Building a Dynamic Profile API with FastAPI: My HNG Stage 0 Experience

During Stage 0 of the Backend Wizards program, I built a simple yet insightful REST API endpoint called /me using FastAPI. The goal was to return my personal profile information, fetch a random cat fact from an external API, include a dynamic UTC timestamp, and format everything neatly in JSON. While it looked straightforward, it pushed me to understand key backend concepts like API integration, error handling, and deployment. I structured the project using Python, FastAPI, and the requests library, managed environment variables with python-dotenv, and deployed it seamlessly on Railway. I learned to anticipate failures from external APIs by adding try-except blocks, format timestamps in ISO 8601, and configure environment variables properly for cloud deployment. Seeing my live endpoint— https://introproj-production.up.railway.app/me
—work flawlessly was satisfying. More than just completing a task, this experience taught me how much discipline and attention to detail backend development truly demands, from clean code structure to reliable production deployment.