A production-ready authentication starter with Django REST Framework and React. JWT authentication, email verification, password reset - all wired up and ready to go.

Full Tutorial: Read the blog post

• JWT authentication with automatic token refresh & rotation
• Email verification flow
• Password reset with secure tokens
• Custom User model (UUID primary key, email-based login)
• Protected & guest route guards
• Rate limiting & production security headers
• Swagger/ReDoc API documentation

Backend: Django 5.2, Django REST Framework, SimpleJWT, Djoser, PostgreSQL

Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Vite, TanStack Query, Axios, Tailwind CSS, Radix UI

cd api
python -m venv .venv # Windows
.venv\Scripts\activate # Mac/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

pip install -r requirements/dev.txt
cp .env.example .env
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Backend runs at http://localhost:8000

cd web
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run dev

Frontend runs at http://localhost:5173

Both servers need to run simultaneously. CORS is pre-configured.

Available in development mode:

django-react-auth-starter/
├── api/                    # Django backend
│   ├── accounts/           # User model, serializers, emails
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── settings/
│   │       ├── base.py
│   │       ├── development.py
│   │       └── production.py
│   └── requirements/
└── web/                    # React frontend
    └── src/
        ├── components/auth/    # ProtectedRoute, GuestRoute
        ├── context/            # AuthContext
        ├── hooks/              # useAuth, useAuthMutations
        ├── lib/                # API client, auth API
        └── pages/auth/         # Login, Signup, etc.

For a complete production deployment guide with Docker, Nginx, and free SSL, check out: Deploy Django REST Framework to Production

MIT

Manish Bhusal - @maniishbhusal