WORDS: Building a Real-Time FastAPI Website from Scratch #FastAPI #Python #valkey #Backend #API #SSE

Description

In this video, I build Words! This is a small experiment powered by FastAPI where anyone can submit a word and watch the live leaderboard change in real time. The idea is simple: users send words to the API, the backend counts them, and the site shows which words are winning. Along the way, I build the API routes, add models, move from an in-memory approach to Redis/Valkey for persistence, and wire up server-sent events (SSE) so the leaderboard updates live in the browser. This is a fun, practical FastAPI project that touches on: - FastAPI routing and project structure - Pydantic models and docs - Redis/Valkey sorted sets for ranking - Real-time updates with SSE - A simple frontend to submit words and display the leaderboard Try it here: https://words.fncy.ca The experiment is live, so go post a word and see what ends up on top. Follow me for DevOps, Backend Engineering and more projects like this.