API — Installation

Local development setup for the Django API. Matches the repo README, written for this docs site.

Requirements

See Environments for default port 8000.

1. Install Docker

Ubuntu (apt)

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl enable --now docker

Allow your user to run Docker without sudo (log out and back in afterward):

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

docker --version

Windows (WSL + Docker Desktop)

  1. In PowerShell as Administrator, install WSL 2:

powershell wsl --install

  1. Install Docker Desktop for Windows. Keep the WSL 2 engine enabled.

2. Run MySQL

docker pull mysql
docker run --name mysql -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=<PASS> -p 3306:3306 -d mysql

docker ps

Keep the root password; you will reuse it in local_settings.py.

3. Database GUI (optional)

DBeaver — connect to:

Field Value
Host 127.0.0.1
Port 3306
User root
Password the MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD from the previous step

4. Create the database

docker exec -it mysql mysql -uroot -p -e "CREATE DATABASE \`resa_database\` COLLATE 'utf8_general_ci';"

CREATE DATABASE `resa_database` COLLATE 'utf8_general_ci';

The name must match NAME in config/local_settings.py.

5. Create config/local_settings.py

This file is gitignored. Django loads it for local development (see Configuration).

DEBUG = True
SECRET_KEY = "replace-with-a-long-random-string"

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.mysql",
        "NAME": "resa_database",
        "USER": "root",
        "PASSWORD": "yourpassword",
        "HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "PORT": "3306",
    }
}

Use a long random SECRET_KEY (not a production key). PASSWORD must match the MySQL root password.

Warning — do not commit secrets
Never commit config/local_settings.py or real .env files. Keep them local only.

6. Install Python

Download Python 3.14 from python.org/downloads.

On Windows, check “Add python.exe to PATH”.

On Ubuntu / WSL, install MySQL client headers for mysqlclient:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev build-essential pkg-config

python --version

7. Create a virtual environment

From the api project directory:

python -m venv venv

8. Activate the virtual environment

Windows (PowerShell):

.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Windows (CMD):

venv\Scripts\activate

macOS / Linux / WSL:

source venv/bin/activate

When active, your prompt shows a (venv) prefix.

9. Upgrade pip tooling

pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

10. Install requirements

pip install -r requirements.txt

11. Migrations

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

12. Superuser and runserver

python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000. Django reloads when you save Python files.

Point Staff/Customer VITE_API_BASE_URL at this origin when developing against your local API.

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