Aiohttp tutorial¶

This tutorial shows how to build an aiohttp REST API application following the dependency injection principle.

Start from the scratch or jump to the section:

You can find complete project on the Github.

What are we going to build?¶

https://media.giphy.com/media/apvx5lPCPsjN6/source.gif

We will build a REST API application that searches for funny GIFs on the Giphy. Let’s call it Giphy Navigator.

How does Giphy Navigator work?

Client sends a request specifying the search query and the number of results.
Giphy Navigator returns a response in json format.
The response contains:
- the search query
- the limit number
- the list of gif urls

Example response:

{
    "query": "Dependency Injector",
    "limit": 10,
    "gifs": [
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/boxes-dependent-swbf2-6Eo7KzABxgJMY"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/depends-J56qCcOhk6hKE"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/web-series-ccstudios-bro-dependent-1lhU8KAVwmVVu"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/TheBoysTV-friends-friend-weneedeachother-XxR9qcIwcf5Jq404Sx"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/netflix-a-series-of-unfortunate-events-asoue-9rgeQXbwoK53pcxn7f"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-sad-skins-Hs4YzLs2zJuLu"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/always-there-for-you-i-am-here-PlayjhCco9jHBYrd9w"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/stream-famous-dollar-YT2dvOByEwXCdoYiA1"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/i-love-you-there-for-am-1BhGzgpZXYWwWMAGB1"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/life-like-twerk-9hlnWxjHqmH28"
        }
    ]
}

The task is naive and that’s exactly what we need for the tutorial.

Prepare the environment¶

Let’s create the environment for the project.

First we need to create a project folder:

mkdir giphynav-aiohttp-tutorial
cd giphynav-aiohttp-tutorial

Now let’s create and activate virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv
. venv/bin/activate

Environment is ready and now we’re going to create the layout of the project.

Project layout¶

Create next structure in the current directory. All files should be empty. That’s ok for now.

Initial project layout:

./
├── giphynavigator/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── application.py
│   ├── containers.py
│   └── handlers.py
├── venv/
└── requirements.txt

Install the requirements¶

Now it’s time to install the project requirements. We will use next packages:

dependency-injector - the dependency injection framework
aiohttp - the web framework
pyyaml - the YAML files parsing library, used for the reading of the configuration files
pytest-aiohttp - the helper library for the testing of the aiohttp application
pytest-cov - the helper library for measuring the test coverage

Put next lines into the requirements.txt file:

dependency-injector
aiohttp
pyyaml
pytest-aiohttp
pytest-cov

and run next in the terminal:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Let’s also install the httpie. It is a user-friendly command-line HTTP client for the API era. We will use it for the manual testing.

Run the command in the terminal:

pip install httpie

The requirements are setup. Now we will build a minimal application.

Minimal application¶

In this section we will build a minimal application. It will have an endpoint that will answer our requests in json format. There will be no payload for now.

Edit handlers.py:

"""Handlers module."""

from aiohttp import web


async def index(request: web.Request) -> web.Response:
    query = request.query.get("query", "Dependency Injector")
    limit = int(request.query.get("limit", 10))

    gifs = []

    return web.json_response(
        {
            "query": query,
            "limit": limit,
            "gifs": gifs,
        },
    )

Now let’s create a container. Container will keep all of the application components and their dependencies.

Edit containers.py:

"""Containers module."""

from dependency_injector import containers

class Container(containers.DeclarativeContainer):
    ...

Container is empty for now. We will add the providers in the following sections.

Finally we need to create aiohttp application factory. It will create and configure container and web.Application. It is traditionally called create_app(). We will assign index handler to handle user requests to the root / of our web application.

Put next into the application.py:

"""Application module."""

from aiohttp import web

from .containers import Container
from . import handlers


def create_app() -> web.Application:
    container = Container()

    app = web.Application()
    app.container = container
    app.add_routes([
        web.get("/", handlers.index),
    ])
    return app


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = create_app()
    web.run_app(app)

Now we’re ready to run our application

Do next in the terminal:

python -m giphynavigator.application

The output should be something like:

======== Running on http://0.0.0.0:8080 ========
(Press CTRL+C to quit)

Let’s check that it works. Open another terminal session and use httpie:

http http://0.0.0.0:8080/

You should see:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Length: 844
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 21:01:50 GMT
Server: Python/3.10 aiohttp/3.6.2

{
    "gifs": [],
    "limit": 10,
    "query": "Dependency Injector"
}

Minimal application is ready. Let’s connect our application with the Giphy API.

Giphy API client¶

In this section we will integrate our application with the Giphy API.

We will create our own API client using aiohttp client.

Create giphy.py module in the giphynavigator package:

./
├── giphynavigator/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── application.py
│   ├── containers.py
│   ├── giphy.py
│   └── handlers.py
├── venv/
└── requirements.txt

and put next into it:

"""Giphy client module."""

from aiohttp import ClientSession, ClientTimeout


class GiphyClient:

    API_URL = "https://api.giphy.com/v1"

    def __init__(self, api_key, timeout):
        self._api_key = api_key
        self._timeout = ClientTimeout(timeout)

    async def search(self, query, limit):
        """Make search API call and return result."""
        url = f"{self.API_URL}/gifs/search"
        params = {
            "q": query,
            "api_key": self._api_key,
            "limit": limit,
        }
        async with ClientSession(timeout=self._timeout) as session:
            async with session.get(url, params=params) as response:
                if response.status != 200:
                    response.raise_for_status()
                return await response.json()

Now we need to add GiphyClient into the container. The GiphyClient has two dependencies that have to be injected: the API key and the request timeout. We will need to use two more providers from the dependency_injector.providers module:

Factory provider. It will create a GiphyClient client.
Configuration provider. It will provide an API key and a request timeout for the GiphyClient client. We will specify the location of the configuration file. The configuration provider will parse the configuration file when we create a container instance.

Edit containers.py:

"""Containers module."""

from dependency_injector import containers, providers

from . import giphy


class Container(containers.DeclarativeContainer):

    config = providers.Configuration(yaml_files=["config.yml"])

    giphy_client = providers.Factory(
        giphy.GiphyClient,
        api_key=config.giphy.api_key,
        timeout=config.giphy.request_timeout,
    )

Now let’s add the configuration file. We will use YAML. Create an empty file config.yml in the root root of the project:

./
├── giphynavigator/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── application.py
│   ├── containers.py
│   ├── giphy.py
│   └── handlers.py
├── venv/
├── config.yml
└── requirements.txt

and put next into it:

giphy:
  request_timeout: 10

We will use the GIPHY_API_KEY environment variable to provide the API key. Let’s edit create_app() to fetch the key value from it.

Edit application.py:

"""Application module."""

from aiohttp import web

from .containers import Container
from . import handlers


def create_app() -> web.Application:
    container = Container()
    container.config.giphy.api_key.from_env("GIPHY_API_KEY")

    app = web.Application()
    app.container = container
    app.add_routes([
        web.get("/", handlers.index),
    ])
    return app


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = create_app()
    web.run_app(app)

Now we need to create an API key and set it to the environment variable.

As for now, don’t worry, just take this one:

export GIPHY_API_KEY=wBJ2wZG7SRqfrU9nPgPiWvORmloDyuL0

Note

To create your own Giphy API key follow this guide.

The Giphy API client and the configuration setup is done. Let’s proceed to the search service.

Search service¶

Now it’s time to add the SearchService. It will:

Perform the search.
Format result data.

SearchService will use GiphyClient.

Create services.py module in the giphynavigator package:

./
├── giphynavigator/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── application.py
│   ├── containers.py
│   ├── giphy.py
│   ├── handlers.py
│   └── services.py
├── venv/
├── config.yml
└── requirements.txt

and put next into it:

"""Services module."""

from .giphy import GiphyClient


class SearchService:

    def __init__(self, giphy_client: GiphyClient):
        self._giphy_client = giphy_client

    async def search(self, query, limit):
        """Search for gifs and return formatted data."""
        if not query:
            return []

        result = await self._giphy_client.search(query, limit)

        return [{"url": gif["url"]} for gif in result["data"]]

The SearchService has a dependency on the GiphyClient. This dependency will be injected when we add SearchService to the container.

Edit containers.py:

"""Containers module."""

from dependency_injector import containers, providers

from . import giphy, services


class Container(containers.DeclarativeContainer):

    config = providers.Configuration(yaml_files=["config.yml"])

    giphy_client = providers.Factory(
        giphy.GiphyClient,
        api_key=config.giphy.api_key,
        timeout=config.giphy.request_timeout,
    )

    search_service = providers.Factory(
        services.SearchService,
        giphy_client=giphy_client,
    )

The search service is ready. In next section we’re going to put it to work.

Make the search work¶

Now we are ready to put the search into work. Let’s inject SearchService into the index handler. We will use Wiring feature.

Edit handlers.py:

"""Handlers module."""

from aiohttp import web
from dependency_injector.wiring import Provide, inject

from .services import SearchService
from .containers import Container


@inject
async def index(
        request: web.Request,
        search_service: SearchService = Provide[Container.search_service],
) -> web.Response:
    query = request.query.get("query", "Dependency Injector")
    limit = int(request.query.get("limit", 10))

    gifs = await search_service.search(query, limit)

    return web.json_response(
        {
            "query": query,
            "limit": limit,
            "gifs": gifs,
        },
    )

To make the injection work we need to wire the container with the handlers module. Let’s configure the container to automatically make wiring with the handlers module when we create a container instance.

Edit containers.py:

"""Containers module."""

from dependency_injector import containers, providers

from . import giphy, services


class Container(containers.DeclarativeContainer):

    wiring_config = containers.WiringConfiguration(modules=[".handlers"])

    config = providers.Configuration(yaml_files=["config.yml"])

    giphy_client = providers.Factory(
        giphy.GiphyClient,
        api_key=config.giphy.api_key,
        timeout=config.giphy.request_timeout,
    )

    search_service = providers.Factory(
        services.SearchService,
        giphy_client=giphy_client,
    )

Make sure the app is running:

python -m giphynavigator.application

and make a request to the API in the terminal:

http http://0.0.0.0:8080/ query=="wow,it works" limit==5

You should see:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Length: 492
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 2020 01:35:48 GMT
Server: Python/3.10 aiohttp/3.6.2

{
    "gifs": [
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/dollyparton-3xIVVMnZfG3KQ9v4Ye"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/tennistv-unbelievable-disbelief-cant-believe-UWWJnhHHbpGvZOapEh"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/discoverychannel-nugget-gold-rush-rick-ness-KGGPIlnC4hr4u2s3pY"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/soulpancake-wow-work-xUe4HVXTPi0wQ2OAJC"
        },
        {
            "url": "https://giphy.com/gifs/readingrainbow-teamwork-levar-burton-reading-rainbow-3o7qE1EaTWLQGDSabK"
        }
    ],
    "limit": 5,
    "query": "wow,it works"
}

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oxHQCI8tKXoeW4IBq/source.gif

The search works!

Make some refactoring¶

Our index handler has two hardcoded config values:

Default search query
Default results limit

Let’s make some refactoring. We will move these values to the config.

Edit handlers.py:

"""Handlers module."""

from aiohttp import web
from dependency_injector.wiring import Provide, inject

from .services import SearchService
from .containers import Container


@inject
async def index(
        request: web.Request,
        search_service: SearchService = Provide[Container.search_service],
        default_query: str = Provide[Container.config.default.query],
        default_limit: int = Provide[Container.config.default.limit.as_int()],
) -> web.Response:
    query = request.query.get("query", default_query)
    limit = int(request.query.get("limit", default_limit))

    gifs = await search_service.search(query, limit)

    return web.json_response(
        {
            "query": query,
            "limit": limit,
            "gifs": gifs,
        },
    )

Let’s update the config.

Edit config.yml:

giphy:
  request_timeout: 10
default:
  query: "Dependency Injector"
  limit: 10

The refactoring is done. We’ve made it cleaner - hardcoded values are now moved to the config.

Tests¶

In this section we will add some tests.

Create tests.py module in the giphynavigator package:

./
├── giphynavigator/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── application.py
│   ├── containers.py
│   ├── giphy.py
│   ├── handlers.py
│   ├── services.py
│   └── tests.py
├── venv/
├── config.yml
└── requirements.txt

and put next into it:

"""Tests module."""

from unittest import mock

import pytest

from giphynavigator.application import create_app
from giphynavigator.giphy import GiphyClient


@pytest.fixture
def app():
    app = create_app()
    yield app
    app.container.unwire()


@pytest.fixture
def client(app, aiohttp_client, loop):
    return loop.run_until_complete(aiohttp_client(app))


async def test_index(client, app):
    giphy_client_mock = mock.AsyncMock(spec=GiphyClient)
    giphy_client_mock.search.return_value = {
        "data": [
            {"url": "https://giphy.com/gif1.gif"},
            {"url": "https://giphy.com/gif2.gif"},
        ],
    }

    with app.container.giphy_client.override(giphy_client_mock):
        response = await client.get(
            "/",
            params={
                "query": "test",
                "limit": 10,
            },
        )

    assert response.status == 200
    data = await response.json()
    assert data == {
        "query": "test",
        "limit": 10,
        "gifs": [
            {"url": "https://giphy.com/gif1.gif"},
            {"url": "https://giphy.com/gif2.gif"},
        ],
    }


async def test_index_no_data(client, app):
    giphy_client_mock = mock.AsyncMock(spec=GiphyClient)
    giphy_client_mock.search.return_value = {
        "data": [],
    }

    with app.container.giphy_client.override(giphy_client_mock):
        response = await client.get("/")

    assert response.status == 200
    data = await response.json()
    assert data["gifs"] == []


async def test_index_default_params(client, app):
    giphy_client_mock = mock.AsyncMock(spec=GiphyClient)
    giphy_client_mock.search.return_value = {
        "data": [],
    }

    with app.container.giphy_client.override(giphy_client_mock):
        response = await client.get("/")

    assert response.status == 200
    data = await response.json()
    assert data["query"] == app.container.config.default.query()
    assert data["limit"] == app.container.config.default.limit()

Now let’s run it and check the coverage:

py.test giphynavigator/tests.py --cov=giphynavigator

You should see:

platform darwin -- Python 3.10.0, pytest-6.2.5, py-1.10.0, pluggy-1.0.0
plugins: asyncio-0.16.0, anyio-3.3.4, aiohttp-0.3.0, cov-3.0.0
collected 3 items

giphynavigator/tests.py ...                                     [100%]

---------- coverage: platform darwin, python 3.10.0-final-0 ----------
Name                            Stmts   Miss  Cover
---------------------------------------------------
giphynavigator/__init__.py          0      0   100%
giphynavigator/application.py      13      2    85%
giphynavigator/containers.py        7      0   100%
giphynavigator/giphy.py            14      9    36%
giphynavigator/handlers.py         10      0   100%
giphynavigator/services.py          9      1    89%
giphynavigator/tests.py            37      0   100%
---------------------------------------------------
TOTAL                              90     12    87%

Note

Take a look at the highlights in the tests.py.

It emphasizes the overriding of the GiphyClient. The real API call are mocked.

Conclusion¶

In this tutorial we’ve built an aiohttp REST API application following the dependency injection principle. We’ve used the Dependency Injector as a dependency injection framework.

Containers and Providers helped to specify how to assemble search service and giphy client.

Configuration provider helped to deal with reading YAML file and environment variable.

We used Wiring feature to inject the dependencies into the index() handler. Provider overriding feature helped in testing.

We kept all the dependencies injected explicitly. This will help when you need to add or change something in future.

You can find complete project on the Github.

What’s next?

Look at the other Tutorials
Know more about the Providers
Go to the Contents

Sponsor the project on GitHub:

Aiohttp tutorial¶

What are we going to build?¶

Prepare the environment¶

Project layout¶

Install the requirements¶

Minimal application¶

Giphy API client¶

Search service¶

Make the search work¶

Make some refactoring¶

Tests¶

Conclusion¶

Navigation

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