Implementing token-based authentication in Django involves several steps, including creating and configuring a token model, setting up the authentication middleware, generating tokens, and using them in requests. Here is how you could do it:
1. Install and Import Django REST Framework: The Django REST framework is an essential tool for token-based authentication. If not already installed, you may install it using pip:
```
pip install djangorestframework
```
2. Token Model and Settings: First, include the Django REST framework in the installed apps and default authentication classes as follows:
```python
INSTALLED_APPS = [
…
‘rest_framework’,
]
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
‘DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES’: [
‘rest_framework.authentication.TokenAuthentication’,
],
}
```
1. Generate a Token for a User: Once you have configured your application for token authentication, you need to generate a token for each user. Here, you use Django’s signals, which are triggered after a model’s save method has been called. Django provides a pre-configured token model and a signal for creating a token every time a user is created. This can be achieved as follows:
```
from django.dispatch import receiver
from django.db.models.signals import post_save
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from rest_framework.authtoken.models import Token
@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def create_auth_token(sender, instance=None, created=False, **kwargs):
if created:
Token.objects.create(user=instance)
```
1. Using a Token in a Request: After a token has been created, it can be included in the authentication header to authenticate a user for a given request. The token should be prefixed with the string literal “Token”, followed by whitespace and the key itself. Like this:
```
Authorization: Token 9944b09199c62bcf9418ad846dd0e4bbdfc6ee4b
```
1. Middleware and View: Lastly, make sure that `‘django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware’` is included in your MIDDLEWARE to ensure that the user is authenticated for every view using the `@permission_classes` decorator with an `IsAuthenticated` parameter, to enforce the authentication at the view level.
```
from rest_framework.decorators import api_view, permission_classes
from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
api_view(['GET'])
permission_classes([IsAuthenticated])
def example_view(request, format=None):
content = {
‘user’: str(request.user),
‘auth’: str(request.auth),
}
return Response(content)
```
To sum up, by leveraging Django REST framework, the token-based authentication procedure can be implemented systemically in Django.
Sources:
- Django REST Framework Documentation (https://www.django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/authentication/#tokenauthentication)
- Django Documentation (https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.1/topics/signals/)
- DjangoCon US (https://2014.djangocon.us/news/security-bulletin-1/)
- Django for API (https://djangoforapis.com/library-website-and-api/#authenticationpermissions)
