---
id: djangorestframework-filters
version: "0.11.1"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# djangorestframework-filters — Better filtering for Django REST Framework

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 347.8K/mo

## What it is and what it does

djangorestframework-filters is an extension to Django REST Framework and django-filter that simplifies filtering across model relationships in API endpoints. Instead of writing complex query logic, you can traverse foreign keys and reverse relations using double-underscore syntax (e.g., `/api/articles?author__first_name__icontains=john`) and apply exclusion filters with a `!=` operator. The package wraps FilterSet and provides a DRF-compatible backend.

The package's main appeal is relationship traversal and method-based filtering, though the description notes that many of its original features have been merged back into django-filter itself. It depends on both djangorestframework and django-filter as runtime dependencies. The codebase is dormant—no releases since 2019-03-21 and last activity in 2023-11-25—so it is stable but receives no active maintenance or updates for newer versions.

Use it for:

- Filter API results by nested model fields without writing custom filter logic (e.g., find articles by author's first name).
- Build exclusion filters using `!=` syntax to exclude records matching a condition in a single query parameter.
- Traverse multiple relationship levels in a single filter call (e.g., company → department → manager).
- Support method-based filtering across relationships, allowing custom logic to apply to related querysets.
- Restrict related object querysets dynamically based on request context (e.g., show only departments in the user's company).

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Extends Django REST Framework with advanced filtering capabilities, enabling you to filter API results across model relationships and apply negation syntax like `param!=value`.

Yes, if you are using Django and DRF versions from the 2015–2019 era and need relationship-aware filtering without custom code. No, if you are on modern Django/DRF versions—compatibility is unverified, the package is dormant, and django-filter itself has absorbed many of the original features. Check whether django-filter's current capabilities meet your needs before adopting this package.

## Install

pip install djangorestframework-filters
uv add djangorestframework-filters
poetry add djangorestframework-filters

## Installing djangorestframework-filters

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2019-03-21 and last commit 2023-11-25—so expect no active bug fixes or feature development, though the package remains stable for existing Django/DRF versions it targets.

License in practice: MIT license (permissive) means you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install djangorestframework-filters

from djangorestframework_filters import FilterSet

class ProductFilter(FilterSet):
    class Meta:
        model = Product
        fields = {'name': ['exact', 'icontains']}

# In Django settings:
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    'DEFAULT_FILTER_BACKENDS': (
        'rest_framework_filters.backends.DjangoFilterBackend',
    ),
}

Requires djangorestframework and django-filter to be installed; package is dormant and targets older Django/DRF versions, so compatibility with modern versions is unverified.

Verify before relying:

- Compatibility with Django and DRF versions released after 2019.
- Whether the package's features have been superseded by django-filter or djangorestframework since 2019.
- Active maintenance or community support status beyond the last commit date.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 347.8K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

django rest framework filtering, filter across relationships django, drf advanced filtering, django api query filtering, relationship filtering rest api, django filter negation, rest framework filter backend, django-rest-framework, filtering, query-builder

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