Cheatsheets / Django

Django Cheatsheet

Complete Django reference. Hit Ctrl+P to print.

manage.py Commands

python manage.py runserverStart development server (port 8000)

python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8080Start server on custom host/port

python manage.py startproject mysiteCreate a new Django project

python manage.py startapp blogCreate a new app within the project

python manage.py makemigrationsGenerate migration files from model changes

python manage.py migrateApply pending migrations

python manage.py migrate app 0003Migrate app to specific migration

python manage.py showmigrationsList all migrations and their status

python manage.py createsuperuserCreate admin user interactively

python manage.py shellInteractive Python shell in project context

python manage.py dbshellOpen database CLI

python manage.py testRun test suite

python manage.py test blog.tests.PostTestsRun specific test class

python manage.py collectstaticCollect static files to STATIC_ROOT

python manage.py checkCheck project for common problems

python manage.py flushDelete all data from database

python manage.py loaddata fixtures.jsonLoad data from fixture file

python manage.py dumpdata blog > fixtures.jsonExport app data to fixture

Models

from django.db import modelsImport models module

class Post(models.Model):Define a model

title = models.CharField(max_length=200)String field with max length

body = models.TextField()Unbounded text field

created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)Auto-set timestamp on create

updated = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)Auto-set timestamp on save

active = models.BooleanField(default=True)Boolean field with default

user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)Foreign key with cascade delete

tags = models.ManyToManyField(Tag, blank=True)Many-to-many relationship

profile = models.OneToOneField(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)One-to-one relationship

class Meta: ordering = ["-created"]Default ordering for queries

def __str__(self): return self.titleString representation

def get_absolute_url(self): return reverse("post-detail", args=[self.pk])Canonical URL for model

ORM Queries

Post.objects.all()Get all records (returns QuerySet)

Post.objects.get(pk=1)Get single record (raises DoesNotExist if not found)

Post.objects.filter(active=True)Filter records

Post.objects.filter(title__icontains="django")Case-insensitive contains lookup

Post.objects.filter(created__year=2024)Date field lookup

Post.objects.exclude(active=False)Exclude matching records

Post.objects.order_by("-created")Order descending by field

Post.objects.values("id", "title")Return dicts instead of model instances

Post.objects.values_list("id", flat=True)Return list of single field values

Post.objects.count()Count matching records

Post.objects.first() / .last()Get first or last record

Post.objects.exists()Check if any matching records exist

Post.objects.select_related("user")JOIN for ForeignKey (avoids N+1)

Post.objects.prefetch_related("tags")Prefetch for ManyToMany (avoids N+1)

Post.objects.create(title="Hello")Create and save new record

Post.objects.get_or_create(slug="hello", defaults={"title": "Hello"})Get or create record

Post.objects.update_or_create(slug="hello", defaults={"title": "Hello"})Update or create record

Post.objects.filter(active=True).update(views=0)Bulk update

Post.objects.filter(active=False).delete()Bulk delete

from django.db.models import Q; Post.objects.filter(Q(title="x") | Q(body="x"))OR query with Q objects

Views

from django.shortcuts import render, get_object_or_404, redirectCommon view imports

def post_list(request): return render(request, "blog/list.html", {"posts": posts})Function-based view

get_object_or_404(Post, pk=pk)Get or raise Http404

return redirect("post-list")Redirect by URL name

return redirect(post.get_absolute_url())Redirect to model URL

from django.views.generic import ListView, DetailView, CreateViewImport class-based views

class PostList(ListView): model = Post; template_name = "blog/list.html"ListView CBV

class PostDetail(DetailView): model = PostDetailView CBV (uses blog/post_detail.html)

class PostCreate(CreateView): model = Post; fields = ["title", "body"]CreateView CBV

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_requiredAuth decorator import

@login_requiredRequire authentication for function view

from django.contrib.auth.mixins import LoginRequiredMixinAuth mixin for CBV

from django.http import JsonResponse; return JsonResponse({"ok": True})Return JSON response

URL Configuration

from django.urls import path, includeImport URL utilities

path("posts/", views.post_list, name="post-list")Basic URL pattern

path("posts/<int:pk>/", views.post_detail, name="post-detail")URL with integer converter

path("posts/<slug:slug>/", views.post_detail, name="post-detail")URL with slug converter

path("blog/", include("blog.urls"))Include app-level URL conf

path("blog/", include("blog.urls", namespace="blog"))Include with namespace

from django.urls import reverse; reverse("post-detail", args=[pk])Reverse URL by name

{% url "post-detail" post.pk %}Reverse URL in template

re_path(r"^legacy/(?P<id>\d+)/$", view)Regex URL pattern

Templates

{{ variable }}Output variable (auto-escaped)

{{ variable|default:"fallback" }}Output with default filter

{{ variable|date:"Y-m-d" }}Format a date

{{ variable|truncatewords:20 }}Truncate to N words

{% if condition %} ... {% elif ... %} ... {% else %} ... {% endif %}Conditional block

{% for item in items %} ... {% empty %} ... {% endfor %}Loop with empty fallback

{{ forloop.counter }} / {{ forloop.first }} / {{ forloop.last }}Loop counter variables

{% extends "base.html" %}Extend a base template

{% block content %} ... {% endblock %}Define a named block

{% include "partials/nav.html" %}Include a sub-template

{% include "card.html" with title=post.title %}Include with extra context

{% load static %} {% static "css/app.css" %}Load and use static files tag

{% csrf_token %}CSRF protection token (required in POST forms)

{% comment %} ... {% endcomment %}Template comment

Forms

from django.forms import ModelFormImport ModelForm

class PostForm(ModelForm): class Meta: model = Post; fields = ["title", "body"]ModelForm definition

form = PostForm(request.POST or None)Instantiate bound or unbound form

form = PostForm(request.POST, instance=post)Bind form to existing instance

form.is_valid()Validate submitted data

form.save()Save ModelForm to database

form.save(commit=False)Get model instance without saving

form.errorsDict of field validation errors

{{ form.as_p }}Render form fields wrapped in

Admin

from django.contrib import adminImport admin module

admin.site.register(Post)Register model with default admin

@admin.register(Post)Register model via decorator

class PostAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin): list_display = ["title", "created", "active"]Customize list view columns

list_filter = ["active", "created"]Add sidebar filters

search_fields = ["title", "body"]Enable search bar

prepopulated_fields = {"slug": ("title",)}Auto-populate slug from title

readonly_fields = ["created", "updated"]Make fields read-only in admin

ordering = ["-created"]Default ordering in list view

actions = ["make_active"]Register custom bulk actions

Settings & Middleware

INSTALLED_APPS = [..., "blog"]Register app in INSTALLED_APPS

DATABASES = {"default": {"ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql", ...}}Database configuration

STATIC_URL = "/static/"; STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "staticfiles"Static files config

MEDIA_URL = "/media/"; MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "media"Media files config

DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = "django.db.models.BigAutoField"Default primary key field type

AUTH_USER_MODEL = "accounts.User"Custom user model setting

LOGIN_URL = "/login/"URL for login_required redirect

CACHES = {"default": {"BACKEND": "django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache", "LOCATION": "redis://127.0.0.1:6379"}}Redis cache config

MIDDLEWARE = [..., "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware"]Middleware stack order matters

from django.conf import settingsImport settings in code