Fix: Enable API support for external clients (CORS, serialization) for browser extension

[sam22ridhi]

Hi everyone!
I’ve been building a Chrome extension for SciCommons, and while integrating it I ran into a few backend issues that needed cleanup to support external clients properly.

What I changed:

• Fixed 500 errors caused by serializers exposing protected user fields.
• Enabled CORS so browser-based tools (like the extension) can POST data safely.

How I tested this:

• Clipped an article from Nature/PubMed using the extension
• Submitted it to the backend
• Verified it appeared correctly in the Next.js frontend and django backend.

This should make the API more robust for future integrations as well.
Happy to iterate based on feedback!

Some images of clipper extension working:

• UI of clipper with automatic metadata extraction

• Articles added to frontend - connectivity working with backend

• Final result