Get the Absolute URL with Domain in Django

When developing web applications, generating the full URL (including the domain) is often necessary. For instance, sending confirmation emails with links, generating sitemaps, or creating social media share links require absolute URLs. Django provides several utilities and methods to achieve this seamlessly. We'll start by setting up a Django project and then delve into the methods for obtaining absolute URLs.

Get the Full/Absolute URL (with Domain) in Django

Setting Up a Django Project

Before we can retrieve URLs, we need to set up a Django project. If you haven't already installed Django, you can do so using pip:

pip install django

Step 1: Create a Django Project

First, create a new Django project using the django-admin command:

django-admin startproject myproject

Navigate into your project directory:

cd myproject

Step 2: Create a Django App

Next, create a Django app within your project. Apps are the modular components of a Django project:

python manage.py startapp myapp

Add the newly created app to your project’s settings in myproject/settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'myapp',
]

Step 3: Define a Simple View

In myapp/views.py, define a simple view that we'll use to demonstrate how to get the full URL:

from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.urls import reverse
from django.utils.http import urlencode

def my_view(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello, world!")

Step 4: Configure URLs

Map a URL to the view you just created. In myapp/urls.py, add:

from django.urls import path
from .views import my_view

urlpatterns = [
    path('', my_view, name='my_view'),
]

Include this URL configuration in your project’s main urls.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('', include('myapp.urls')),
]

Getting the Full/Absolute URL

To obtain the full URL including the domain name, we need to utilize Django’s request object along with the build_absolute_uri method. there are mainly three methods.

1. Using request.build_absolute_uri
2. Generating Absolute URLs for Specific Paths
3. Including Query Parameters

Method 1: Using request.build_absolute_uri

The build_absolute_uri method is part of Django's HttpRequest object and is the simplest way to get the absolute URL. Modify your view to use this method:

from django.http import HttpResponse

def my_view(request):
    # Getting the absolute URL of the current request
    absolute_url = request.build_absolute_uri()
    return HttpResponse(f"Full URL: {absolute_url}")

Method 2: Generating Absolute URLs for Specific Paths

If you need to generate the absolute URL for a specific path or view, you can use reverse and build_absolute_uri together. Here's an example:

from django.urls import reverse
from django.http import HttpResponse

def my_view(request):
    relative_url = reverse('my_view')
    absolute_url = request.build_absolute_uri(relative_url)
    return HttpResponse(f"Full URL: {absolute_url}")

Method 3: Including Query Parameters

If you need to include query parameters in your URL, you can do so using the urlencode function along with reverse and build_absolute_uri:

from django.urls import reverse
from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.utils.http import urlencode

def my_view(request):
    query_params = {'key': 'value'}
    relative_url = reverse('my_view')
    url_with_params = f"{relative_url}?{urlencode(query_params)}"
    absolute_url = request.build_absolute_uri(url_with_params)
    return HttpResponse(f"Full URL with parameters: {absolute_url}")

Migrate the Django project using below command and also run the project.

python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Navigate the browser

Conclusion

Obtaining the full/absolute URL in Django is straightforward using the build_absolute_uri method. This functionality is essential for tasks such as generating links in emails, creating redirects, or integrating with external services. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily set up a Django project and leverage its built-in utilities to manage URLs effectively. With these tools at your disposal, you'll be well-equipped to handle a wide range of web development scenarios in Django.