Django

6.0.3 verified Tue May 12 auth: no python install: verified quickstart: stale

High-level Python web framework. Two active release lines: 6.0.3 (latest, Dec 2025, requires Python >=3.12) and 5.2.x LTS (Apr 2025, Python >=3.10, EOL Apr 2028). Feature releases roughly every 8 months. Deprecations follow a two-release cycle before removal.

pip install Django

Common errors

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'corsheaders' ↓

cause The 'django-cors-headers' package is not installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using 'pip install django-cors-headers'.

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'allauth' ↓

cause The 'django-allauth' package is not installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using 'pip install django-allauth'.

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'rest_framework' ↓

cause The 'djangorestframework' package is not installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using 'pip install djangorestframework'.

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'crispy_forms' ↓

cause The 'django-crispy-forms' package is not installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using 'pip install django-crispy-forms'.

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'channels' ↓

cause The 'channels' package is not installed in the current Python environment.

fix

Install the package using 'pip install channels'.

Warnings

breaking Django 6.0 requires Python >=3.12. Python 3.10 and 3.11 support dropped. Projects on Python 3.10/3.11 must stay on Django 5.2 LTS (EOL Apr 2028). ↓

fix Use Django 5.2 LTS for Python 3.10/3.11 projects. Upgrade Python to 3.12+ to use Django 6.0.

breaking cx_Oracle driver removed in Django 6.0. Oracle users must migrate to the oracledb driver (>=1.3.2). cx_Oracle was deprecated in Django 5.0. ↓

fix pip install oracledb and update DATABASE ENGINE to django.db.backends.oracle. The oracledb driver uses the same connection parameters.

breaking QuerySet.return_insert_columns renamed to returning_columns in Django 6.0. ↓

fix Replace return_insert_columns= with returning_columns= in bulk_create() calls.

breaking Django 6.0 overhauled email internals to use Python's modern email API. SafeMIMEText, SafeMIMEMultipart, and BadHeaderError are deprecated. Custom email subclasses relying on internal underscore methods may break silently. ↓

fix Audit any custom EmailMessage subclasses. Replace SafeMIMEText/SafeMIMEMultipart references. BadHeaderError replaced by ValueError.

breaking MariaDB minimum version raised to 10.6 in Django 6.0. MariaDB 10.5 support dropped. ↓

fix Upgrade MariaDB to 10.6+ before upgrading Django to 6.0.

gotcha DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD must be set in settings.py. Omitting it causes W042 system check warnings for every model in the project. LLMs frequently omit this from generated settings files. ↓

fix Add DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField' to settings.py.

gotcha Two active release lines with different Python requirements. Django 6.0 (Python >=3.12) and Django 5.2 LTS (Python >=3.10). LLM-generated code often installs the latest without checking Python version compatibility. ↓

fix Pin Django version explicitly: Django>=5.2,<6 for Python 3.10/3.11. Django>=6.0 for Python 3.12+.

gotcha ADMINS and MANAGERS setting format changed in Django 6.0: list of (name, email) tuples is deprecated. Must be a list of email strings. Format as '"Name" <email>' for named addresses. ↓

fix ADMINS = ['admin@example.com'] or ADMINS = ['"Admin Name" <admin@example.com>']

gotcha BASE_DIR is a common variable in Django settings.py, usually defined as `BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent`. Omitting its definition will cause a NameError. ↓

fix Ensure BASE_DIR is defined in settings.py, e.g., `from pathlib import Path; BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent`.

Install

pip install "Django>=5.2,<6"

pip install "Django[argon2]"

Install compatibility verified last tested: 2026-05-12

python os / libc variant status wheel install import disk

3.10 alpine (musl) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.02s 66.2M

3.10 alpine (musl) argon2 - - 0.02s 68.0M

3.10 alpine (musl) Django - - 0.02s 66.2M

3.10 slim (glibc) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.01s 67M

3.10 slim (glibc) argon2 - - 0.01s 69M

3.10 slim (glibc) Django - - 0.01s 67M

3.11 alpine (musl) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.03s 70.6M

3.11 alpine (musl) argon2 - - 0.03s 72.7M

3.11 alpine (musl) Django - - 0.03s 70.6M

3.11 slim (glibc) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.02s 71M

3.11 slim (glibc) argon2 - - 0.03s 73M

3.11 slim (glibc) Django - - 0.02s 71M

3.12 alpine (musl) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.02s 61.8M

3.12 alpine (musl) argon2 - - 0.02s 64.2M

3.12 alpine (musl) Django - - 0.02s 62.1M

3.12 slim (glibc) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.02s 62M

3.12 slim (glibc) argon2 - - 0.02s 65M

3.12 slim (glibc) Django - - 0.02s 63M

3.13 alpine (musl) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.03s 61.5M

3.13 alpine (musl) argon2 - - 0.02s 63.9M

3.13 alpine (musl) Django - - 0.02s 61.9M

3.13 slim (glibc) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - 0.02s 62M

3.13 slim (glibc) argon2 - - 0.02s 64M

3.13 slim (glibc) Django - - 0.02s 62M

3.9 alpine (musl) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - - -

3.9 alpine (musl) argon2 - - 0.02s 66.8M

3.9 alpine (musl) Django - - 0.02s 64.2M

3.9 slim (glibc) "Django>=5.2,<6" - - - -

3.9 slim (glibc) argon2 - - 0.01s 67M

3.9 slim (glibc) Django - - 0.01s 65M

Imports

django.setup

wrong

import django
django.setup()  # missing DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE — raises ImproperlyConfigured

correct

import django
os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'myproject.settings')
django.setup()

DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE must be set before django.setup(). Required for standalone scripts using Django ORM outside of manage.py.

DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD

wrong

# Omitting DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD in settings.py
# raises warnings: models in app X do not have an explicit app_label

correct

# In settings.py
DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'

DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD must be set in settings.py since Django 3.2. LLMs frequently generate settings files without it, causing W042 warnings on every model.

Quickstart stale last tested: 2026-04-23

Minimal Django settings and model. Always set DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD.

# settings.py (minimal)
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.auth',
]
DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
    }
}
DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'

# models.py
from django.db import models

class Article(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['-created_at']

# shell
# python manage.py makemigrations
# python manage.py migrate
# python manage.py runserver