Installation

Requirements

Chanx has the following dependencies:

  • Python 3.10+

  • Django 5.0+

  • Django Channels 4.0+

  • Django REST Framework 3+

  • Pydantic 2.0+

  • Structlog 23.1+

Installing Chanx

You can install Chanx from PyPI:

pip install chanx

For installations with additional features:

# Install with camelCase conversion support
pip install chanx[camel-case]

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/huynguyengl99/chanx.git
cd chanx
pip install -e .

# Or with extras
pip install -e ".[camel-case]"

Basic Setup

  1. Add necessary apps to your INSTALLED_APPS in Django settings:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'rest_framework',
    'channels',
    'chanx.playground',  # Only needed for the WebSocket playground
    # ...
]

Note

The chanx.playground app provides an interactive WebSocket testing interface. It's highly recommended for development as it allows you to explore and test your WebSocket endpoints without writing client-side code.

  1. Set up the WebSocket playground URLs:

# urls.py
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    # ...
    path('playground/', include('chanx.playground.urls')),
    # ...
]

Optional Features

Chanx offers additional features through optional dependencies:

camelCase Conversion

If you want to automatically convert message keys between snake_case (Python) and camelCase (JavaScript), you need to install the pyhumps package:

pip install chanx[camel-case]

Then enable the feature in your settings:

# settings.py
CHANX = {
    'CAMELIZE': True,
    # Other settings...
}

This will automatically convert snake_case fields to camelCase when sending to clients and convert camelCase back to snake_case when receiving from clients.

Verifying Installation

To verify that Chanx is correctly installed:

  1. Start your Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

  1. Navigate to the playground:

    http://localhost:8000/playground/websocket/

    You should see the WebSocket playground interface.

Next Steps

Now that you have Chanx installed, proceed to: