000},
      "datetime": {"gte": "2025-01-01"},
      "financial_account": 1
    }
  }'

Bulk Create

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '[
    {
      "amount": "100.50",
      "description": "Transaction 1",
      "datetime": "2025-01-01T10:00:00Z",
      "financial_account": 1,
      "classification_status": 1
    },
    {
      "amount": "-25.75", 
      "description": "Transaction 2",
      "datetime": "2025-01-01T11:00:00Z",
      "financial_account": 1,
      "classification_status": 1
    }
  ]'

Response:

{
  "message": "Bulk create task started for 2 items",
  "task_id": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
  "total_items": 2,
  "status_url": "/api/bulk-operations/abc123-def456-ghi789/status/"
}

Bulk Update (Partial)

curl -X PATCH http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '[
    {
      "id": 1,
      "amount": "150.00",
      "description": "Updated transaction 1"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "description": "Updated transaction 2"
    }
  ]'

Bulk Replace (Full Update)

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '[
    {
      "id": 1,
      "amount": "200.00",
      "description": "Completely replaced transaction 1",
      "datetime": "2025-01-01T15:00:00Z",
      "financial_account": 1,
      "classification_status": 2
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "amount": "75.50",
      "description": "Completely replaced transaction 2",
      "datetime": "2025-01-01T16:00:00Z",
      "financial_account": 1,
      "classification_status": 1
    }
  ]'

Bulk Delete

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]'

Check Status

curl http://localhost:8000/api/bulk-operations/abc123-def456-ghi789/status/

Response:

{
  "task_id": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
  "state": "SUCCESS",
  "result": {
    "task_id": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
    "total_items": 2,
    "operation_type": "bulk_create",
    "success_count": 2,
    "error_count": 0,
    "errors": [],
    "created_ids": [10, 11],
    "updated_ids": [],
    "deleted_ids": []
  },
  "progress": {
    "current": 2,
    "total": 2,
    "percentage": 100.0,
    "message": "Creating instances in database..."
  },
  "status": "Task completed successfully"
}

CSV Upload Examples

CSV Bulk Create

# Upload CSV file for bulk creation
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" \\
  -F "file=@transactions.csv"

Sample CSV (transactions.csv):

amount,description,datetime,financial_account,classification_status
100.50,"Transaction 1","2025-01-01T10:00:00Z",1,1
-25.75,"Transaction 2","2025-01-01T11:00:00Z",1,1
500.00,"Transaction 3","2025-01-01T12:00:00Z",2,2

CSV Bulk Update

# Upload CSV file for bulk updates
curl -X PATCH http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" \\
  -F "file=@updates.csv"

Sample CSV (updates.csv):

id,amount,description
1,150.00,"Updated Transaction 1"
2,,"Updated Transaction 2"
3,75.50,

CSV Bulk Delete

# Upload CSV file for bulk deletion
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8000/api/financial-transactions/bulk/ \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" \\
  -F "file=@delete_ids.csv"

Sample CSV (delete_ids.csv):

id
1
2
3
4
5

CSV Format Requirements

1. File encoding: UTF-8 (supports BOM)
2. File extension: Must be .csv
3. Headers: First row must contain field names
4. File size limit: 10MB (configurable via csv_max_file_size attribute)
5. Required fields:
   • Create: All required model fields
   • Update/Replace: id column + fields to update
   • Delete: id column only

CSV Benefits

• ✅ Easy to create: Use Excel, Google Sheets, or any CSV editor
• ✅ Memory efficient: Streamed processing for large files
• ✅ Human readable: Easy to review and edit data
• ✅ Widely supported: Standard format across platforms
• ✅ Compact: Smaller than equivalent JSON for large datasets

Bulk GET Response Formats

Small Result Sets (< 100 records)

Returns data immediately:

{
  "count": 5,
  "results": [
    {"id": 1, "amount": "100.50", "description": "Transaction 1"},
    {"id": 2, "amount": "75.00", "description": "Transaction 2"}
  ],
  "is_async": false
}

Large Result Sets (≥ 100 records)

Returns task ID for async processing:

{
  "message": "Bulk get task started for 250 IDs",
  "task_id": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
  "total_items": 250,
  "status_url": "/api/bulk-operations/abc123-def456-ghi789/status/",
  "is_async": true
}

Complex Query Filters

You can use Django ORM-style filters in the request body:

{
  "filters": {
    "amount": {"gte": 100, "lte": 1000},      // amount >= 100 AND amount <= 1000
    "datetime": {"gte": "2025-01-01"},         // datetime >= 2025-01-01
    "financial_account": 1,                    // financial_account = 1
    "description": {"icontains": "payment"}    // description contains "payment" (case-insensitive)
  }
}

Supported lookup types: exact, gte, lte, gt, lt, in, icontains, startswith, endswith, etc.

Task States

• PENDING: Task is waiting to be executed
• PROGRESS: Task is currently running (includes progress data)
• SUCCESS: Task completed successfully
• FAILURE: Task failed with an error

Progress Tracking

Progress is tracked in Redis and updated every 10 items processed. The progress object includes:

{
  "current": 50,
  "total": 100,
  "percentage": 50.0,
  "message": "Validated 50/100 items"
}

Error Handling

Individual item errors are captured and included in the result:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "index": 5,
      "error": "amount: This field is required.",
      "data": {"description": "Missing amount"}
    }
  ]
}

Configuration

Redis Settings

Make sure your Django settings include Redis configuration:

# Redis cache for bulk operations
CACHES = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django_redis.cache.RedisCache',
        'LOCATION': REDIS_URL,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'CLIENT_CLASS': 'django_redis.client.DefaultClient',
        }
    }
}

Celery Settings

Your Celery configuration should include:

# Celery settings for bulk operations
CELERY_TASK_TIME_LIMIT = 5 * 60  # 5 minutes
CELERY_TASK_SOFT_TIME_LIMIT = 60  # 1 minute
CELERY_WORKER_SEND_TASK_EVENTS = True
CELERY_TASK_SEND_SENT_EVENT = True

Starting Workers

To process bulk operations, start Celery workers:

# Start Celery worker
celery -A config.celery_app worker -l info

# Start Celery beat (for periodic tasks)
celery -A config.celery_app beat -l info

# Start Flower (monitoring - optional)
celery -A config.celery_app flower

Performance Considerations

1. Batch Size: Large arrays are processed in chunks to avoid memory issues
2. Database Connections: Use connection pooling for high-volume operations
3. Redis Memory: Monitor Redis memory usage for large result sets
4. Worker Scaling: Scale Celery workers based on load

Monitoring

• Use Flower for Celery task monitoring: http://localhost:5555
• Monitor Redis usage with redis-cli info memory
• Check Django logs for task execution details
• Use the status endpoint for real-time progress tracking

Security Considerations

1. Authentication: Ensure bulk endpoints require proper authentication
2. Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting for bulk operations
3. Input Validation: All input is validated through DRF serializers
4. Permission Checks: Add custom permission classes as needed

Extending the System

Custom Bulk Operations

You can create custom bulk operations by:

1. Creating new Celery tasks in bulk_processing.py
2. Adding new action methods to the mixins
3. Updating the status view if needed

Custom Progress Tracking

Override the progress tracking by extending BulkOperationCache:

from django_bulk_drf.bulk_cache import BulkOperationCache

class CustomBulkCache(BulkOperationCache):
    @classmethod
    def set_custom_metric(cls, task_id: str, metric_data: dict):
        # Custom metric tracking
        pass

This bulk operations system provides a robust, scalable solution for handling large data operations asynchronously while keeping your API responsive and providing real-time feedback to users.