REST API Tools — Data Over HTTP

Pytigon's REST API capabilities are built on the fact that every generic view already serves dual purpose: the same URL that renders HTML can return JSON, XML, or CSV with a simple parameter change.

Built-in REST: It Just Works

Add ?format=json to any Pytigon table view URL:

/tables_demo/table/Album/list/?format=json

Response:

{
    "count": 25,
    "offset": 0,
    "rows": [
        {
            "id": 1,
            "name": "Abbey Road",
            "artist": "The Beatles",
            "release_date": "1969-09-26",
            "tracks_count": 17
        },
        ...
    ]
}

The same URL without ?format=json returns the HTML table page. Same data, same URL, different representation.

Available Formats

Format	URL Parameter	Content-Type
HTML	(default)	`text/html`
JSON	`?format=json` or `.../json/list/`	`application/json`
CSV	`.../csv/list/` or `?format=csv`	`text/csv`
XML	`.../xml/list/`	`application/xml`
PDF	`.../pdf/list/`	`application/pdf`
XLSX	`.../xlsx/list/`	`application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet`

Custom REST Endpoints

For API-specific logic, define custom views using Django REST Framework or Pytigon's lightweight REST tools:

from pytigon_lib.schdjangoext.rest_tools import api_view, api_response

@api_view(['GET'])
def album_api(request):
    albums = Album.objects.all()
    data = [{"id": a.id, "name": a.name, "artist": a.artist} for a in albums]
    return api_response(data)

Filtering and Pagination

The list view API supports standard query parameters:

/tables_demo/table/Album/list/?format=json&offset=0&sort=name&order=asc&search=Beatles

Parameter	Purpose
`offset`	Pagination offset (0-based)
`sort`	Field to sort by
`order`	`asc` or `desc`
`search`	Full-text search across searchable fields

REST Client Integration

Pytigon includes a REST client library for making API calls from server-side code or background tasks:

from pytigon_lib.schhttptools.rest_client import RestClient

client = RestClient('http://localhost:8000')
response = client.get('/tables_demo/table/Album/list/', params={'format': 'json'})
data = response.json()

Authentication

REST endpoints support: - Django session authentication (for browser clients) - Token authentication (for API clients) - OAuth2 (for third-party integration) - JWT tokens (for mobile apps)

Configure authentication in settings_app.py as needed.