Per Field Permission in Django REST Framework

I had a similar problem the other day. Here is my approach:

This is a DRF 2.4 solution.

class PrivateField(serializers.Field):
    def field_to_native(self, obj, field_name):
        """
        Return null value if request has no access to that field
        """
        if obj.created_by == self.context.get('request').user:
            return super(PrivateField, self).field_to_native(obj, field_name)
        return None

#Usage
class UserInfoSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    private_field1 = PrivateField()
    private_field2 = PrivateField()

    class Meta:
        model = UserInfo

And a DRF 3.x solution:

class PrivateField(serializers.ReadOnlyField):

    def get_attribute(self, instance):
        """
        Given the *outgoing* object instance, return the primitive value
        that should be used for this field.
        """
        if instance.created_by == self.context['request'].user:
            return super(PrivateField, self).get_attribute(instance)
        return None

This time we extend ReadOnlyField only because to_representation is not implemented in the serializers.Field class.

How about switching serializer class based on user?

In documentation:

http://www.django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/generic-views/#get_serializer_classself

def get_serializer_class(self):
    if self.request.user.is_staff:
        return FullAccountSerializer
    return BasicAccountSerializer

Here:

-- models.py:

class Article(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=False)
    author = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return u"%s" % self.name

    class Meta:
        permissions = (
            # name
            ('read_name_article', "Read article's name"),
            ('change_name_article', "Change article's name"),

            # author
            ('read_author_article', "Read article's author"),
            ('change_author_article', "Change article's author"),
        )

-- serializers.py:

class ArticleSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):

    class Meta(object):
        model = Article
        fields = "__all__"

    def to_representation(self, request_data):
        # get the original representation
        ret = super(ArticleSerializer, self).to_representation(request_data)
        current_user = self.context['request'].user
        for field_name, field_value in sorted(ret.items()):
            if not current_user.has_perm(
                'app_name.read_{}_article'.format(field_name)
            ):
                ret.pop(field_name)  #  remove field if it's not permitted

        return ret

    def to_internal_value(self, request_data):
        errors = {}
        # get the original representation
        ret = super(ArticleSerializer, self).to_internal_value(request_data)
        current_user = self.context['request'].user
        for field_name, field_value in sorted(ret.items()):
            if field_value and not current_user.has_perm(
                'app_name.change_{}_article'.format(field_name)
            ):
                errors[field_name] = ["Field not allowed to change"]  # throw error if it's not permitted

        if errors:
            raise ValidationError(errors)

        return ret

I figured out a way to do it. In the serializer, I have access to both the object and the user making the API request. I can therefore check if the requestor is the owner of the object and return the private information. If they are not, the serializer will return an empty string.

class UserInfoSerializer(serializers.HyperlinkedModelSerializer):
    private_field1 = serializers.SerializerMethodField('get_private_field1')

    class Meta:
        model = UserInfo
        fields = (
            'id',
            'public_field1',
            'public_field2',
            'private_field1',
        )
        read_only_fields = ('id')

    def get_private_field1(self, obj):
        # obj.created_by is the foreign key to the user model
        if obj.created_by != self.context['request'].user:
            return ""
        else:
            return obj.private_field1