How to Install Django Rest Framework: Step-by-Step Guide

How to Install Django Rest Framework: A Step-by-Step Guide

Django Rest Framework (DRF) is a powerful and flexible toolkit for building Web APIs in the Python Django ecosystem. If you’re new to developing RESTful APIs with Django, this guide will walk you through installing and setting up DRF in your project with ease.

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of Python and Django
Python 3.6 or higher installed on your system
Django installed (version 2.2 or higher recommended)
Command line/terminal access

If you don’t have Django installed yet, you can follow our How to Install Python Django Framework: Step-by-Step Guide to get a Django project running before proceeding.

Step 1: Create and Activate a Virtual Environment (Optional but Recommended)

Using a virtual environment isolates your dependencies and avoids conflicts between projects.

python3 -m venv env
source env/bin/activate  # On Windows use `env\Scripts\activate`

Step 2: Install Django Rest Framework

With your virtual environment activated, install DRF via pip:

pip install djangorestframework

Step 3: Add ‘rest_framework’ to Your Django Project

Open your Django project’s settings.py file and add 'rest_framework' to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # Other apps
    'rest_framework',
]

Step 4: Migrate Your Database

DRF doesn’t add models that require migrations, but it’s good practice to run migrations after adding new apps:

python manage.py migrate

Step 5: Test the Installation

To verify DRF is installed correctly, create a simple API view or use the built-in browsable API feature.

As an example, add this to your app’s views.py:

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response

class HelloWorld(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({"message": "Hello, Django Rest Framework!"})

And add the route to urls.py:

from django.urls import path
from .views import HelloWorld

urlpatterns = [
    path('hello/', HelloWorld.as_view()),
]

Run your development server:

python manage.py runserver

Navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/hello/ to see the JSON response.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Module Not Found Error: Ensure the virtual environment is activated and DRF installed within it.
Not Showing Browsable API: Confirm 'rest_framework' is in INSTALLED_APPS and the server restarted.
APIView Import Issues: Confirm you installed the latest DRF and are importing from rest_framework.views.

Summary Checklist

✅ Have Python and Django installed
✅ (Optional) Created and activated a virtual environment
✅ Installed Django Rest Framework using pip
✅ Added 'rest_framework' to INSTALLED_APPS
✅ Ran migrations
✅ Tested basic API view and confirmed functionality

Installing and setting up Django Rest Framework is straightforward. With this foundation, you can build powerful RESTful APIs for your Django applications. For more Django-related tutorials, check out our guides on Creating Django Superusers and Creating Django Projects.