---
id: djangorestframework-queryfields
version: "1.1.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# djangorestframework-queryfields — Serialize a partial subset of fields in the API

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 96.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package extends Django REST framework to let API clients specify which fields they want in responses using query parameters. Instead of always returning all fields, a client can request only what it needs—for example, requesting just id and username fields, or all fields except id. This reduces bandwidth and improves performance for clients working with large or deeply nested API responses.

The package integrates with Django REST framework serializers and has no runtime dependencies beyond Django and DRF themselves, making it lightweight to add to existing projects. Maintenance is dormant but the repository is not archived, with 223 GitHub stars since its 2016-10-19 release.

Use it for:

- Mobile apps requesting minimal data to reduce network traffic and battery consumption.
- Frontend applications fetching large objects but only needing specific fields for display.
- API clients with bandwidth constraints selecting only required fields to optimize payload size.
- Building flexible APIs where different clients have different field requirements without multiple endpoints.
- Debugging and testing by requesting specific fields to inspect API structure.

## Worth the install?

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

Allows Django REST framework API clients to request only specific fields in responses via query parameters, reducing payload size.

Yes, if you use Django REST framework and want to give clients control over response fields. The package is stable, has no dependencies, and solves a real bandwidth problem. The dormant maintenance status is not a blocker since the code is mature; verify compatibility with your specific Django 1.7 - 3.2+ and DRF versions before adopting.

## Install

pip install djangorestframework-queryfields
uv add djangorestframework-queryfields
poetry add djangorestframework-queryfields

## Installing djangorestframework-queryfields

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2023-11-22, over 996 days ago, though the repository remains active with recent commits and is not archived.

License in practice: MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open and proprietary projects with minimal obligations.

Quickstart:

pip install djangorestframework-queryfields

# In your Django REST framework serializer, use the package to filter fields
# Client requests: GET /users/?fields=id,username

Requires Django 1.7 - 3.2+ and Django REST framework installed separately.

Verify before relying:

- Which specific module or class name to import and use from the package.
- Current compatibility with Django versions beyond 3.2 and modern Python releases.
- Whether exclusion syntax (fields!=id) is supported or only inclusion.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 96.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

django rest api field filtering, partial response serialization, query parameter field selection, reduce api response payload, selective field serialization, sparse fields api, api response field control, django-rest-framework, api-optimization, serialization

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