djangorestframework-services 0.3.0

A service-oriented layer for Django REST Framework: precise, controllable side effects for mutating endpoints.

djangorestframework-services

A service / selector layer for Django REST Framework.

DRF's default mode for mutating endpoints is "the serializer is the business logic". That's fine for thin CRUD, but it falls apart the moment you need to compose with an external system, fan out side effects, or write logic that doesn't belong on a model. djangorestframework-services keeps DRF's routing, validation, and serialization for what they're good at, and gives you a precise, well-typed seam for the bits in the middle.

• Services — plain callables. The library does not define a Service base class or prescribe a signature.
• Selectors — plain callables that override get_queryset() / get_object(). Filter backends, pagination, and serialization stay vanilla DRF.
• Mutation helpers — create_from_input, update_from_input, apply_input (and async siblings) — DRF-style attribute application with change tracking, no surprises.
• Sync and async services and selectors, transparently dispatched.
• Atomic by default, opt-out per view.
• Framework-agnostic exceptions — services don't import from DRF.
• 100% test coverage, type-checked, Python 3.10–3.14, Django 4.2–6.0.

pip install djangorestframework-services

---

Quick start

A POST /authors/ endpoint that creates an Author. Input is validated by a dataclass, the service is a plain function, and the response is shaped by another dataclass — both halves rendered through DataclassSerializer from djangorestframework-dataclasses, which the library already depends on.

from dataclasses import dataclass

from rest_framework_dataclasses.serializers import DataclassSerializer
from rest_framework_services import ServiceCreateView, ServiceSpec, create_from_input

from myapp.models import Author


# 1. Input — validated at the view boundary; the service receives a
#    typed instance.
@dataclass
class CreateAuthorInput:
    name: str
    bio: str = ""


# 2. Output — a dataclass that shapes the JSON response. The service
#    can return either the matching dataclass or a model instance with
#    the same attribute names; DataclassSerializer reads via getattr.
@dataclass
class AuthorOutput:
    id: int
    name: str
    bio: str


class AuthorOutputSerializer(DataclassSerializer):
    class Meta:
        dataclass = AuthorOutput


# 3. Service — a plain callable. No DRF imports; raises framework-
#    agnostic exceptions if it needs to.
def create_author(*, data: CreateAuthorInput) -> Author:
    result = create_from_input(Author, data)
    return result.instance


# 4. View — wires it all together.
class CreateAuthorView(ServiceCreateView):
    spec = ServiceSpec(
        service=create_author,
        input_serializer=CreateAuthorInput,
        output_serializer=AuthorOutputSerializer,
    )

# urls.py
from django.urls import path
from myapp.views import CreateAuthorView

urlpatterns = [path("authors/", CreateAuthorView.as_view())]

POST {"name": "Ada"} → 201 with {"id": 1, "name": "Ada", "bio": ""}.

Returning the output dataclass directly

If you want the service's return type to be the response shape — useful when the API surface diverges from your model (computed fields, hidden columns, denormalised joins) — have the service build and return the output dataclass:

def create_author(*, data: CreateAuthorInput) -> AuthorOutput:
    author = Author.objects.create(name=data.name, bio=data.bio)
    return AuthorOutput(id=author.id, name=author.name, bio=author.bio)

AuthorOutputSerializer renders it the same way; the view doesn't care.

Alternative: ModelSerializer

When the response mirrors the model exactly, DRF's ModelSerializer is the shorter path and gets the full DRF feature set (relations, nested serializers, etc.):

from rest_framework import serializers


class AuthorSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Author
        fields = ("id", "name", "bio")


class CreateAuthorView(ServiceCreateView):
    spec = ServiceSpec(
        service=create_author,
        input_serializer=CreateAuthorInput,
        output_serializer=AuthorSerializer,
    )

Both patterns are first-class — the library doesn't care which kind of DRF serializer you use for output. Pick DataclassSerializer when you want the API contract to live alongside the service signature; pick ModelSerializer when the response mirrors the model and you want DRF's relational machinery.

---

Mental model

There are three building blocks:

Block	What it is	Where it lives
Service	A plain callable that performs a mutation	Your code
Selector	A plain callable that returns data to read	Your code
View / Viewset	DRF view that wires a service or selector to an HTTP method	Provided by this library

Views inspect the service / selector signature with inspect.signature and pass only the arguments they declare from a known pool: data, instance, request, user, view, plus extras from get_service_kwargs() / get_selector_kwargs(). If a callable declares **kwargs, the entire pool is forwarded.

def create_author(*, data, user):       # the view passes only data + user
    return Author.objects.create(name=data.name, created_by=user)

def list_authors(*, request):           # request is in the pool
    return Author.objects.filter(...)

---

Mutation helpers

The library doesn't run your services for you, but it does ship the helpers that DRF's serializer.save() quietly performs — minus the surprises and plus a typed change record.

from rest_framework_services import update_from_input, UNSET

def update_author(*, instance, data):
    result = update_from_input(instance, data, exclude_fields=["created_by"])
    if result.get_field_change("email"):
        send_email_changed_notice(instance)
    return result.instance

What you get:

• apply_input(instance, data) — set attributes in memory, no save.
• create_from_input(Model, data) — build, save, optional M2M.
• update_from_input(instance, data) — diff in-memory state vs. input, call save(update_fields=[...]) with only the fields that actually changed.
• acreate_from_input / aupdate_from_input — async equivalents using Django 4.2+ asave() / aset().

All of them accept:

• data — a dataclass, plain dict, or any object with __dict__.
• field_map: dict[str, str] — translate input keys to model attribute names.
• exclude_fields: list[str] — fields to drop from the input before applying.
• m2m: dict[str, Any] — many-to-many assignments applied post-save (create/update only).

All of them return a ChangeResult:

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class ChangeResult:
    instance: Model
    created: bool
    changes: tuple[FieldChange, ...]

    @property
    def changed_fields(self) -> tuple[str, ...]: ...
    def get_field_change(self, field_name: str) -> FieldChange | None: ...
    def __bool__(self) -> bool: ...   # True iff any change

The UNSET sentinel distinguishes "field omitted from input" from "field explicitly set to None" — critical for correct PATCH semantics.

---

Views

Class	Method	Purpose
ServiceCreateView	POST	runs service to create
ServiceUpdateView	PUT / PATCH	runs service to update; instance from get_object()
ServiceDeleteView	DELETE	runs service to delete
SelectorListView	GET	uses selector (or queryset) for list
SelectorRetrieveView	GET	uses selector (or queryset + lookup_field) for retrieve

Mutation views are configured by setting a single spec class attribute to a ServiceSpec, which bundles service, input_serializer, output_serializer, output_selector, atomic, and success_status. Selector views configure selector and DRF's standard serializer_class.

@dataclass
class UpdateAuthorInput:
    name: str | None = None
    bio: str | None = None


class UpdateAuthorView(ServiceUpdateView):
    queryset = Author.objects.all()
    spec = ServiceSpec(
        service=update_author,
        input_serializer=UpdateAuthorInput,
        output_serializer=AuthorOutputSerializer,   # DataclassSerializer
    )

A ModelSerializer can be dropped in just as cleanly:

class UpdateAuthorView(ServiceUpdateView):
    queryset = Author.objects.all()
    spec = ServiceSpec(
        service=update_author,
        input_serializer=UpdateAuthorInput,
        output_serializer=AuthorSerializer,         # DRF ModelSerializer
    )

When a service returns None and the view has an instance in scope (update or delete), the in-memory instance is rendered — matching DRF's UpdateAPIView shape without you having to wire it up.

---

Viewsets

ServiceViewSet is a router-compatible viewset composed of per-action mixins. Each action picks its own serializer; below the read side uses two DataclassSerializer shapes (terse list, full detail) and the mutations reuse the detail one:

from dataclasses import dataclass

from rest_framework_dataclasses.serializers import DataclassSerializer
from rest_framework_services import ServiceSpec, ServiceViewSet


@dataclass
class AuthorListItem:
    id: int
    name: str


@dataclass
class AuthorDetail:
    id: int
    name: str
    bio: str


class AuthorListItemSerializer(DataclassSerializer):
    class Meta:
        dataclass = AuthorListItem


class AuthorDetailSerializer(DataclassSerializer):
    class Meta:
        dataclass = AuthorDetail


class AuthorViewSet(ServiceViewSet):
    queryset = Author.objects.all()
    serializer_classes = {
        "list": AuthorListItemSerializer,
        "retrieve": AuthorDetailSerializer,
    }
    service_specs = {
        "list": list_authors,
        "retrieve": get_author,
        "create": ServiceSpec(
            service=create_author,
            input_serializer=CreateAuthorInput,
            output_serializer=AuthorDetailSerializer,
        ),
        "update": ServiceSpec(
            service=update_author,
            input_serializer=UpdateAuthorInput,
            output_serializer=AuthorDetailSerializer,
        ),
        "destroy": ServiceSpec(service=delete_author),
    }

service_specs is a single action-keyed mapping — mirroring serializer_classes from MultiSerializerMixin. Read-side actions ("list", "retrieve") take a bare callable (the selector). Write-side actions take a ServiceSpec bundling everything that flow needs. An absent (or non-ServiceSpec) entry on a write action makes it return 405 Method Not Allowed.

Mix ModelSerializer and DataclassSerializer per action freely — the viewset doesn't distinguish between them.

Register it with a router as usual:

router = DefaultRouter()
router.register("authors", AuthorViewSet, basename="author")

Per-action mixins (ServiceCreateMixin, ServiceUpdateMixin, ServiceDestroyMixin, SelectorListMixin, SelectorRetrieveMixin, MultiSerializerMixin) are exported so you can compose only the actions you need:

class AuthorReadOnly(SelectorListMixin, SelectorRetrieveMixin, GenericViewSet):
    queryset = Author.objects.all()
    serializer_class = AuthorDetailSerializer   # or any DRF Serializer

SelectorViewSet is a pre-built read-only composition.

MultiSerializerMixin

Per-action serializer dispatch via a single mapping:

serializer_classes = {
    "list": ListSerializer,
    "retrieve": DetailSerializer,
    "my_custom_action": CustomSerializer,
}

get_serializer_class() consults the map first, falls back to serializer_class.

@service_action

Custom viewset actions wrapped in the same plumbing as the standard mutation flow:

from dataclasses import dataclass

from rest_framework_dataclasses.serializers import DataclassSerializer
from rest_framework_services import ServiceSpec, service_action


@dataclass
class ApproveInput:
    note: str = ""


@dataclass
class InvoiceDetail:
    id: int
    customer: str
    amount_cents: int
    status: str


class InvoiceDetailSerializer(DataclassSerializer):
    class Meta:
        dataclass = InvoiceDetail


class InvoiceViewSet(ServiceViewSet):
    @service_action(
        ServiceSpec(
            service=approve_invoice,
            input_serializer=ApproveInput,
            output_serializer=InvoiceDetailSerializer,
        ),
        detail=True,
        methods=["post"],
    )
    def approve(self, request, pk=None):
        """Approve an invoice."""

The decorated method body is not executed — the decorator supplies the handler. The body is there so the action has a docstring, a name (used by the router), and a place for @action-compatible metadata.

---

Errors

Services raise framework-agnostic exceptions. The view boundary translates them to DRF responses.

from rest_framework_services import ServiceError, ServiceValidationError

def withdraw(*, instance, data):
    if data.amount > instance.balance:
        raise ServiceValidationError({"amount": ["insufficient funds"]})
    if instance.locked:
        raise ServiceError("account is locked")
    instance.balance -= data.amount
    instance.save(update_fields=["balance"])
    return instance

Raised	Becomes	HTTP
ServiceValidationError	rest_framework.exceptions.ValidationError	400
ServiceError	rest_framework.exceptions.APIException	422

---

Atomic transactions

Every service call is wrapped in transaction.atomic() by default. Opt out on a view-by-view basis:

class ImportView(ServiceCreateView):
    service = run_import
    atomic = False   # the import service handles its own savepoints

---

Async services

Services and selectors can be async def. The dispatcher detects this via inspect.iscoroutinefunction and runs them via asgiref.sync.async_to_sync under sync views, or directly under async views. Atomic wrapping works for both.

async def fetch_remote(*, request):
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        return await client.get("https://...").json()

class FetchView(ServiceCreateView):
    service = fetch_remote

---

startserviceapp

A management command that scaffolds a service-oriented Django app:

python manage.py startserviceapp billing

Produces:

billing/
├── __init__.py
├── apps.py
├── admin.py
├── urls.py
├── models/__init__.py
├── views/__init__.py
├── services/__init__.py
├── selectors/__init__.py
├── validators/__init__.py
├── serializers/__init__.py
├── utils/__init__.py
├── migrations/__init__.py
└── tests/__init__.py

Add "rest_framework_services" to INSTALLED_APPS to make the command discoverable.

A note on validators/

The validators/ package is a stylistic convention, not a library feature. The library doesn't import from it or look it up by name. It exists to give business-level validation a home of its own — rules like "a draft invoice can only be sent if the customer has a verified email" or "refunds beyond 30 days require manager approval". These belong neither in the model nor in the serializer.

The split this layout suggests:

Concern	Lives in
Type validation, required fields, format checks	DRF serializers (serializers/), including DataclassSerializer for service inputs
Business rules / cross-record invariants / external-state checks	Functions in validators/, called from services
Side effects, persistence, orchestration	services/

Use it, ignore it, or rename it — the scaffolding is a starting point, not a contract.

---

Examples

A minimal but runnable example project lives in examples/. It demonstrates the create / list / retrieve / update / destroy flows on a single resource and one custom action via @service_action.

cd examples
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

---

Compatibility

Axis	Range
Python	3.10 – 3.14
Django	4.2, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0
DRF	≥ 3.14

CI runs the full Python × Django matrix with 100% coverage gating.

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Status

Pre-1.0. Public API is stable but may shift. See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.

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License

MIT.