Using create_schema

Under the hood, ModelSchema uses the create_schema function. This is a more advanced (and less safe) method - please use it carefully.

create_schema

Django Ninja comes with a helper function create_schema:

def create_schema(
    model, # django model
    name = "", # name for the generated class, if empty model names is used
    depth = 0, # if > 0 schema will also be created for the nested ForeignKeys and Many2Many (with the provided depth of lookup)
    fields: list[str] = None, # if passed - ONLY these fields will added to schema
    exclude: list[str] = None, # if passed - these fields will be excluded from schema
    optional_fields: list[str] | str = None, # if passed - these fields will not be required on schema (use '__all__' to mark ALL fields required)
    custom_fields: list[tuple(str, Any, Any)] = None, # if passed - this will override default field types (or add new fields)
)

Take this example:

from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from ninja.orm import create_schema

UserSchema = create_schema(User)

# Will create schema like this:
# 
# class UserSchema(Schema):
#     id: int
#     username: str
#     first_name: str
#     last_name: str
#     password: str
#     last_login: datetime
#     is_superuser: bool
#     email: str
#     ... and the rest

Warning

By default create_schema builds a schema with ALL model fields. This can lead to accidental unwanted data exposure (like hashed password, in the above example).
Always use fields or exclude arguments to explicitly define list of attributes.

Using fields

UserSchema = create_schema(User, fields=['id', 'username'])

# Will create schema like this:
# 
# class UserSchema(Schema):
#     id: int
#     username: str

Using exclude

UserSchema = create_schema(User, exclude=[
    'password', 'last_login', 'is_superuser', 'is_staff', 'groups', 'user_permissions']
)

# Will create schema without excluded fields:
# 
# class UserSchema(Schema):
#    id: int
#    username: str
#    first_name: str
#    last_name: str
#    email: str
#    is_active: bool
#    date_joined: datetime

Using depth

The depth argument allows you to introspect the Django model into the Related fields(ForeignKey, OneToOne, ManyToMany).

UserSchema = create_schema(User, depth=1, fields=['username', 'groups'])

# Will create the following schema:
#
# class UserSchema(Schema):
#    username: str
#    groups: List[Group]

Note here that groups became a List[Group] - many2many field introspected 1 level deeper and created schema as well for group:

class Group(Schema):
    id: int
    name: str
    permissions: List[int]