DRF JSON Schema Serializer

3.0.0 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

drf-jsonschema-serializer provides automatic JSON Schema generation for Django REST Framework serializers. It allows developers to define DRF serializers as usual and then easily convert them into JSON Schema Draft 2020-12, OpenAPI 3.0.x compatible schemas. The current version is 3.0.0, with releases typically tied to major Django/DRF version compatibility.

Common errors

```
ImportError: cannot import name 'JSONSchemaField' from 'drf_jsonschema_serializer'
```
cause Attempting to import or use the deprecated `JSONSchemaField` which was removed in version 3.0.0.

fix Replace `JSONSchemaField` with `JSONSchemaDictField` for dictionaries or `JSONSchemaListField` for lists. Update your import statement to `from drf_jsonschema_serializer.fields import JSONSchemaDictField` (or `JSONSchemaListField`).
```
RuntimeError: 'drf_jsonschema_serializer' requires Python 3.10 or later.
```
cause Your Python environment does not meet the minimum requirement of Python 3.10 for drf-jsonschema-serializer v3.x.

fix Upgrade your Python installation to version 3.10 or newer. If you need to use an older Python version, you must use an older compatible version of drf-jsonschema-serializer (e.g., v2.x for Python 3.8/3.9).
```
django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: 'drf_jsonschema_serializer' requires Django 3.2 or later.
```
cause Your Django version is older than the minimum requirement of 3.2 for drf-jsonschema-serializer v3.x.

fix Upgrade your Django installation to version 3.2 or newer. Similarly for Django REST Framework (>=3.12).

Warnings

breaking Version 3.0.0 drops support for Python < 3.10, Django < 3.2, and Django REST Framework < 3.12. Ensure your environment meets these minimum requirements before upgrading.
Fix: Upgrade Python to 3.10+, Django to 3.2+, and DRF to 3.12+ before installing or upgrading to drf-jsonschema-serializer v3.x.
breaking The `JSONSchemaField` class was removed in version 3.0.0. If you were using it for dict or list fields within your DRF serializers, you must migrate to `JSONSchemaDictField` or `JSONSchemaListField` respectively.
Fix: Replace `JSONSchemaField` with `JSONSchemaDictField` for dictionary-like schemas and `JSONSchemaListField` for list-like schemas. Update imports to `from drf_jsonschema_serializer.fields import JSONSchemaDictField, JSONSchemaListField`.
deprecated The `JSONSchemaView` for serving schema endpoints was removed in v2.0.0. While this predates v3.0.0, users migrating from very old versions might encounter issues. The library now focuses purely on schema generation.
Fix: If you require serving JSON Schemas via an API endpoint, consider using `drf-spectacular` for OpenAPI schema generation, or implement a custom view that utilizes `drf-jsonschema-serializer` directly to generate and serve the schema.

Install

pip install drf-jsonschema-serializer Install latest version

Imports

JSONSchemaSerializer

from drf_jsonschema_serializer import JSONSchemaSerializer

JSONSchemaDictField
wrong:
```
from drf_jsonschema_serializer import JSONSchemaField
```
correct:
```
from drf_jsonschema_serializer.fields import JSONSchemaDictField
```
JSONSchemaField was removed in v3.0.0, use JSONSchemaDictField or JSONSchemaListField instead.
JSONSchemaListField
wrong:
```
from drf_jsonschema_serializer import JSONSchemaField
```
correct:
```
from drf_jsonschema_serializer.fields import JSONSchemaListField
```
JSONSchemaField was removed in v3.0.0, use JSONSchemaDictField or JSONSchemaListField instead.

Quickstart

This example demonstrates how to define a standard Django REST Framework serializer and then use `drf-jsonschema-serializer` to automatically generate its corresponding JSON Schema. The generated schema can be used for API documentation, client-side validation, or other schema-driven processes.

from rest_framework import serializers
from drf_jsonschema_serializer import JSONSchemaSerializer

class MyInputSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
    name = serializers.CharField(max_length=100, help_text="The name of the item")
    quantity = serializers.IntegerField(min_value=1, help_text="The quantity of the item")
    is_active = serializers.BooleanField(default=True)

# Instantiate the JSONSchemaSerializer with your DRF serializer
schema_generator = JSONSchemaSerializer(MyInputSerializer())

# Generate the JSON Schema
json_schema = schema_generator.data

print(json_schema)
# Example expected output (truncated):
# {
#   'type': 'object',
#   'properties': {
#     'name': {'type': 'string', 'maxLength': 100, 'description': 'The name of the item'},
#     'quantity': {'type': 'integer', 'minimum': 1, 'description': 'The quantity of the item'},
#     'is_active': {'type': 'boolean', 'default': True}
#   },
#   'required': ['name', 'quantity']
# }

view raw JSON →