How to register users in Django REST framework?

Question

I'm coding a REST API with Django REST framework. The API will be the backend of a social mobile app. After following the tutorial, I can serialise all my models and I am able to create new resources and update them.

I'm using AuthToken for authentication.

My question is:

Once I have the /users resource, I want the app user to be able to register. So, is it better to have a separate resource like /register or allow anonymous users to POST to /users a new resource?

Also, some guidance about permissions would be great.

Answer 1

Django REST Framework 3 allow override create method in serializers:

from rest_framework import serializers
from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model # If used custom user model

UserModel = get_user_model()


class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):

    password = serializers.CharField(write_only=True)

    def create(self, validated_data):

        user = UserModel.objects.create(
            username=validated_data['username']
        )
        user.set_password(validated_data['password'])
        user.save()

        return user

    class Meta:
        model = UserModel
        # Tuple of serialized model fields (see link [2])
        fields = ( "id", "username", "password", )

Serialized fields for classes inherited from ModelSerializer must be declared patently in Meta for Django Rest Framework v3.5 and newest.

File api.py:

from rest_framework import permissions
from rest_framework.generics import CreateAPIView
from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model # If used custom user model

from .serializers import UserSerializer


class CreateUserView(CreateAPIView):

    model = get_user_model()
    permission_classes = [
        permissions.AllowAny # Or anon users can't register
    ]
    serializer_class = UserSerializer