Django REST Framework Authentication with Knox

🚀 Project Overview

This project is a Django REST Framework (DRF) API with user authentication handled by Knox tokens. It includes user registration, login, logout, and fetching user data.

📌 Features

• User Registration
• User Login (using Knox token authentication)
• User Logout & Logout All Sessions
• Retrieve Authenticated User Data
• Secure password handling with Django's built-in authentication

---

🛠 Installation & Setup

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

git https://github.com/snipher-marube/knox-authentication-api.git
cd knox-authentication-api

2️⃣ Create a Virtual Environment

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows use: venv\Scripts\activate

3️⃣ Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4️⃣ Apply Migrations

python manage.py migrate

5️⃣ Create a Superuser (Optional)

python manage.py createsuperuser

6️⃣ Run the Server

python manage.py runserver

---

🔑 API Endpoints

📌 User Registration

Endpoint: POST /api/auth/register/ Body:

{
    "username": "testuser",
    "email": "test@example.com",
    "password": "testpassword"
}

Response:

{
    "user": {
        "id": 1,
        "username": "testuser",
        "email": "test@example.com"
    },
    "token": "knox-token"
}

---

📌 User Login

Endpoint: POST /api/auth/login/ Body:

{
    "username": "testuser",
    "password": "testpassword"
}

Response:

{
    "token": "knox-token"
}

---

📌 Get Authenticated User Data

Endpoint: GET /api/auth/user/ Headers:

Authorization: Token knox-token

Response:

{
    "id": 1,
    "username": "testuser",
    "email": "test@example.com"
}

---

📌 User Logout

Endpoint: POST /api/auth/logout/ Headers:

Authorization: Token knox-token

Response:

{
    "success": "Successfully logged out"
}

---

📌 Logout from All Sessions

Endpoint: POST /api/auth/logoutall/ Headers:

Authorization: Token knox-token

Response:

{
    "success": "Successfully logged out from all sessions"
}

---

🛠 Debugging & Troubleshooting

🔍 Common Issues

1. Login Not Working in Postman?

   • Ensure you're sending JSON data (not form-data).
   • Set Content-Type: application/json in headers.
   • If using Postman, clear cookies and try again.

2. Knox Tokens Not Generated?

   • Run migrations: python manage.py migrate knox
   • Ensure rest_framework settings include Knox authentication:

     REST_FRAMEWORK = {
         'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': (
             'knox.auth.TokenAuthentication',
             'rest_framework.authentication.BasicAuthentication',
             'rest_framework.authentication.SessionAuthentication',
         )
     }

3. Check Server Logs

   • Add debug prints in views.py if needed.
   • Restart server after changes: CTRL + C then python manage.py runserver.

---

💡 Tech Stack

• Django - Web framework
• Django REST Framework (DRF) - API development
• Knox - Token-based authentication
• SQLite/PostgreSQL - Database (configurable)

---

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

---

📞 Contact

For any issues, feel free to raise a GitHub issue or contact me at sniphermarube@gmail.com. 🚀