This works the same way as with Pydantic models. And it is actually achieved in the same way underneath, using Pydantic.

!!! info
    Keep in mind that dataclasses can't do everything Pydantic models can do.

    So, you might still need to use Pydantic models.

    But if you have a bunch of dataclasses laying around, this is a nice trick to use them to power a web API using FastAPI. 🤓

## Dataclasses in `response_model`

## Separating tests

In a real application, you probably would have your tests in a different file.

And your **FastAPI** application might also be composed of several files/modules, etc.

### **FastAPI** app file

Let's say you have a file structure as described in [Bigger Applications](bigger-applications.md){.internal-link target=_blank}:

```
.

<img src="/img/tutorial/security/image01.png">

!!! check "Authorize button!"
    You already have a shiny new "Authorize" button.

    And your *path operation* has a little lock in the top-right corner that you can click.

And if you click it, you have a little authorization form to type a `username` and `password` (and other optional fields):

<img src="/img/tutorial/security/image02.png">

!!! note

* MySQL
* SQLite

In this example, we'll use **SQLite**, because it uses a single file and Python has integrated support. So, you can copy this example and run it as is.

Later, for your production application, you might want to use a database server like **PostgreSQL**.

!!! tip

For example, if you want to read or manipulate the request body before it is processed by your application.

!!! danger
    This is an "advanced" feature.

    If you are just starting with **FastAPI** you might want to skip this section.

## Use cases

Some use cases include:

* Converting non-JSON request bodies to JSON (e.g. <a href="https://msgpack.org/index.html" class="external-link" target="_blank">`msgpack`</a>).

Here I'm also highlighting contributions from sponsors.

    content: 'bash';
    position: absolute;
    color: var(--color-text-subtle);
    top: 5px;
    left: 0;
    width: 100%;
    text-align: center;
}

a[data-terminal-control] {
    text-align: right;
    display: block;
    color: #aebbff;
}

[data-ty] {
    display: block;
    line-height: 2;
}

[data-ty]:before {
    /* Set up defaults and ensure empty lines are displayed. */
    content: '';

In most cases you would (and should) have a "termination proxy" handling HTTPS for you on top, this will depend on how you deploy your application, your provider might do this for you, or you might need to set it up yourself.

!!! tip

And to communicate using WebSockets with your backend you would probably use your frontend's utilities.

Or you might have a native mobile application that communicates with your WebSocket backend directly, in native code.

Or you might have any other way to communicate with the WebSocket endpoint.

---

This can make it a lot easier for your users to **implement their APIs** to receive your **webhook** requests, they might even be able to autogenerate some of their own API code.

!!! info
    Webhooks are available in OpenAPI 3.1.0 and above, supported by FastAPI `0.99.0` and above.

## An app with webhooks