🛡️ API Rate Limiter

A backend Django application that implements a simple IP-based API rate limiting mechanism using a fixed time window strategy. This protects APIs from abuse or spam by throttling excessive requests from the same IP.

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🚀 Features

• Tracks API requests per IP address
• Allows configurable request limits and time windows
• Blocks requests exceeding the limit
• Sends meaningful error responses to the client
• Logs and stores request data in a SQLite database
• Unit tested using pytest
• Easily testable with Postman

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🛠️ Tech Stack

• Language: Python
• Framework: Django, Django REST Framework (DRF)
• Database: SQLite
• Testing: Pytest
• Client Testing Tool: Postman
• Version Control: Git & GitHub

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📂 Project Structure

rate_limiter_project/ │ ├── limiter/ # Django app │ ├── models.py # IPRequestLog model for tracking │ ├── views.py # Main API view with rate limiter logic │ ├── tests.py # Unit tests │ ├── urls.py # API route │ └── ... ├── rate_limiter_project/ │ └── settings.py ├── db.sqlite3 # SQLite database ├── manage.py └── README.md

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repo

git clone https://github.com/your-username/your-repo-name.git
cd your-repo-name

2. Set Up Virtual Environment (optional but recommended)
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install Dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Run Migrations
python manage.py migrate

5. Run Development Server
python manage.py runserver
The API will be available at: http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/

🧪 Running Tests

Make sure pytest is installed:

pip install pytest
Then run tests:

pytest
🧪 API Endpoint Example

POST /api/limit/
Use Postman or curl to make repeated requests. After 5 requests (default limit), further requests from the same IP will be blocked temporarily.

📌 How It Works

The user sends a request to the /api/limit/ endpoint.
The app checks how many requests this IP has made in the last N seconds.
If it's within the allowed limit, it logs the request and sends a success response.
If the limit is exceeded, it returns 429 Too Many Requests.
🧠 Concepts Used

Custom DRF views
Request throttling logic (manual)
IP extraction from headers
Query filtering with timestamps
Unit testing API views
SQLite ORM models
Serializers to control output
📄 Requirements

If you're creating requirements.txt, here’s a minimal version:

Django>=4.0
djangorestframework
pytest
👩‍💻 Author

Sri Kaaviya
GitHub: @srikaaviya

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.