Pagination and Search

Goal

This snapshot advances Rivermouth Dispatch by teaching you to paginate the feed and search post text.

Every numbered folder is a complete app. Run this stage independently, then compare it with the previous folder.

Prerequisites

Use Python 3.11+, a terminal, and Docker for Postgres stages. You should recognize functions, modules, and HTTP verbs.

Port 8001 must be free. Copy .env.example before starting database stages.

• Python 3 and pip/venv
• A code editor and terminal
• Docker from part 4 onward

Concepts

Pagination bounds work per page. Search filters with ILIKE (or equivalent) before counting and slicing.

Keep request handling thin: routes accept input, services/models enforce rules, and Jinja templates escape output by default.

Walkthrough

Use page size 5, compute total pages, and accept a q query parameter.

Read the example, then open the matching snapshot. The repository includes the surrounding setup and error handling.

page_size = 5
pages = max(1, (total + page_size - 1) // page_size)

Run and verify

Enter 10-Pagination-And-Search, create a virtualenv, install requirements, copy .env.example when present, and start Uvicorn on port 8001.

Open http://127.0.0.1:8001. Watch the terminal for validation and database errors.

docker compose up -d
git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-fastapi-blog.git
cd fcc-fastapi-blog/10-Pagination-And-Search
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env
uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8001

Troubleshooting

Off-by-one errors often come from mixing 0-based offsets with 1-based page numbers.

Import errors usually mean the virtualenv is inactive or you installed packages in another snapshot. For Postgres failures, confirm Docker and the rivermouth_NN database name.

• Read the first error first
• Restart after environment changes
• Never commit .env or .venv

Try this

Search for ownership and confirm matching cards.

Test a happy path and one invalid or unauthorized request.

• Make one small change
• Test it in the browser
• Compare with the next snapshot only after it works