DMR from DRF

Overview

Migrate Django REST Framework transport layer to django-modern-rest incrementally. Keep business logic unchanged unless user explicitly asks.

Required docs (always reference first):

• DMR LLM docs: https://django-modern-rest.readthedocs.io/llms-full.txt
• DRF docs: https://www.django-rest-framework.org
• Local map: references/drf-to-dmr-map.md

Migration Policy

• Default mode: strict transport parity.
• Preserve by default: paths, methods, request/response schemas, status codes, headers, auth semantics, permission semantics, throttling semantics, pagination envelope, filter/query behavior.
• If user approves drift (for example switching to DMR-native error format/status), stop forcing legacy behavior and document this as approved drift.
• Never mix implicit drift: every intentional mismatch must be explicitly listed.
• Do not preserve DRF transport internals as implementation strategy. Keep observable contracts, but realize them with DMR + project-native libraries.

Workflow

1. Inventory DRF surface

• Read project API entrypoints and URL wiring first.
• Find usages of: APIView, GenericAPIView, ViewSet, GenericViewSet, ModelViewSet, @api_view, DRF routers, DRF serializer classes, parser/renderer classes, auth/permission/throttle classes, DRF exception handler hooks.
• Build per-endpoint migration matrix:
  • path, method, auth, permissions, throttles, parser/renderer behavior,
  • input DTO, output DTO,
  • pagination/filtering contract,
  • expected statuses, expected headers,
  • known error paths.

2. Inventory project-native batteries (required)

• Before writing adapters, inspect existing project libraries and integrations that should power the migrated transport layer.
• Prefer libraries already used by the project through DMR mechanisms over custom wrappers.
• Examples:
  • auth/rbac integrations,
  • rate limiting packages,
  • pagination and filtering libraries already wired in the repository.

3. Freeze observable behavior

• Capture behavior from existing tests + serializers + routing.
• Mark blocking mismatches before coding:
  • route/method changes,
  • schema field changes,
  • auth/permission/throttle changes,
  • pagination/filtering response shape changes,
  • parser/renderer negotiation changes,
  • status/header changes.

4. Decide error strategy (required gate)

Choose one and record it before edits:

• strict parity:
  • keep existing error status/payload semantics,
  • adapt DMR handlers/context as needed.
• approved DMR-native errors:
  • use framework-native error mapping,
  • update tests and docs expectations accordingly,
  • still preserve happy-path behavior and auth/permission/throttle behavior.

5. Migrate by slice (app or endpoint group)

• Migrate one bounded slice at a time.
• Keep module layout unless architecture/lint contracts require change.
• Do not keep class names that encode DRF transport internals. Rename transport classes to neutral or DMR-oriented names.
• Prefer thin transport adapters:
  • keep usecases/services/repositories untouched,
  • change only DTOs/controllers/router wiring.

6. Translate serializers and request/response contracts

• Replace Serializer / ModelSerializer transport DTO usage with explicit typed DTOs compatible with DMR serializer.
• Map request sources explicitly:
  • body Body[...], query Query[...], path Path[...], headers Headers[...], cookies Cookies[...].
• Split input/output DTOs when response contains server-owned fields.
• Preserve field aliases, required/optional behavior, and validation constraints needed for contract parity.

7. Translate DRF handlers to DMR

• Replace function-based @api_view endpoints with explicit Controller[...] handlers.
• Replace APIView/GenericAPIView/ViewSet actions with DMR controllers and router composition.
• Keep route names and URL shapes stable unless user requested drift.
• Port parser and renderer expectations intentionally.
• Port exception behavior intentionally:
  • strict parity mode: preserve old statuses/payloads,
  • approved drift mode: keep DMR-native errors and update tests.

8. Replace API wiring

• Replace DRF router registration and URL wiring with DMR router + Django URL include wiring.
• Keep namespace stability (api:* names) unless drift approved.
• Add docs/openapi routes only if project already exposes them or user asks.

9. Port auth, permissions, and throttling with native batteries

• Keep auth and permission expectations endpoint-by-endpoint.
• If project is using Opaque Token auth from DRF or any 3rd party tools, it might be a good idea to keep the same model, swapping the DMR's default Token model with the existing one. Ask user about this explicitly
• Keep throttling behavior and headers (for example Retry-After) unless drift approved.
• Preserve method-specific permission behavior and action-level differences.
• Prefer existing project-native auth/throttle libraries through DMR hooks.
• Always enable global validate_responses settings in local development and testing.
• Ensure all extra responses are explicitly declared with ResponseSpec.
• Require all responses to pass response validation.
• Avoid DRF compatibility shims as final solution. If a temporary shim is unavoidable, mark it explicitly as temporary, document replacement plan, and list it in unresolved gaps.

10. Update tests for DMR tooling

• Replace DRF-specific API test assumptions where necessary with repository-native Django/DMR testing entrypoints.
• Migrate API test fixtures and clients as first-class migration scope: keep fixture intent stable (api_client, auth fixtures), but rebind them to the migrated DMR stack.
• Keep contract assertions endpoint-by-endpoint: status codes, payloads, headers, auth/permission behavior, throttle behavior, parser/renderer behavior, pagination/filtering semantics.
• Ensure negative-path tests cover declared extra responses and match ResponseSpec metadata.
• Remove persistent DRF transport imports from fully migrated transport/test modules unless explicitly approved as temporary drift.

11. Validate each slice with repository-native CI entrypoints

• Run the same commands CI uses in this repository.
• Prefer official script entrypoints over ad-hoc command sets.
• If docker-only CI/test environment is required, run in docker.

12. Finish gate

Do not mark slice done until:

• linters pass,
• tests pass (or failures are explicitly approved drift),
• report is updated.

Translation Rules

• Business logic unchanged by default.
• Keep transport deterministic and typed.
• Avoid hidden route normalization changes (trailing slash/prefix).
• Preserve auth, permissions, and throttle semantics even when error payload format drifts.
• Preserve pagination envelope and cursor/page semantics unless drift approved.
• Preserve parser/renderer negotiation or explicitly list approved drift.
• Be explicit about framework constraints (for example DMR-native validation behavior).
• Do not use DRF transport classes in migrated slices unless explicitly approved by the user as temporary.
• Do not keep DRF-bound class names in migrated transport code.

Reporting Format (required)

At each meaningful checkpoint and at completion, report in 3 sections:

1. preserved behavior
2. approved drift
3. unresolved gaps

unresolved gaps must include concrete files/endpoints and why unresolved.

Migration Pitfalls (DRF-derived)

• DRF routers often default to trailing slash behavior; preserve URL shape exactly.
• partial=True update semantics can diverge if required/optional DTO constraints are translated mechanically.
• Pagination response envelopes (count/next/previous/results and ordering) must stay stable unless drift approved.
• Content negotiation can change behavior if parser/renderer defaults are not ported intentionally.
• Action-level permissions and throttles in ViewSet classes must be preserved per action, not only per class.
• Header-bearing responses (for example location or throttle headers) must be declared and tested explicitly.

Output Checklist

• DRF root wiring replaced with DMR routing for migrated slices.
• DRF API views/viewsets replaced with DMR controllers.
• DRF transport serializers replaced with DTOs for migrated endpoints.
• Auth/permission/throttle behavior preserved or explicitly drift-approved.
• Pagination/filtering and parser/renderer behavior preserved or explicitly drift-approved.
• Project-native batteries were evaluated first and used where possible.
• No persistent DRF shim or DRF-bound naming remains in migrated transport layer.
• Tests updated only where needed to keep equivalent behavioral coverage for selected strategy.
• Response validation is enabled and all migrated endpoint responses pass it (including extra responses declared via ResponseSpec).
• Repository-native CI entrypoints executed per slice.
• Final report emitted in required 3-section format.
• After successful migration and green CI for migrated API surfaces, remove djangorestframework from project dependencies unless user explicitly approves keeping it.