django-field-history

0.8.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

A Django app to track changes to specific model fields. Version 0.8.0 is the latest. Releases are sporadic; no major changes since v0.6.0.

pip install django-field-history

Common errors

error django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: 'django_field_history.middleware.FieldHistoryMiddleware' is not a middleware class ↓

cause The import path changed from field_history to django_field_history in v0.6.0. The old path may still be in middleware.

fix

Use 'django_field_history.middleware.FieldHistoryMiddleware' in MIDDLEWARE.

error django.db.migrations.exceptions.InconsistentMigrationHistory: Migration django_field_history.0001_initial is applied before its dependency django_content_type.0001_initial ↓

cause Forgetting to include django.contrib.contenttypes in INSTALLED_APPS before running migrations.

fix

Add 'django.contrib.contenttypes' to INSTALLED_APPS and run migrations again.

Warnings

gotcha Must also add 'django.contrib.contenttypes' to INSTALLED_APPS if not already present, otherwise migrations fail. ↓

fix Ensure 'django.contrib.contenttypes' is in INSTALLED_APPS.

gotcha The FieldHistoryMiddleware uses the session to store the current user. If your site uses an authentication backend that does not set request.user correctly, history will be attributed to AnonymousUser. ↓

fix Ensure authentication is set up so request.user is available; place FieldHistoryMiddleware after SessionMiddleware and AuthenticationMiddleware.

Imports

FieldHistoryMiddleware

wrong

from field_history.middleware import FieldHistoryMiddleware

correct

from django_field_history.middleware import FieldHistoryMiddleware

Old import path without django_ prefix; still works in some setups but not recommended.

HistoricalRecords

wrong

from field_history.models import HistoricalRecords

correct

from django_field_history.models import HistoricalRecords

Use the django_ prefixed module.

Quickstart

Enable field tracking by adding the app and middleware, then attach HistoricalRecords to your model with the fields you want to track.

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django_field_history',
    # ...
]
MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django_field_history.middleware.FieldHistoryMiddleware',
    # ...
]

# models.py
from django.db import models
from django_field_history.models import HistoricalRecords

class MyModel(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    history = HistoricalRecords(fields=['name'])

# Run migrations and use admin to see history.