django-rest-polymorphic
Polymorphic serializers for Django REST Framework.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you are using django-polymorphic and need REST API serialization. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive MIT License, and solves a real gap in Django REST Framework's handling of model inheritance. Verify compatibility with your specific Django and Python versions before adopting.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires django, djangorestframework, and django-polymorphic to be installed and configured; models must be defined using django-polymorphic's PolymorphicModel base class.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution.
- The package is actively maintained with a recent commit in 2026, though the latest release was in 2022.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT License (permissive) — MIT License permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, requiring only license and copyright notice retention.
last release 2022-07-17 (1489 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-13 · 183 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,223,149 downloads/mo, #4,198 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install django-rest-polymorphic
from django.db import models
from polymorphic.models import PolymorphicModel
class Project(PolymorphicModel):
topic = models.CharField(max_length=30)
class ArtProject(Project):
artist = models.CharField(max_length=30)- Whether the package supports Django versions beyond 3.0 (classifiers list only 2.2 and 3.0)
- Current compatibility with modern Python versions (classifiers list up to 3.8, but latest release was 2022)
- Whether the package remains compatible with current versions of its dependencies
What it is and what it does
django-rest-polymorphic bridges django-polymorphic model hierarchies with Django REST Framework's serialization system. It lets you define separate serializers for each model in an inheritance chain, then automatically routes serialization and deserialization through the correct serializer based on the model type. When you query a polymorphic model, the response includes a resource type field that identifies which subclass each object is, and POST/PUT requests use that same field to determine which serializer to apply during deserialization.
The package handles the common pattern of REST APIs that need to work with model inheritance: a base Project model with subclasses like ArtProject and ResearchProject, each with their own fields and serialization rules. Instead of flattening the hierarchy into a single serializer, django-rest-polymorphic lets you preserve the structure and handle each type appropriately.
Use it for
- API endpoints serving inherited model hierarchies where each subclass has distinct fields and serialization requirements
- REST services that need to return mixed collections of related model types with type information for client routing
- Building polymorphic model APIs where POST/PUT requests specify the resource type to determine which serializer and model to instantiate
- Multi-tenant or plugin architectures where a base model is extended by different subclasses with type-specific logic
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you are using django-polymorphic and need REST API serialization.
The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive MIT License, and solves a real gap in Django REST Framework's handling of model inheritance. Verify compatibility with your specific Django and Python versions before adopting.
Install
django-rest-polymorphic on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. The package is actively maintained with a recent commit in 2026, though the latest release was in 2022. Depends on django, djangorestframework, django-polymorphic, and six.
Requires django, djangorestframework, and django-polymorphic to be installed and configured; models must be defined using django-polymorphic's PolymorphicModel base class.
License in practice
MIT License permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, requiring only license and copyright notice retention.
Quickstart
pip install django-rest-polymorphic
from django.db import models
from polymorphic.models import PolymorphicModel
class Project(PolymorphicModel):
topic = models.CharField(max_length=30)
class ArtProject(Project):
artist = models.CharField(max_length=30)Verify before relying
- Whether the package supports Django versions beyond 3.0 (classifiers list only 2.2 and 3.0)
- Current compatibility with modern Python versions (classifiers list up to 3.8, but latest release was 2022)
- Whether the package remains compatible with current versions of its dependencies
Package facts
| License | MIT License permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 4 packagesdjangodjangorestframeworkdjango-polymorphicsix |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1,489 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,223,149 / month, #4,198 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Framework :: DjangoFramework :: Django :: 2.2Framework :: Django :: 3.0Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPy |
Evidence: django_rest_polymorphic-0.1.10-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “polymorphic serializers django rest”
- django-rest-polymorphicProvides polymorphic serializers for Django REST Framework that map…
- rest-framework-generic-relationsProvides Django REST Framework serializers that handle Django's…
- drf-jsonschema-serializerConverts Django REST Framework serializers to JSON Schema and…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Dynamic Content packages
MarkupSafe provides a text object that escapes special characters so untrusted strings can be safely embedded in HTML and XML without injection attacks.
Jinja2 is a templating engine that renders dynamic content by combining templates with Python-like syntax and data, supporting template inheritance, macros, autoescaping, and sandboxed execution.
Soupsieve is a CSS selector library designed to work with Beautiful Soup 4 to select, match, and filter HTML and XML elements using modern CSS selectors from CSS level 1 through CSS level 4 specifications.
Install it if you use Beautiful Soup for HTML or XML parsing and want modern CSS selector support.
Werkzeug is a WSGI utility library providing request/response objects, URL routing, an interactive debugger, HTTP utilities, and a development server for building web applications.
Flask is a lightweight WSGI web application framework for building web applications in Python, from simple single-page sites to complex multi-route applications.
Mako compiles Python-embedded templates into Python modules for fast rendering, supporting layout inheritance, custom functions, and direct Python expressions within template syntax.
See also django-rest-multiple-models · rest-framework-generic-relations · drf-writable-nested · drf-extra-fields · django-typomatic · drf-nested-routers · djangorestframework · drf-dynamic-fields · djangorestframework-role-filters · drf-rw-serializers