HeadlineAPI

This repository contains an API for the mobile application: HEADLINE. HEADLINE is an iOS (should be coming to Android anytime soon) that helps you get relevant news and happenings from top nigerian websites.

Development

This application was developed using Flask. Postgres was used for persisting data with SQLAlchemy as ORM.

Development - Docker

Development with docker has been made simple. To get started make sure you have docker on your PC. You can download it here. Follow the following steps carefully to set the project up:

• Create a .env using the .env.sample file.
• Run the command docker-compose up to let the docker daemon start building the image and create the container.
• When you're done, use the command docker-compose down or Ctrl + C to stop the container.

Application Features

User Authentication

Users are authenticated and validated using an werkzeug token. Generating tokens on login ensures each account is unique to a user and can't be accessed by an authenticated user.

Installation

• Start up your terminal (or Command Prompt on Windows OS).
• Ensure that you've python installed on your PC.
• Clone the repository by entering the command git clone https://github.com/BolajiOlajide/HeadLineAPI in the terminal.
• Navigate to the project folder using cd HeadLineAPI on your terminal (or command prompt)
• After cloning, create a virtual environment then install the requirements with the command: pip install -r requirements.txt.
• Create a .env file in your root directory as described in .env.sample file. Variables such as DATABASE_URL and config are defined in the .env file and it is essential you create this file before running the application.

FLASK_CONFIG='default'
DATABASE_URI='database connection to be used'
SECRET_KEY='random string used for generating token'
TEST_DB='database to be used for testing'
SERVER_NAME='server in which app is being tested: `localhost:5000` works.'

- Docker Variables
DB_USER=postgres
DB_PASS=postgres
DB_SERVICE=postgres
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=postgres

• After this, you'll need to migrate data schema to the database using the command: python manage.py create_db.

Usage

• A customized interactive python shell can be accessed by passing the command python manage.py shell on your terminal.
• Once this is done, the application can be started using python manage.py runserver and by default the application can be accessed at http://127.0.0.1:5000 or gunicorn manage:app which starts the application using port 8000. The application starts using the configuration settings defined in your .env file.

Configuration

The API currently has 4 different configuration which can be defined in the .env file.

• production: this configuration starts the app ready for production to be deployed on any cloud application platform such as Heroku, AWS etc.
• development: this configuration starts the application in the development mode.
• testing: this configuration starts the application in a testing mode.
• default: this is the same as the development configuration.

API Documentation

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The API has routes, each dedicated to a single task that uses HTTP response codes to indicate API status and errors.

API Features

The following features make up the BucketList API:

Authentication

• It uses itsdangerous-Serializer & werkzeug token for authentication.

• It generates a token on successful login and returns it to the user.

• It verifies the token to ensures a user is authenticated to access protected endpoints.

Users

• It allows users to be created.

• It allows users to login and obtain a token

• It allows authenticated users to retrieve and update their information.

API Resource Endpoints

URL Prefix = http://sample_domain/ where sample domain is the root URL of the server HOST.

EndPoint	Functionality	Public Access
POST /auth/register	Register a user	TRUE
POST /auth/login	Logs a user in	TRUE

Authentication

POST HTTP Request

• POST /auth/login INPUT:

{
  "username":"username",
  "password":"password"
}

HTTP Response

• HTTP Status: 200: OK JSON data

{
  "token": "edasdnmdsakmkEcR4Ardmfsdamfkjdsjlasnfh)__QWEh"
}

POST HTTP Request

• POST /auth/register INPUT:

{
  "username":"username",
  "password":"password"
}

HTTP Response

• HTTP Status: 201: created JSON data

{
  "username": "test_user"
}

Author

• Bolaji Olajide