Django custom middleware not adding custom header

Question

So I'm trying to add a custom header to every request in my Django app, I followed this question, and my setup looks like this:

middleware.py:

from django.utils.deprecation import MiddlewareMixin


class ReverseProxyLocalMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
    def process_request(self, request):
        request.META['User-Id'] = 1

settings.py:

...
MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    # 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
    'debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware',
    'myapp.middleware.ReverseProxyLocalMiddleware',
]

views.py:

class UserViewSet(
    viewsets.GenericViewSet, mixins.ListModelMixin, mixins.RetrieveModelMixin
):
    queryset = models.User.objects.all()
    serializer_class = serializers.UserSerializer

    def get_queryset(self):
        return models.User.objects.active(dt=timezone.now())

    def list(self, request):
        user_id = request.META['User-Id']
        ...

However, anytime I try and access the new header in a test I get:

    def list(self, request):
>       user_id = request.META['User-Id']
E       KeyError: 'User-Id'

Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

It was my (I'm guessing poor) understanding that this is how you added custom headers - is there another way I'm meant to do it? — Darkstarone, Dec 13 '19 at 10:40
I tried your example and it's working. Which views are you using? — funnydman, Dec 13 '19 at 10:45
It still works fine, please create a repository where the problem can be reproduced and attach a link to the question, it would be really helpful. — funnydman, Dec 13 '19 at 11:04

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 13 '19 at 11:27

Turns out Django drops the header if it's not in the HTTP_*_* format, so the middleware must look like:

from django.utils.deprecation import MiddlewareMixin


class ReverseProxyLocalMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
    def process_request(self, request, user_id=1):
        request.META['HTTP_USER_ID'] = user_id

Django custom middleware not adding custom header

1 Answers1