Tutorial - User Guide¶

This tutorial shows you how to use FastAPI with most of its features, step by step.

Each section gradually builds on the previous ones, but it's structured to separate topics, so that you can go directly to any specific one to solve your specific API needs.

It is also built to work as a future reference so you can come back and see exactly what you need.

Run the code¶

All the code blocks can be copied and used directly (they are actually tested Python files).

To run any of the examples, copy the code to a file main.py, and start fastapi dev with:

$ <font color="#4E9A06">fastapi</font> dev <u style="text-decoration-style:single">main.py</u>
<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Using path <font color="#3465A4">main.py</font>
<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Resolved absolute path <font color="#75507B">/home/user/code/awesomeapp/</font><font color="#AD7FA8">main.py</font>
<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Searching for package file structure from directories with <font color="#3465A4">__init__.py</font> files
<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Importing from <font color="#75507B">/home/user/code/</font><font color="#AD7FA8">awesomeapp</font>

 ╭─ <font color="#8AE234"><b>Python module file</b></font> ─╮
 │                      │
 │  🐍 main.py          │
 │                      │
 ╰──────────────────────╯

<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Importing module <font color="#4E9A06">main</font>
<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Found importable FastAPI app

 ╭─ <font color="#8AE234"><b>Importable FastAPI app</b></font> ─╮
 │                          │
 │  <span style="background-color:#272822"><font color="#FF4689">from</font></span><span style="background-color:#272822"><font color="#F8F8F2"> main </font></span><span style="background-color:#272822"><font color="#FF4689">import</font></span><span style="background-color:#272822"><font color="#F8F8F2"> app</font></span><span style="background-color:#272822">  </span>  │
 │                          │
 ╰──────────────────────────╯

<font color="#3465A4">INFO    </font> Using import string <font color="#8AE234"><b>main:app</b></font>

 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">╭────────── FastAPI CLI - Development mode ───────────╮</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│                                                     │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│  Serving at: http://127.0.0.1:8000                  │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│                                                     │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│  API docs: http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs               │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│                                                     │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│  Running in development mode, for production use:   │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│                                                     │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│  </font></span><span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#555753"><b>fastapi run</b></font></span><span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">                                        │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">│                                                     │</font></span>
 <span style="background-color:#C4A000"><font color="#2E3436">╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯</font></span>

<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Will watch for changes in these directories: [&apos;/home/user/code/awesomeapp&apos;]
<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Uvicorn running on <b>http://127.0.0.1:8000</b> (Press CTRL+C to quit)
<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Started reloader process [<font color="#34E2E2"><b>2265862</b></font>] using <font color="#34E2E2"><b>WatchFiles</b></font>
<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Started server process [<font color="#06989A">2265873</font>]
<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Waiting for application startup.
<font color="#4E9A06">INFO</font>:     Application startup complete.
</pre>

It is HIGHLY encouraged that you write or copy the code, edit it and run it locally.

Using it in your editor is what really shows you the benefits of FastAPI, seeing how little code you have to write, all the type checks, autocompletion, etc.

Install FastAPI¶

The first step is to install FastAPI.

Make sure you create a virtual environment, activate it, and then install FastAPI:

$ pip install "fastapi[standard]"

---> 100%

Note

When you install with pip install "fastapi[standard]" it comes with some default optional standard dependencies.

If you don't want to have those optional dependencies, you can instead install pip install fastapi.

Advanced User Guide¶

There is also an Advanced User Guide that you can read later after this Tutorial - User guide.

The Advanced User Guide builds on this one, uses the same concepts, and teaches you some extra features.

But you should first read the Tutorial - User Guide (what you are reading right now).

It's designed so that you can build a complete application with just the Tutorial - User Guide, and then extend it in different ways, depending on your needs, using some of the additional ideas from the Advanced User Guide.