Django template for the modern developer

This is a Django project template preconfigured with:

• Vital dev tools (django-debug-toolbar, django-extensions)
• Linting enforced with pre-commit hooks with ruff & Black
• Testing with pytest & pytest-cov
• Quick styling with TailwindCSS
• Assets compilation with Vite (using django-vite)
• Fast, transparent & reproducible development setup with Direnv & Devenv
• Packaging & dependency management with Nix or Poetry
• Command execution with just
• Mail preview with Mailhog
• Wagtail CMS (optional)
• Custom user model (optional)

This template allows you to get a working Django project with a reproducible dev setup in 40 seconds! See for yourself:

Usage

To create a new project using this template, you will first need to install:

• Nix
• Direnv

Once you have these tools installed, run:

nix run nixpkgs#cookiecutter gh:sephii/django-template

Make sure to initialize a git repository in your newly created project directory (cd my_project; git init; git add .), and follow the instructions in the generated README.md file.

If you plan to deploy your site on NixOS, have a look at django.nix!

How to…

Add/remove dependencies

If you’re using Poetry, make the necessary changes to pyproject.toml and run direnv reload.

If you’re using Nix packaging, make the necessary changes to requirements.nix or requirements_dev.nix (search for packages with nix search nixpkgs mypackage) and run direnv reload.

Use a specific Python version for development

Open flake.nix and change the Python package used. For example to use Python 3.11, change:

python = pkgs': pkgs'.python3;

To:

python = pkgs': pkgs'.python311;

Use a specific version of a package

If you’re using Poetry, set the version directly in pyproject.toml and run direnv reload.

If you’re using Nix packaging, set the package version in pythonPackagesExtensions in flake.nix. For example to use a specific Django version:

pythonPackagesExtensions = prev.pythonPackagesExtensions ++ [
  (python-final: python-prev: {
    # my_project = drvWithDeps ./requirements.nix;
    # my_project-dev = drvWithDeps ./requirements_dev.nix;

    django = python-prev.django_4.overridePythonAttrs (old: rec {
      version = "4.0.8";

      src = python-final.fetchPypi {
        pname = "Django";
        inherit version;
        # To get the hash, use `nix-prefetch-url` with the URL of the package on PyPI
        hash = "sha256-B+ZDPyY8ODmTnPq+ttdVeEHgQZ5HdZp7fTf21E1Arcs=";
      };
    });
  })
]

Install an NPM package

cd src/assets
npm i --save --package-lock-only mypackage
node2nix
direnv reload

You might get an error when running npm related to the presence of node_modules/.package-lock.json. If that’s the case, remove the node_modules symlink and try again.

Deploy to a NixOS server

Use the provided nixos.nix NixOS module. Here is a sample flake.nix file using the provided NixOS module:

{
  inputs.myproject.url = "github:exampleorg/exampleproject";

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, myproject }: let
    system = "x86_64-linux";
    pkgs = import nixpkgs {
      inherit system;
      overlays = [ myproject.overlays.default ];
    };
  in {
    nixosConfigurations.myserver = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      inherit system;
      modules = [
        myproject.nixosModules.default
        {
          services.myproject = {
            enable = true;
            package = pkgs.python3.pkgs.myproject;
            staticFilesPackage = pkgs.myproject-static;
            user = "myproject";
            group = "myproject";

            appServer = {
              enable = true;
            };

            webServer = {
              enable = true;
              hostName = "www.example.com";
            };

            environmentFiles = [
              # Use a secure way to create a file with your database url and secret key, eg. https://github.com/ryantm/agenix
            ];
          };

          services.postgresql = {
            enable = true;
            ensureDatabases = [ "myproject" ];
            ensureUsers = [{ name = "myproject"; ensurePermissions = { "DATABASE myproject" = "ALL PRIVILEGES"; }; }];
          };
        }
      ];
    };
  };
}