Django Session Persistence Issues in API Views

Based on your code, there are several potential reasons why your session data isn't persisting between requests. Let's address the most common issues:

1. Session Middleware Configuration

Ensure you have the session middleware properly configured in your INSTALLED_APPS and MIDDLEWARE settings:

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INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    # ...
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    # ...
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    # ...
]

2. Session Modification Flag

Django only saves session data when it detects that the session has been modified. In your code, you're setting values directly which should trigger this, but you can explicitly mark the session as modified:

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request.session['user'] = userResponse.usuario
request.session['role'] = userResponse.rol_id
request.session.modified = True

3. Session Save Issue

Make sure the session is being saved. You can force Django to save the session on every request by adding this to your settings:

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SESSION_SAVE_EVERY_REQUEST = True

4. API Authentication and CSRF

If you're using Django REST Framework with API views, be aware that sessions might not work as expected if:

• You're not including session cookies in your API requests
• CSRF protection is interfering with your requests

5. Nested Dictionary Modification

If you were modifying nested dictionaries in the session, Django wouldn't detect those changes automatically:

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# This would NOT be detected as a modification
request.session['user_data']['role'] = role_id

But in your case, you're setting top-level keys which should work.

6. Database Session Backend

Since you're using the database backend, make sure you've:

1. Added 'django.contrib.sessions' to INSTALLED_APPS
2. Run migrations to create the session table: python manage.py migrate

7. Debug Session Data

Add more debugging to see what's happening with your session:

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def check_user_exists(request):
    # Your existing code...
    
    # Add this before setting session values
    print("Session before:", request.session.items())
    print("Session key:", request.session.session_key)
    
    # Set session values
    request.session['user'] = userResponse.usuario
    request.session['role'] = userResponse.rol_id
    
    # Add this after setting session values
    print("Session after:", request.session.items())
    print("Session key:", request.session.session_key)

8. Client-Side Cookie Handling

Ensure your client (browser or API client) is properly storing and sending the session cookie with each request. Check your browser's developer tools or API client settings.

If you're testing with tools like Postman, make sure you have cookies enabled and preserved between requests.