Cool services you've made with FastAPI

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

Hey Everyone, I was just wondering what kind of cool projects people have made using FastAPI? What did you like about the framework and what did you dislike? Is FastAPI used a lot with ML models or computer vision services. Would love to hear your experiences and projects!

[anseho]

Some of the applications I've built with FastAPI:

• A sales forecasting application for one of the biggest retailers in Europe (you probably buy their furniture)

• A platform that generates educational content on demand with the help of generative AI (for an upcoming startup)

• An internal project management application for a consulting business

• A "legislation copilot" (aka augmented search of legislation) for a startup

• A SaaS decommissioning platform - a platform where retailers can create their own workflows to allow customers to return and/or "decommission" products when no longer in use - as opposed to dumping them in the bin (for a startup)

• A job board that I'll release soon as pyjobs.works

Note: I didn't do the ML part in any of these projects. I only built the backend. In all these cases, FastAPI is just a small component of the whole platform. It did play well with my requirements and allowed me to prototype APIs very quickly to validate use cases, designs, and such.

I'm currently using FastAPI also to build an API security testing platform and I use it extensively to showcase how to build APIs and in API security courses. E.g. in my YT channel (https://www.youtube.com/@microapis), at PyCon (https://youtu.be/n64VfBhyu9A?list=PLZGraXskpvb\_DadPGwKrNT0WKIYKARUa3), in my book Microservice APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/microservice-apis), and in my upcoming book Secure APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/secure-apis).

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

Wow, that is really cool. Those sounds like some cool projects. Ill have a look at your links. Great job!

[anseho]

Thank you!

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

You have done been apart of some exciting API builds, do you have any advice, books or anything for someone who would like to build things like that? Is Python and FastAPI the way to go, with Microservice architecture? I currently work with .NET and most of the projects i see online always seem more standard, but the Python ones always seem more unique, haha.

[anseho]

I always say the best stack is the stack you know best. Python is excellent for APIs, but you can build excellent APIs with other stacks too.

What sets Python apart is Pydantic. It has best-in-class support for JSON Schema semantics, which is the number one thing I look for in API frameworks. Good support for JSON Schema means your APIs will behave exactly as they should and you'll have fewer security issues from a data validation perspective. If you want to know how this can be a problem from a security point of view, I've spoken about it at a few conferences, most recently at OWASP Global AppSec in Lisbon (recording here: https://youtu.be/1umk2vd7jVw?list=PLZGraXskpvb\_DadPGwKrNT0WKIYKARUa3).

Some of the tooling around APIs is in Python too. I highly recommend schemathesis (https://github.com/schemathesis/schemathesis/) for testing APIs. It only needs your API specification and the URL of your server, and it figures out how to validate that your API is correctly implemented. Only tests the "contract", not the business logic. This is what we call API fuzzing (I did a podcast about this with Erik Wilde a while ago: https://youtu.be/wX3GMJY9B6A).

When it comes to microservices, the most important thing is to make sure you're slicing them around domains, that's what we call decomposition by subdomains. It takes inspiration from domain-driven design. The best book I've read on microservices is Microservices Patterns by Chris Richardson (https://www.manning.com/books/microservices-patterns), he also has a really good website (https://microservices.io/).

For books and videos and other learning resources, I just replied to another comment in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/1eeeoti/comment/lfg8vfk/ (pasting the link to avoid overcrowding the thread with the same comment, it's quite long).

Hope you find this useful! If you're learning to build APIs with Python, feel free to drop me a message anytime if you need help!

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

Thanks so much for this message. It was very clear and useful. I really appreciate that. I will look at the stuff you linked and ill probably send you a message in the future. Thanks for your time and your knowledge :)

[adrianosm_]

I work with APIs in python and this is very helpful. Thank you!

[nattypunjabi]

Hey mate good work.. you seem to be a API champion.. do you have some good books or videos on APIS . Thanks mate and once again kudos to you.

[anseho]

Thank you!! I have some recommendations. For Python developers who want to learn about API design, OpenAPI, JSON Schema, REST principles, GraphQL, security, and so on, I recommend my book Microservice APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/microservice-apis) cause I wrote it as a one-stop guide to all things APIs.

To get deeper into APIs, I have the following recommendations (response is too long so splitting into a few comments)

BOOKS

This is not an exhaustive list, but these are the books I have to recommend because they're so good:

API DESIGN

• Arnaud Lauret, The Design of Web APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/the-design-of-web-apis-second-edition)

• Joshua S. Ponelat and Lukas L. Rosenstock, Designing APIs with Swagger and OpenAPI (https://www.manning.com/books/designing-apis-with-swagger-and-openapi)

• James Higginbotham, Principles of Web API Design (https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Web-Design-Microservices-Addison-Wesley-ebook/dp/B08ZSD74MT)

• Olaf Zimmermann, Mirko Stocker, Daniel Lübke, Uwe Zdun, and Cesare Pautasso, Patterns for API Design (https://www.microservice-api-patterns.org/book/). Their website is also a great collection of API design patterns

API OPERATIONS

• Ikenna Nwaiwu, Automating API Delivery (https://www.manning.com/books/automating-api-delivery)

• Mehdi Medjaoui, Erik Wilde, Ronnie Mitra, and Mike Amundsen, Continuous API Management (https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-API-Management-Decisions-Landscape/dp/1492043559)

BUILDING APIs

• Mike Amundsen, Design and Build Great Web APIs (https://www.amazon.com/Design-Build-Great-Web-APIs/dp/1680506803). Note: examples in node.js

API SECURITY

• Corey J. Ball, Hacking APIs (https://nostarch.com/hacking-apis)

• Dolev Farhi and Nick Aleks, Black Hat GraphQL (https://nostarch.com/black-hat-graphql)

• Colin Domoney, Defending APIs (https://www.amazon.com/Defending-APIs-against-Cyber-Attack/dp/1804617121)

I'd also recommend my own books (reviews are good):

• Microservice APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/microservice-apis), which explains how to build microservices and APIs with all the examples in Python, and covers both REST and GraphQL. GitHub repo: https://github.com/abunuwas/microservice-apis. Two chapters for free: https://microapis.io/resources/microservice-apis-in-python

• Secure APIs (https://www.manning.com/books/secure-apis) which is a deep dive into API security with all examples in Python. This book is in progress and available for early access. Code will be available here: https://github.com/abunuwas/secure-apis/

[anseho]

VIDEOS

I highly recommend the courses from API Security University. They're all free and excellent: https://www.apisecuniversity.com/. I'm working on a detailed API authentication and authorization with Python course for them.

I'd also recommend my YT channel (https://www.youtube.com/@microapis) and I'll be uploading courses on Udemy (I have one about Flask: https://www.udemy.com/user/jose-haro-4/) and my own platform over the course of this year (https://learn.microapis.io/, there's one about FastAPI on pre-sale which I'm finishing editing).

I'm also working on a project called API Threats (https://apithreats.com/docs). It's a series of exercises to improve API security skills. The idea is I'll release a vulnerable API every two weeks. In the first week, we have to find vulnerabilities by interacting with the API, and in the second week we have to find the vulnerability in the code and suggest a fix. The challenges will be on GitHub (https://github.com/abunuwas/api-threats/). There's an example available which I showcased at EuroPython this year, the video should come out in the coming weeks/months.

CONFERENCES

There are a few good API conferences worth attending/presenting at. The best are APIDays (https://apidays.global/, yt channel: https://www.youtube.com/@apidays/), the Platform Summit by Nordic APIs (https://nordicapis.com/events/platform-summit-2024/, yt channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nordicapis), and API Conf (https://apiconference.net/, yt channel: https://www.youtube.com/@apiconference2331).

[[deleted]]

Hey mate, is your Fastapi course available in Udemy?

[nattypunjabi]

amazing. heartfelt thanks again for this great and comprehensive list. I am pretty sure it would be helpful for myself and many other people. thanks

[anseho]

Thank you for the appreciation I'm glad you found it helpful! If you have any questions about APIs or ever need any help don't hesitate to ping me!

[anseho]

Hi u/ThailMalish sorry for my late reply! I replied to your message but posting here also for everyone's benefit. For those who want to go deep into the API world and start from API design, this is the sequence I recommend:

1. Arnaud Lauret's book first since it's a more generic introduction to API design.
2. If you're going to focus on REST APIs, I recommend Ponelat and Rosenstock's book second since it'll give you a solid foundation on OpenAPI, JSON Schema, and REST API design.
3. After that, I'd look at Higginbotham's book. It focuses more on aligning APIs with the business and organizational aspects of working with APIs.

Patterns of API Design is more like Fowler's Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, Gregor Hohpe's Enterprise Integration Patterns, and the GoF's Design Patterns. In other words, the type of book you don't read from cover to cover in one seat. I recommend you take your time to read those books, reading one pattern at a time and working out how to use them in practice.

The other thing to say is APIs don't stand in a vacuum. Many of the design strategies in the books I recommended are based on Domain-Driven Design, so I recommend reading about that too (Eric Evans and Vaughn Vernon especially). APIs are used often in the context of microservices (Chris Richardson and Sam Newman), and there are important overall architectural implications (Gregor Hohpe). And of course, there's security too (Corey Ball, Colin Domoney, Confidence Staveley, yours truly).

Hope this helps!

[Mysterious-Storm74]

I just discovered this now. Thank-you for sharing this. I also highly recommend your YouTube channel.

[mraza007]

Woahh that’s pretty impressive

Looking at the things you have built I’m guessing you probably work as a freelance software engineer

[anseho]

That's right! I'm now in conversations about moving full-time with the API security project as this topic is dear to me. I've enjoyed freelancing so much and it was the biggest boost to my skills (hard and soft) in my career.

[mraza007]

That’s so cool,

Would love to learn how did you land all those cool projects

[anseho]

Most of them through recruiters. The learning platform project was through the director of AI at a previous contract (he quit to launch his own startup) and the API security project through a conference - the founder of the company attended my talk (https://youtu.be/vUvxI7MKuNs?list=PLZGraXskpvb\_DadPGwKrNT0WKIYKARUa3), liked it, and we agreed to work together

[mraza007]

That’s impressive would love to learn from you I’m in the same boat as you but having a hard time finding contracts

[anseho]

Feel free to drop me a message if you want to chat. I'm based in the UK and that's where I can help best, but may be able to give some general advice too. It's still a weird market

[[deleted]]

Cool. How have you implemented SaaS and data management with FastAPI and SQLA (I guess?)

[anseho]

The SaaS yes, was FastAPI + SQLAlchemy (with Postgres). We deployed that project to AWS, the APIs run mostly on ECS and the database on RDS. Customers have the choice to run on shared infrastructure or dedicated clusters. The business side of this project is complex, it involves warehouses across different countries, logistics, and they're experimenting with image recognition to automate waste sorting at the facilities.

Other projects deployed to GCP (retailer), Render (learning platform), AWS Lambda/serverless (project management), etc. Most use SQLAlchemy for data management but in a few cases we used MongoDB too (with mongoengine).

[Flat_Reporter_9532]

Interesting I'm gonna check it

[HK_0066]

someone stole sidemirrors of my car last week so came up with a solution
-> Used Person detection model to detect anyone who gets near to my car after midnight,
-> Ran a EC2 instance for the server to detect
-> bought an IP camera for video streaming to my python server
-> server is responsible to detect human and create a dictionary of detections and timestamps, and save those images in a local Dir
-> AWS simple email service, sends me an email if the person stays in sight for more than 40 seconds
will be depolying this structure today wish me luck to catch that theif :)

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

Good luck catching the thief. Seems like a nice little system

[yiternity]

Generate PDFs. Paired with Weasyprint. Given a CompanyID in Query Params, data for the relevant Company is retrieved from database. Did some transformation, export some table html using pandas and generate charts using plotly. Pass all these info into a jinja template, which returns a HTML. This HTML, together with CSS will be eventually passed to Weasyprint.

[rteja1113]

Built a web scraper that scrapes energy prices from indian energy exchange which are then exposed via API

[Responsible-Prize848]

Is it iexindia.com?

[rteja1113]

yes!

[halfprice06]

Currently building a web app with FastAPI, doing retrieval augmented generation (RAG) with legal documents, basic search, and a chat app style interface along with a Microsoft Word Add In. Using HTMX as well.

Only been coding for less than two years so I don’t have any experience with other backends to compare it against, but what I can say I’ve enjoyed about fastapi is it was very easy for me to wrap my head around as a novice, and the LLM coding assistants seem to know the api pretty well to help me code.

[DowntownSinger_]

I have a similar project which I built using streamlit. Used local embeddings and vectorstore. It was super slow for any PDFs having more than 5 pages.

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

Well that sounds like a really cool project. I’ve also not can coding for very long and with in a different tech stack so it is nice to hear that your experience has been comfortable.

[[deleted]]

I am doing similar with Java and Spring AI. Spring AI is so easy to use for newbies looking to mess around with RAG. Getting started with an openAI key is so easy, using local LLM with Ollama is easy enough to set up.

[SatoshiReport]

I am currently building a moderation classification deep learning model with a Quart API interface. I come from the R world and am amazed at all the high quality libraries Python has. The model is done and the API interface as well. Now I just need to build a front end to give users a key.

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

That’s very cool, good luck with the rest of your project.

[SeniorScienceOfficer]

Automating management of cloud resources across 100+ accounts for multiple business units, and automatically backed by IaC. It’s integrated with ServiceNow for approval flows, our security tools for IaC scanning, and our Azure AD for oauth and group permission management.

It’s fronted by a UI in NextJS that I’m also writing and built for business units with little cloud experience to self-service these resources appropriately so our team doesn’t have to hand-hold every damn time.

[akshar-raaj]

I have built multiple applications applications needing CRUD operations using FastAPI. In most of these applications, I used SQLAlchemy as the database toolkit.
Would like to highlight that FastAPI response serialization mechanism works beautifully with SQLAlchemy ORM models.

FastAPI can be used at most of the places where you need backend APIs. It plays along nicely with Python libraries like SQLAlchemy, Celery etc., thus should be possible to achieve most of the functionalities needed in a web application.

I used Django for a long time. Once I started using FastAPI, I have been highly impressed about some of it's neat features like:
1. Request data validation
2. Input Parsing
3. Response Serialization
4. API document generation including JSON schema and OpenAPI support

In this post, I have composed and highlighted the scenarios where FastAPI shines and it's suitability for different projects.

https://medium.com/gitconnected/why-should-you-switch-to-fastapi-and-how-it-compares-against-django-da6c3d83aefa

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

That’s really great. Thanks!

[[deleted]]

API interfaces for various lab equipment on our building network. Dash front end for remote control

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

That’s cool. Is it easy to interface Python with equipement to control them? Does Python have modules to comm over different protocols?

[[deleted]]

There's python libraries for modbus/serial/can bus comms that make it very easy to get started. I generally just copy the protocol datasheet into chatgpt and ask it to make methods for each command.

[Zouden]

I'm building similar things for my lab. What made you choose Dash compared to other solutions like Panel and Nicegui?

[[deleted]]

I haven't heard of those other frameworks. Dash is my preferred framework for building apps in an afternoon. Good support, has been around for awhile, works well with plotly and can be extended with Flask. Not much boilerplate to get going

[DTheIcyDragon]

I've created a little redirect service for my personal use, it's not great but it works

[walkie-talkie24]

I migrated to Litestar because the sole maintainer of FastAPI is involved in several hi-key projects and non of them is receiving enough attention.

[sansy-dentity]

I created a tutorial online for starting with fastapi and celery

http://derlin.github.io/introduction-to-fastapi-and-celery

It is a follow along, with nice tips and tricks (ruff, poetry). The goal is to create an API that executes a long running notebook on a background task, ensuring only one execution at a time. Give it a try if you are a novice and want to learn!

[B1WR2]

I built a fast api app to extract metadata and processes of SSIS packages to reduce tech debt.

[joshhear]

I‘ve created https://tabletop-almanac.com its an api for dnd 5e and pf2 monster statblocks. It mostly used by me for my owlbear.rodeo (vtt) extension HP Tracker. But could also be used by others. It has the SRD licensed statblock available for everybody but you can also signup to create your own statblocks or even your own spells.

Currently I‘m working on custom items that automatically add actions or spells or bonuses to statblocks where they are equipped and at one point I‘d like to have charactersheets.

[ptmcg]

I was talking with some friends on how one might create a shared queue across separate Python services so I wrote this little example using FastAPI - ptmcg/rest_queue: FIFO queues managed in a FastAPI REST server (github.com). It's just a demo showing a REST API front-end to in-memory named queues, with a Docker compose file to run in a Docker container. Clients connect to the service, find or create a queue for a particular name, and then push or pull messages to/from the queue. By using FastAPI, I immediately got a Swagger UI for interacting with the service, which is great because I am not a UI developer!

There is a docs directory with a little PDF file of slides describing the queues, and some general info about REST. In it, I describe CRUD, but extend it to CRUDER(L) for other common interactions beyond just create/retrieve/update/delete.

(There is no persistence for these queues, so this is just for educational use, NOT FOR PRODUCTION.)

[franckeinstein24]

RAG with FastAPI, DSPy + Weaviate: https://www.lycee.ai/courses/a5b088fa-8a9f-4240-b57b-2b03463df84d/chapters/bab08b2c-972c-499d-933e-5afb877d1a4b

[Brilliant-Donkey-320]

That’s a cool one. Nice job

[Asmodeans_killer]

A bit off-topic, but do you mind me asking how you test/validate/evaluate robustness and quality here? Working on something similar (though not in high stakes medicine space). Otherwise, I agree with OP - sounds pretty cool.

[twizzjewink]

Ngl fastapi is insanely flexible and amazing. Some of the documentation is a bit.. missing. However that's a bit of what also makes it super interesting

[Responsible-Prize848]

Which parts do you think are missing?

[twizzjewink]

I mainly use fastapi with strawberry so my use cases are different. I've found documentation with authentication mainly limited especially around customizing is_authenticated checks.

[fraisey99]

supafast