Python FastAPI Patterns Project Structure src/ ├── main.py # App entry point ├── config.py # Settings management ├── dependencies.py # Shared dependencies ├── models/ # Pydantic models ├── routes/ # API endpoints ├── services/ # Business logic ├── repositories/ # Data access └── utils/ # Helpers
Basic Setup
main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
@asynccontextmanager async def lifespan(app: FastAPI): # Startup await init_db() yield # Shutdown await close_db()
app = FastAPI( title="My API", version="1.0.0", lifespan=lifespan, )
Pydantic Models from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, EmailStr from datetime import datetime from typing import Optional
class UserBase(BaseModel): email: EmailStr name: str = Field(min_length=2, max_length=100)
class UserCreate(UserBase): password: str = Field(min_length=8)
class UserResponse(UserBase): id: int created_at: datetime
model_config = {"from_attributes": True}
class UserUpdate(BaseModel): email: Optional[EmailStr] = None name: Optional[str] = Field(None, min_length=2, max_length=100)
Route Organization
routes/users.py
from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status from typing import Annotated
router = APIRouter(prefix="/users", tags=["users"])
@router.get("/", response_model=list[UserResponse]) async def list_users( skip: int = 0, limit: int = Query(20, le=100), db: Session = Depends(get_db), ): return await user_service.get_all(db, skip=skip, limit=limit)
@router.get("/{user_id}", response_model=UserResponse) async def get_user( user_id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db), ): user = await user_service.get_by_id(db, user_id) if not user: raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found") return user
@router.post("/", response_model=UserResponse, status_code=status.HTTP_201_CREATED) async def create_user( user_in: UserCreate, db: Session = Depends(get_db), ): return await user_service.create(db, user_in)
Dependency Injection
dependencies.py
from fastapi import Depends, HTTPException, Security from fastapi.security import HTTPBearer, HTTPAuthorizationCredentials
security = HTTPBearer()
async def get_db(): db = SessionLocal() try: yield db finally: await db.close()
async def get_current_user( credentials: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Security(security), db: Session = Depends(get_db), ) -> User: token = credentials.credentials payload = decode_token(token) if not payload: raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Invalid token")
user = await user_service.get_by_id(db, payload["sub"])
if not user:
raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="User not found")
return user
Type alias for cleaner signatures
CurrentUser = Annotated[User, Depends(get_current_user)]
Async Patterns import asyncio from httpx import AsyncClient
Parallel requests
async def fetch_all_data(user_id: int): async with AsyncClient() as client: tasks = [ client.get(f"/api/user/{user_id}"), client.get(f"/api/user/{user_id}/posts"), client.get(f"/api/user/{user_id}/stats"), ] results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks) return { "user": results[0].json(), "posts": results[1].json(), "stats": results[2].json(), }
Background tasks
from fastapi import BackgroundTasks
@router.post("/notify") async def send_notification( email: str, background_tasks: BackgroundTasks, ): background_tasks.add_task(send_email, email) return {"message": "Notification queued"}
Error Handling from fastapi import Request from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
class AppException(Exception): def init(self, code: str, message: str, status_code: int = 400): self.code = code self.message = message self.status_code = status_code
@app.exception_handler(AppException) async def app_exception_handler(request: Request, exc: AppException): return JSONResponse( status_code=exc.status_code, content={ "success": False, "error": {"code": exc.code, "message": exc.message} }, )
@app.exception_handler(Exception) async def generic_exception_handler(request: Request, exc: Exception): return JSONResponse( status_code=500, content={ "success": False, "error": {"code": "INTERNAL_ERROR", "message": "Something went wrong"} }, )
Settings Management
config.py
from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings from functools import lru_cache
class Settings(BaseSettings): app_name: str = "My API" debug: bool = False database_url: str secret_key: str
model_config = {"env_file": ".env"}
@lru_cache def get_settings() -> Settings: return Settings()
Middleware from fastapi import Request from time import time import logging
logger = logging.getLogger(name)
@app.middleware("http") async def log_requests(request: Request, call_next): start = time() response = await call_next(request) duration = time() - start
logger.info(
f"{request.method} {request.url.path} "
f"status={response.status_code} duration={duration:.3f}s"
)
return response
Testing import pytest from httpx import AsyncClient from main import app
@pytest.fixture async def client(): async with AsyncClient(app=app, base_url="http://test") as ac: yield ac
@pytest.mark.asyncio async def test_create_user(client: AsyncClient): response = await client.post( "/users/", json={"email": "test@example.com", "name": "Test", "password": "password123"} ) assert response.status_code == 201 assert response.json()["email"] == "test@example.com"
Best Practices Use type hints everywhere for auto-documentation Validate at boundaries with Pydantic models Inject dependencies for testability Handle errors consistently with custom exceptions Use async/await for I/O operations Keep routes thin - business logic in services Document with OpenAPI annotations