How to access custom HTTP request headers on Django Rest Framework?

Question

I'm sending a post request to my API made using django rest framework:

curl --header "X-MyHeader: 123" --data "test=test" http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/update_log/

In my rest framework view, I want to get my costum header, and if the custom header satisfies a condition, I will proceed to analyze my post data.

Ok, my view looks like:

class PostUpdateLogView(APIView):
    throttle_classes = ()
    permission_classes = ()
    parser_classes = (
        parsers.FormParser,
        parsers.MultiPartParser,
        parsers.JSONParser,
    )  

    renderer_classes = (renderers.JSONRenderer,)

    def post(self, request):
        print request.Meta
        # Get custom header
        # Validate custom header
        # Proceed to analize post data

        # Make response
        content = {
            'response': 'response',
        }

        return Response(content)

I'm trying to find my custom header on request.Meta element, but when I print request.Meta, I get a 500 error. If I print request.data, I get the expected response.

¿What is the way to get a custom header on my post request using django rest framework?

Ian Sibley · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-22 00:31:39Z

90

The name of the meta data attribute of request is in upper case:

print request.META

If your header is called "My-Header", your header will be available as:

request.META['HTTP_MY_HEADER']

Or:

request.META.get('HTTP_MY_HEADER') # return `None` if no such header

Quote from the documentation:

HTTP headers in the request are converted to META keys by converting all characters to uppercase, replacing any hyphens with underscores and adding an HTTP_ prefix to the name. So, for example, a header called X-Bender would be mapped to the META key HTTP_X_BENDER.

edited Oct 22, 2021 at 0:31

Ian Sibley

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answered Feb 5, 2015 at 14:01

catavaran

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2 Comments

Andrés Quiroga Over a year ago

I'm sorry, like a missing (;), I was two hours on this... Maybe, do you know how can see the bug detail when I request the api using curl? when i send the post request using curl, i only can see on my console the answer like [05/Feb/2015 08:40:39] "POST /api/update_log/ HTTP/1.1" 500 78112, but I can't see the bug detail. Thank you and excuse my carelessness.

catavaran Over a year ago

Redirect the output of the curl to the file and then open this file in the browser. curl ... http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/update_log/ > error.html

jboot · Accepted Answer · 2023-02-09 08:07:00Z

Seeing this is an old post, I thought I would share the newer and more flexible approach that is available since Django 2.2. You can use the request's headers object:

# curl --header "X-MyHeader: 123" --data "test=test" http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/update_log/

request.headers['X-MYHEADER']       # returns "123"
request.headers['x-myheader']       # case-insensitive, returns the same
request.headers.get('x-myheader')   # returns None if header doesn't exist

# standard headers are also available here
request.headers.get('Content-Type') # returns "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"

The biggest differences with request.META are that request.headers doesn't prepend headers with HTTP_, it doesn't transform the header names to UPPER_SNAKE_CASE and that the headers can be accessed case-insensitively. It will only transform the header to Title-Casing (e.g. X-Myheader) when displayed.

Md Mehedi Hasan · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-18 10:21:31Z

12

If you provide a valid header information and get that information from backend then follow those

client-name='ABCKD'

then you have get that client information in post or get function following this-

request.META['HTTP_CLIENT_NAME']

it will give you output 'ABCKD'.

remember that, whatever the valid variable name you provide in your header information in request, django convert it uppercase and prefix with 'HTTP_' in here it will client-name converted to CLIENT_NAME and prefix with HTTP_. so final output is HTTP_CLIENT_NAME

answered Feb 18, 2017 at 10:21

Md Mehedi Hasan

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