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`

    ```

Notice that we declare the type of `current_user` as the Pydantic model `User`.

This will help us inside of the function with all the completion and type checks.

!!! tip
    You might remember that request bodies are also declared with Pydantic models.

    Here **FastAPI** won't get confused because you are using `Depends`.

!!! check

## 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

.termynal-comment {
  color: #4a968f;
  font-style: italic;
  display: block;
}

.termy {
  /* For right to left languages */
  direction: ltr;
}

.termy [data-termynal] {
  white-space: pre-wrap;
}

a.external-link {
  /* For right to left languages */
  direction: ltr;
  display: inline-block;
}

a.external-link::after {
  /* \00A0 is a non-breaking space

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>).

The analogy in **MongoDB** would be a "collection".

In the code, a `Bucket` represents the main entrypoint of communication with the database.

This utility function will:

* Connect to a **Couchbase** cluster (that might be a single machine).
    * Set defaults for timeouts.
* Authenticate in the cluster.
* Get a `Bucket` instance.
    * Set defaults for timeouts.
* Return it.

```Python hl_lines="12-21"

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: '';