Connecting React and Django Rest Framework: Quick Guide

By Andrew on 8/19/2024

This guide offers a quick, straightforward approach to connecting React with Django Rest Framework. This guide will help you set up a basic project that demonstrates the Django React integration.

Let’s get started!

Backend: Django Rest Framework Setup

Install Django and DRF:

pip install django djangorestframework django-cors-headers

Create Django project and app:

django-admin startproject backend
cd backend
python manage.py startapp api

Add to INSTALLED_APPS in backend/settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'rest_framework',
    'corsheaders',
    'api',
]

Add to MIDDLEWARE in backend/settings.py:

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',
    # ... other middleware
]

Add CORS settings in backend/settings.py:

CORS_ALLOW_ALL_ORIGINS = True  # Only for development

Create a simple API view in api/views.py:

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

class TestView(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({"message": "Connected to DRF!"})

Set up URL in api/urls.py:

from django.urls import path
from .views import TestView

urlpatterns = [
    path('test/', TestView.as_view()),
]

Include in backend/urls.py:

from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('api/', include('api.urls')),
]

Frontend: React Setup

Create React app:

npx create-react-app frontend
cd frontend

Install axios:
```
npm install axios
```

Replace src/App.js content:

import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

function App() {
  const [message, setMessage] = useState('');

  useEffect(() => {
    axios.get('http://localhost:8000/api/test/')
      .then(response => setMessage(response.data.message))
      .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));
  }, []);

  return (
    <div className="App">
      <h1>React + DRF Connection Test</h1>
      <p>{message}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Running the Application

Start Django server:
```
python manage.py runserver
```
In a new terminal, start React app:
```
npm start
```

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see your React app connected to Django Rest Framework.

Important Security Note

The setup described in this guide is for development purposes only. For production, you should not use CORS_ALLOW_ALL_ORIGINS = True. This setting can expose your application to security vulnerabilities.

Instead, the recommended approach for production is to use a reverse proxy setup with nginx or Traefik. This allows you to route both your frontend and backend through the same domain, eliminating the need for CORS entirely.

Production-Ready Solution

If you’re looking for a fully featured, secure, production-ready setup that properly handles the connection between React and Django Rest Framework, check out slimsaas.com. SlimSaaS offers a pre-configured boilerplate that includes a proper reverse proxy setup, authentication, payments, along with many other features to jumpstart your development.

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