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Session with FastAPI Dependency

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Before we keep adding things, let's change a bit how we get the session for each request to simplify our life later.

Current Sessions

Up to now, we have been creating a session in each path operation, in a with block.

# Code above omitted 👆

@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(hero: HeroCreate):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
        session.add(db_hero)
        session.commit()
        session.refresh(db_hero)
        return db_hero

# Code below omitted 👇
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(hero: HeroCreate):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
        session.add(db_hero)
        session.commit()
        session.refresh(db_hero)
        return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(offset: int = 0, limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
        return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(hero_id: int):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
        if not hero:
            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
        return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
        if not db_hero:
            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
        hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
        db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
        session.add(db_hero)
        session.commit()
        session.refresh(db_hero)
        return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(hero_id: int):
    with Session(engine) as session:
        hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
        if not hero:
            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
        session.delete(hero)
        session.commit()
        return {"ok": True}

That's perfectly fine, but in many use cases we would want to use FastAPI Dependencies, for example to verify that the client is logged in and get the current user before executing any other code in the path operation.

These dependencies are also very useful during testing, because we can easily replace them, and then, for example, use a new database for our tests, or put some data before the tests, etc.

So, let's refactor these sessions to use FastAPI Dependencies.

Create a FastAPI Dependency

A FastAPI dependency is very simple, it's just a function that returns a value.

It could use yield instead of return, and in that case FastAPI will make sure it executes all the code after the yield, once it is done with the request.

# Code above omitted 👆

def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session

# Code below omitted 👇
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}

Use the Dependency

Now let's make FastAPI execute a dependency and get its value in the path operation.

We import Annotated from typing and Depends from fastapi. Then we declare the session parameter as Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)].

The type of the parameter is Session, and Depends(get_session) tells FastAPI to use get_session to provide its value.

from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select

# Code here omitted 👈

def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session

# Code here omitted 👈

@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero

# Code below omitted 👇
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}

The value of a dependency will only be used for one request, FastAPI will call it right before calling your code and will give you the value from that dependency.

If it had yield, then it will continue the rest of the execution once you are done sending the response. In the case of the session, it will finish the cleanup code from the with block, closing the session, etc.

Then FastAPI will call it again for the next request.

Because it is called once per request, we will still get a single session per request as we should, so we are still fine with that. ✅

And because dependencies can use yield, FastAPI will make sure to run the code after the yield once it is done, including all the cleanup code at the end of the with block. So we are also fine with that. ✅

The with Block

This means that in the main code of the path operation function, it will work equivalently to the previous version with the explicit with block.

from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select

# Code here omitted 👈

def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session

# Code here omitted 👈

@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero

# Code below omitted 👇
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}

In fact, you could think that all that block of code inside of the create_hero() function is still inside a with block for the session, because this is more or less what's happening behind the scenes.

But now, the with block is not explicitly in the function, but in the dependency above:

from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select

# Code here omitted 👈

def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session

# Code here omitted 👈

@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero

# Code below omitted 👇
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}

We will see how this is very useful when testing the code later. ✅

Update the Path Operations to Use the Dependency

Now we can update the rest of the path operations to use the new dependency.

We just declare the dependency in the parameters of the function, with:

session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)]

And then we remove the previous with block with the old session.

from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select

# Code here omitted 👈

def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session

# Code here omitted 👈

@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}
👀 Full file preview
from typing import Annotated

from fastapi import Depends, FastAPI, HTTPException, Query
from sqlmodel import Field, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select


class HeroBase(SQLModel):
    name: str = Field(index=True)
    secret_name: str
    age: int | None = Field(default=None, index=True)


class Hero(HeroBase, table=True):
    id: int | None = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)


class HeroCreate(HeroBase):
    pass


class HeroPublic(HeroBase):
    id: int


class HeroUpdate(SQLModel):
    name: str | None = None
    secret_name: str | None = None
    age: int | None = None


sqlite_file_name = "database.db"
sqlite_url = f"sqlite:///{sqlite_file_name}"

connect_args = {"check_same_thread": False}
engine = create_engine(sqlite_url, echo=True, connect_args=connect_args)


def create_db_and_tables():
    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)


def get_session():
    with Session(engine) as session:
        yield session


app = FastAPI()


@app.on_event("startup")
def on_startup():
    create_db_and_tables()


@app.post("/heroes/", response_model=HeroPublic)
def create_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero: HeroCreate):
    db_hero = Hero.model_validate(hero)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.get("/heroes/", response_model=list[HeroPublic])
def read_heroes(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)],
    offset: int = 0,
    limit: Annotated[int, Query(le=100)] = 100,
):
    heroes = session.exec(select(Hero).offset(offset).limit(limit)).all()
    return heroes


@app.get("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def read_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    return hero


@app.patch("/heroes/{hero_id}", response_model=HeroPublic)
def update_hero(
    session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int, hero: HeroUpdate
):
    db_hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not db_hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    hero_data = hero.model_dump(exclude_unset=True)
    db_hero.sqlmodel_update(hero_data)
    session.add(db_hero)
    session.commit()
    session.refresh(db_hero)
    return db_hero


@app.delete("/heroes/{hero_id}")
def delete_hero(session: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_session)], hero_id: int):
    hero = session.get(Hero, hero_id)
    if not hero:
        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Hero not found")
    session.delete(hero)
    session.commit()
    return {"ok": True}

Recap

You just learned how to use FastAPI dependencies to handle the database session. This will come in handy later when testing the code.

And you will see how much these dependencies can help the more you work with FastAPI, to handle permissions, authentication, resources like database sessions, etc. 🚀

If you want to learn more about dependencies, check out the FastAPI docs about Dependencies.