[Django]-Custom unauthorized error response in DRF

You can create a custom EXCEPTION_HANDLER function as,

from rest_framework.views import exception_handler
from rest_framework.exceptions import NotAuthenticated
from rest_framework.response import Response


def custom_exception_handler(exc, context):
    if isinstance(exc, NotAuthenticated):
        return Response({"custom_key": "custom message"}, status=401)

    # else
    # default case
    return exception_handler(exc, context)

and then, wire-up this new custom function in your settings as,

REST_FRAMEWORK = {
    # other settings
    "EXCEPTION_HANDLER": "dotted.path.to.the.custom.function"

}

and thus, you’ll get a result as below,