Setting Up Python Backends

This skill is a backend-specialized extension of setting-up-python-projects. Use it when the repo is primarily a service, API, or worker-oriented backend. Start here for backend repos, then pull generic bootstrap pieces from setting-up-python-projects as needed.

Default Approach

Choose framework weight:
- FastAPI is the default boring choice for most service APIs.
- Django is justified when auth, admin, sessions, and CRUD-heavy backend surface are obviously large from the start.
- Starlette is for deliberate thin-edge builds, not as a default.
Start with a reusable core and thin transport:
- routes, workers, schedulers, CLI hooks, and automation call the same core services
Add infrastructure only when needed:
- relational DB -> SQLAlchemy 2 + Alembic
- auth/OIDC/JWT -> Authlib
- outbound HTTP -> httpx