FastAPI Best Practices
This guide covers best practices for developing FastAPI applications.
Project Structure
Code Organization
-
API Versioning
-
Configuration Management
-
Database Session Management
Security Best Practices
- Environment Variables
- Never hardcode sensitive information
- Use
.env
files for development -
Use secure secret management in production
-
Authentication
- Use JWT tokens for stateless authentication
- Implement proper token refresh mechanisms
-
Use secure password hashing (e.g., bcrypt)
-
Authorization
- Implement role-based access control
- Use dependency injection for permission checks
- Validate user permissions at the API level
Performance Optimization
- Database Operations
- Use connection pooling
- Implement proper indexing
-
Use async database drivers when possible
-
Caching
- Implement response caching
- Use Redis for distributed caching
-
Cache expensive computations
-
Response Optimization
- Use response compression
- Implement pagination for large datasets
- Use proper HTTP caching headers
Testing
-
Unit Tests
-
Integration Tests
- Test database operations
- Test authentication flows
-
Test error handling
-
Load Testing
- Use tools like locust for load testing
- Monitor performance metrics
- Set up proper monitoring
Documentation
- API Documentation
- Use descriptive docstrings
- Include examples in documentation
-
Document error responses
-
Code Documentation
- Follow PEP 257 for docstrings
- Document complex algorithms
- Keep documentation up to date
Error Handling
-
Custom Exceptions
-
Error Responses
- Use consistent error response format
- Include helpful error messages
- Log errors appropriately
Deployment
- Containerization
- Use Docker for containerization
- Implement proper health checks
-
Use multi-stage builds
-
CI/CD
- Set up automated testing
- Implement deployment pipelines
- Use infrastructure as code
Monitoring and Logging
-
Logging
-
Monitoring
- Set up application metrics
- Monitor system resources
- Implement alerting
Next Steps
- Learn about Advanced Patterns