Different write and read operations with DRF - django

Question

I am using Django Rest Framework for a project and I am running into a problem. When the frontend creates a Team they want to reference all relationships with an ID, but when getting the Team, they want the data from the relationship. How can I achieve this?
models:
class Team(models.Model):
class Meta:
db_table = "team"
team_id = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
organization = models.ForeignKey(Organization, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
class Organization(models.Model):
class Meta:
db_table = "organization"
organization_id = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
class Position(models.Model):
class Meta:
db_table = "position"
position_id = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
team = models.ForeignKey(Team, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="positions")
class Player(model.Model):
class Meta:
db_table = "player"
player_id = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
positions = models.ManyToManyField(Position, related_name="players")
serializers:
class TeamSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Team
fields = ["team_id", "name", "organization", "positions"]
positions = PositionSerializer(many=True) # This is merely for output. There is no need to create a position when a team is created.
organization = OrganizationSerializer() # Since an organization already exists I'd like to just give an organization_id when creating/editing a team.
# I don't think the other serializers matter here but can add them on request.
So when doing POST or PATCH on a team, I'd like the front end to be able to pass this payload
{
"name": "My Team",
"organization": 1
}
but when doing a GET on a team, I'd like the front end to receive this response.
{
"team_id": 1,
"name": "My Team",
"organization": {
"organization_id": 1,
"name": "My Organization"
},
"positions": [{
"position_id": 1,
"players": [{
"player_id": 1,
"name": "Member 1"
}
]
}
Is there a a way to achieve this?

Answer 1

In such situations define two serializers, one is for read operations and one is for write operations.
class TeamWriteSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
# see, here no nested relationships...
class Meta:
model = Team
fields = ["name", "organization"]
class TeamReadSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = Team
fields = ["team_id", "name", "organization", "positions"]
positions = PositionSerializer(many=True)
organization = OrganizationSerializer()
and now, use these two serializers properly in your views. For example, I hope you are using the ModelViewSet in views,
class TeamModelViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
def get_serializer_class(self):
if self.request.method.lower() == 'get':
return TeamReadSerializer
else:
return TeamWriteSerializer