Rasmussen

Production-ready API server from YAML configuration

Rasmussen transforms simple YAML configurations into powerful, fully-functional REST APIs with custom actions, authentication, and realistic data. Perfect for rapid API development, prototyping, and production applications.

What It Does

Instead of writing hundreds of lines of boilerplate code, you define your API structure in YAML and Rasmussen generates a complete REST API with:

• Zero Configuration Setup - From YAML to running API in seconds
• Custom Actions - Define business logic with increment, update, and custom operations
• Built-in Authentication - Token-based auth with user management
• Realistic Data - Auto-generated data using Faker
• Production-grade APIs - Full REST API with pagination, filtering, and validation

Key Features

YAML-Driven Configuration

 1models:
 2  Post:
 3    fields:
 4      title: str faker=catch_phrase
 5      content: text faker=text:max_nb_chars=1000
 6      published: bool default=false
 7      likes: int default=0
 8    actions:
 9      like:
10        methods: [POST]
11        increment: likes
12        amount: 1

Custom Business Logic

Define actions like “like a post”, “publish an article”, or “feature an item” directly in YAML. Rasmussen automatically generates the endpoints and handles the logic.

Built-in Authentication

1auth:
2  enabled: true
3  mode: token
4  identifier_field: email

CLI Interface

1rasmussen init --template blog    # Create new project
2rasmussen build                   # Build database & models
3rasmussen start                   # Start development server

Technology Stack

• Python - Core language
• Django REST Framework - API framework
• YAML - Configuration format
• SQLite/PostgreSQL - Database backends
• Faker - Data generation

Why I Built This

API development often involves writing repetitive boilerplate code. Rasmussen eliminates that by letting you define your API structure in YAML and instantly get a working, production-ready API server.

Perfect for:

• Rapid API development and prototyping
• Simple production applications
• API design and testing
• Demo applications
• Low-code platform backends

Current Status

• ✅ 100% test coverage
• ✅ Production-ready with comprehensive validation
• ✅ Multiple templates (blog, ecommerce, simple)
• ✅ Custom actions and authentication
• ✅ CLI interface
• 🔄 Active development and improvements

This is one of those “scratch your own itch” projects that turned into something genuinely useful for real applications.