Why Use Views for REST APIs?

Drupal’s Views module can generate REST endpoints visually, saving hours of development time. Ideal for:

• Headless Drupal setups
• Mobile apps
• Third-party integrations

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 1: "Diagram: Drupal Views → JSON API → Mobile App"]

Step 1: Enable Required Modules

drush pm:install views views_ui rest basic_auth

Note: Drupal 10 includes REST module by default.

Step 2: Create a REST View

1. Go to Structure → Views → Add new view.
2. Configure:
   • View name: Articles API
   • Show: Content of type Article
   • REST export: Check this option

   • Path: /api/articles

      

Image

Step 3: Customize the Output

• Fields: Add title, body, image (ensure fields are exposed in REST)
• Format: Serializer (JSON/XML)
• Authentication: Enable Basic Auth for security

# Example JSON output:
{
  "title": "Hello World",
  "body": "Lorem ipsum...",
  "image": "https://example.com/sample.jpg"
}

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 3: "Postman screenshot testing the API endpoint"]

Step 4: Set Permissions

Go to People → Permissions:

• Enable Access GET on Content Resource for anonymous/authenticated users.

Advanced Tips

• Pagination: Add page parameter to the URL (/api/articles?page=2).
• Filters: Expose filters like ?type=article.
• Caching: Use HTTP Cache headers for performance.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER 4: "Performance waterfall chart with/without caching"]