spug-20260922-fastapi

Build Your First API with Python! FastAPI examples for SPUG meetup on 2026-09-22

Links

Meetup event: https://www.meetup.com/python-spokane/events/316344742/

Presentation slides: https://gamma.app/docs/Build-Your-First-API-with-Python-asi9obj15d8usum?following_id=lx18pr74ci53m9n&follow_on_start=true

FastAPI Task API

A small in-memory REST API for learning FastAPI. Tasks return to their initial state whenever the server restarts.

Setup

From the repository root, create and activate a virtual environment:

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

On Windows PowerShell, activate it with:

venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Install the project in editable mode so task-api uses changes made in this repository:

pip install -e .

Start the server:

task-api

The API is available at http://127.0.0.1:5000

Git Branches

Branch	Description
01-intro	basic single endpoint example
02-crud	endpoints for CRUD operations
03-auth	adding auth with Bearer token
04-docker	creating Dockerfile

Running with Docker

From the repository root, build the image with the Dockerfile in src/docker:

docker build -f src/docker/Dockerfile -t spug-fastapi .

Run the API and publish it on port 5000:

docker run --rm -p 5000:5000 spug-fastapi

The API is available at http://127.0.0.1:5000

Authentication

The welcome endpoint (GET /) is public. Every other endpoint requires an Authorization header with a bearer token. The default token for this learning example is example-token:

curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token"

To use a different token, set TASK_API_TOKEN before starting the server:

TASK_API_TOKEN='my-local-token' task-api

This is deliberately a minimal example, not a production authentication system. Use a secret manager and a complete authentication/authorization solution for a real application.

API documentation

The app generates an OpenAPI document from its routes and docstrings. Start the server, then open either documentation UI:

• Swagger UI: http://127.0.0.1:5000/docs
• ReDoc: http://127.0.0.1:5000/redoc
• OpenAPI JSON: http://127.0.0.1:5000/openapi.json

The documentation pages are public. The task operations they describe still require Authorization: Bearer example-token. In Swagger UI, select Authorize and enter example-token to use Try it out.

Try the API

# GET / -- welcome/health response
curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/

# GET /tasks -- list all tasks
curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token"

# GET /tasks/<task_id> -- get one task
curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token"

# POST /tasks -- create a task
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token" \
  -d '{"title":"Write a FastAPI route","description":"Practice POST requests","completed":false}'

# PATCH /tasks/<task_id> -- update part of a task
curl -X PATCH http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks/1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token" \
  -d '{"completed":true}'

# DELETE /tasks/<task_id> -- delete a task
curl -X DELETE -i http://127.0.0.1:5000/tasks/1 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer example-token"