Closes #9228: Add serialize_object() method to ChangeLoggingMixin

docs/release-notes/version-3.3.md

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 
 * [#9075](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9075) - Introduce `AbortRequest` exception for cleanly interrupting object mutations
 * [#9092](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9092) - Add support for `ObjectChildrenView` generic view
+* [#9228](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9228) - Subclasses of `ChangeLoggingMixin` can override `serialize_object()` to control JSON serialization for change logging
 * [#9414](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9414) - Add `clone()` method to NetBoxModel for copying instance attributes
 * [#9647](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9647) - Introduce `customfield_value` template tag
 

netbox/extras/webhooks.py

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import hashlib
 import hmac
-from collections import defaultdict
 
 from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
 from django.utils import timezone
@@ -27,10 +26,18 @@ def serialize_for_webhook(instance):
 
 
 def get_snapshots(instance, action):
-    return {
+    snapshots = {
         'prechange': getattr(instance, '_prechange_snapshot', None),
-        'postchange': serialize_object(instance) if action != ObjectChangeActionChoices.ACTION_DELETE else None,
+        'postchange': None,
     }
+    if action != ObjectChangeActionChoices.ACTION_DELETE:
+        # Use model's serialize() method if defined; fall back to serialize_object
+        if hasattr(instance, 'serialize_object'):
+            snapshots['postchange'] = instance.serialize_object()
+        else:
+            snapshots['postchange'] = serialize_object(instance)
+
+    return snapshots
 
 
 def generate_signature(request_body, secret):

netbox/netbox/models/features.py

@@ -49,11 +49,19 @@ class ChangeLoggingMixin(models.Model):
     class Meta:
         abstract = True
 
+    def serialize_object(self):
+        """
+        Return a JSON representation of the instance. Models can override this method to replace or extend the default
+        serialization logic provided by the `serialize_object()` utility function.
+        """
+        return serialize_object(self)
+
     def snapshot(self):
         """
-        Save a snapshot of the object's current state in preparation for modification.
+        Save a snapshot of the object's current state in preparation for modification. The snapshot is saved as
+        `_prechange_snapshot` on the instance.
         """
-        self._prechange_snapshot = serialize_object(self)
+        self._prechange_snapshot = self.serialize_object()
 
     def to_objectchange(self, action):
         """
@@ -69,7 +77,7 @@ class ChangeLoggingMixin(models.Model):
         if hasattr(self, '_prechange_snapshot'):
             objectchange.prechange_data = self._prechange_snapshot
         if action in (ObjectChangeActionChoices.ACTION_CREATE, ObjectChangeActionChoices.ACTION_UPDATE):
-            objectchange.postchange_data = serialize_object(self)
+            objectchange.postchange_data = self.serialize_object()
 
         return objectchange