Let's Stop Talking. Let's Build.
Enough theory. We're building a real, production-ready FastAPI project from absolute zero.
Not a toy example. Not a template.
Timer starts now. ⏱️
📌 Source Code: github.com/getrapidkit/rapidkit-examples/tree/main/quickstart-workspace
Minute 0:00 — Prerequisites Check
You need:
• Node.js 20+
• Python 3.10+
• 5 minutes
That's it.
RapidKit handles:
• Poetry (auto-installed)
• Docker (configs provided)
• Dependencies (auto-managed)
Minute 0:30 — Create the Workspace
Workspace-based approach (recommended for multiple projects):
npx rapidkit quickstart-workspace
cd quickstart-workspace
npx rapidkit create project fastapi.standard product-api
cd product-api
What you get:
• Clean src/ architecture
• Health check endpoint
• Docker & docker-compose ready
• CI/CD templates (GitHub Actions)
• Testing setup (pytest)
• Environment management (.env.example)
• Makefile for common tasks
• Shared .venv for all workspace projects
Generated code, not templates.
Minute 1:00 — Install Dependencies
# Activate workspace environment
source .rapidkit/activate
# Initialize project
rapidkit init
What happens:
- Detects workspace environment
- Installs Poetry (if needed)
- Uses shared workspace
.venv/
- Installs all project dependencies
- Sets up pre-commit hooks
Output:
✓ Poetry detected
✓ Using workspace virtualenv
✓ Installing dependencies
✓ Project ready!
Minute 1:30 — First Run
rapidkit dev
Output:
INFO: Uvicorn running on http://127.0.0.1:8000
INFO: Application startup complete.
Open browser: http://localhost:8000/docs
You see Swagger UI with health endpoints:
• GET /health — Overall health check
• GET /api/health/livez — Liveness probe
• GET /api/health/readyz — Readiness probe
Your API is running.
Minute 2:00 — Add Essential Modules
rapidkit add module settings
rapidkit add module auth_core
rapidkit add module logging
Settings module:
• Multi-source config (.env, env vars, YAML)
• Type-safe with Pydantic
• Environment-specific overrides
Auth Core module:
• PBKDF2 password hashing
• HMAC token signing
• Secure credential management
Logging module:
• Structured JSON logs
• Request/correlation tracking
• Configurable log levels
Check health endpoints:
{
"status": "healthy",
"timestamp": "2026-02-14T...",
"modules": {
"auth_core": "healthy",
"settings": "healthy"
}
}
Minute 2:30 — Add Database
rapidkit add module db_postgres
What you get:
• Async & sync SQLAlchemy engines
• Connection pooling with configurable limits
• Health checks with connection testing
• Alembic migrations ready
• Docker Compose with Postgres service
Environment configured in .env:
RAPIDKIT_DB_POSTGRES_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/app_db
RAPIDKIT_DB_POSTGRES_TEST_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5433/app_db_test
RAPIDKIT_DB_POSTGRES_POOL_SIZE=10
RAPIDKIT_DB_POSTGRES_MAX_OVERFLOW=20
Start database:
docker-compose up -d postgres
Check health:
http://localhost:8000/api/health/module/postgres
---
## Minute 3:00 — Add Redis Caching
bash
rapidkit add module redis
**Redis features:**
• Async Redis client with connection pooling
• Automatic retry logic with exponential backoff
• Health monitoring with connection testing
• Configurable TTL and preconnection
**Environment configured in `.env`:**
bash
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_DB=0
CACHE_TTL=3600
REDIS_CONNECT_RETRIES=3
**Start Redis:**
bash
docker-compose up -d redis
**Check health:**
http://localhost:8000/api/health/module/redis
---
## Minute 3:30 — Add Security & Middleware
bash
rapidkit add module cors
rapidkit add module security_headers
rapidkit add module middleware
**CORS:**
• Whitelist origins for production
• Credential support enabled
• Preflight request handling
**Security Headers:**
• CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options configured
• Production-ready secure defaults
**Middleware:**
• Request ID tracking
• Response time recording
• Custom middleware support
**Your API now has enterprise-grade security.**
---
## Minute 4:00 — Add Deployment Config
bash
rapidkit add module deployment
**Deployment features:**
• Production-ready Dockerfile (multi-stage builds)
• Docker Compose with all services
• GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows
• Makefile with common tasks
• Health check integration
• Environment-based configuration
---
## Minute 4:30 — Run Tests
bash
rapidkit test
**Output:**
===== test session starts =====
collected 15 items
tests/test_health.py ✓✓✓✓
tests/test_auth_core.py ✓✓✓
tests/test_db.py ✓✓✓✓
tests/test_redis.py ✓✓
tests/test_integration.py ✓✓
===== 15 passed in 3.2s =====
**All modules have tests included automatically.**
---
## Minute 5:00 — Deploy
**Using Makefile commands:**
bash
Build Docker image
make docker-build
Run with docker-compose (all services)
make docker-up
Or manual Docker build
docker build -t product-api .
docker run -p 8000:8000 --env-file .env product-api
**Production deployment:**
• GitHub Actions workflows (auto-generated by deployment module)
• Multi-stage Dockerfile (optimized for production)
• Docker Compose with all services
• Health checks integrated
• Environment-based configuration
**Your API is production-ready.**
---
## ⏱️ Timer: 5:00
**What you built:**
✅ Workspace-based FastAPI project with clean architecture
✅ JWT Authentication (register, login, refresh)
✅ Database (PostgreSQL with async + sync engines)
✅ Caching (Redis with retry logic)
✅ Security (CORS + security headers)
✅ Middleware (request tracking)
✅ Logging (structured JSON with correlation IDs)
✅ Configuration (multi-source with type safety)
✅ Tests (passing with 15 test cases)
✅ Docker (production-ready multi-stage builds)
✅ CI/CD (GitHub Actions workflows)
**Lines of code written by you:** ~60 (configs)
**Lines of code generated:** ~2,500+
---
## Project Structure
quickstart-workspace/
├── .rapidkit/
│ ├── activate # Workspace activation script
│ └── .venv/ # Shared virtual environment
├── product-api/
│ ├── src/
│ │ ├── main.py # FastAPI app entrypoint
│ │ ├── cli.py # CLI commands
│ │ ├── health/ # Health check routes
│ │ ├── routing/ # API routes
│ │ └── modules/ # Installed modules
│ │ ├── settings/
│ │ ├── auth_core/
│ │ ├── db_postgres/
│ │ ├── redis/
│ │ ├── cors/
│ │ ├── security_headers/
│ │ ├── logging/
│ │ ├── deployment/
│ │ └── middleware/
│ ├── tests/ # Tests for all modules
│ ├── docker-compose.yml # Postgres + Redis services
│ ├── Dockerfile # Production multi-stage image
│ ├── pyproject.toml # Project dependencies
│ ├── .env.example # Environment template
│ └── Makefile # Common development tasks
└── README.md # Workspace documentation
**Every module:**
• Has its own directory
• Brings tests
• Updates health endpoint
• Configurable via `.env`
---
## What Makes This Different?
**Templates give you:**
• Example files
• You modify everything
• No upgrade path
**RapidKit gives you:**
• Production code
• Working integrations
• Upgradable modules
• Health checks included
• Tests included
**Key difference:**
Templates = **delete and modify**
RapidKit = **add and build**
---
## Next Steps
**Add more features:**
bash
Email sending
rapidkit add module email
Background tasks
rapidkit add module celery
File storage
rapidkit add module storage
Observability
rapidkit add module observability_core
**Each module integrates cleanly** — working together seamlessly.
---
## Troubleshooting: Health Check
**Something not working?**
bash
npx rapidkit doctor
**Checks:**
• Python version
• Poetry installation
• RapidKit Core version
• Dependencies status
**Example output:**
✅ Python: Python 3.10.19
✅ Poetry: Poetry 2.3.2
✅ pipx: pipx 1.8.0
✅ RapidKit Core: RapidKit Core 0.3.2
• Global (pipx): /home/user/.local/bin/rapidkit -> 0.3.2
✅ All required tools are installed!
**Instant diagnosis.** For detailed project checks, use `rapidkit doctor --workspace`.
---
## Try It Yourself
**Clone the example:**
bash
git clone https://github.com/getrapidkit/rapidkit-examples.git
cd rapidkit-examples/quickstart-workspace/product-api
source ../.rapidkit/activate
rapidkit init
rapidkit dev
**Or create from scratch:**
bash
time npx rapidkit create workspace my-workspace
cd my-workspace
time npx rapidkit create project fastapi.standard my-api
cd my-api
source ../.rapidkit/activate
time rapidkit init
time rapidkit dev
**Challenge:** Can you beat 5 minutes?
---
## FAQs
**Q: Is this production-ready?**
Yes. Companies use generated projects in production.
**Q: Can I customize the code?**
Yes. It's your code. Modify anything. RapidKit tracks changes and helps merge updates.
**Q: What if I add a module later?**
RapidKit integrates it cleanly, preserving your custom code.
**Q: Do I need to learn RapidKit patterns?**
No. It's **standard FastAPI code**. If you know FastAPI, you know this code.
---
## What's Next?
Next article: **"The Hidden Cost of Backend Boilerplate"** — why "just use a template" isn't good enough.
---
### Learn More
* 🌐 [getrapidkit.com](https://www.getrapidkit.com)
* 📦 [npm: rapidkit](https://www.npmjs.com/package/rapidkit)
* 🐍 [PyPI: rapidkit-core](https://pypi.org/project/rapidkit-core/)
* 🧩 [VS Code Extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rapidkit.rapidkit-vscode)
* 📂 [GitHub: rapidkit-examples](https://github.com/getrapidkit/rapidkit-examples)
---
**You just built a production-ready API in 5 minutes.**
Now go ship something.
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