New Features - Introduce selectable frontend tooling (Tailwind CSS, HTMX, Vite) via optional scaffolding - Add `just vite` and `just dev-full` commands for Vite integration - Replace `drf-spectacular` with `drf-yasg` for Swagger documentation - Update API endpoint table to list ReDoc instead of Swagger UI Enhancements - Reorder Django Apps selection to reflect standard structure only - Bump project version to 0.3.4 and update roadmap in TODO.md Bug Fixes - Remove placeholder “Fix bugs” entry from TODO.md
djinit
djinit helps you set up a production‑ready Django project in minutes. No more copy‑pasting settings or manually wiring up apps—just answer a few questions and get a modern Django project with REST API, authentication, documentation, and deployment configs ready to go.
Why djinit?
Starting a Django project usually means spending hours setting up the same things: splitting settings for dev/prod, configuring DRF, adding JWT auth, setting up CORS, preparing for deployment. djinit does all of this for you with sensible defaults and lets you choose the project structure that fits your needs.
Installation
Recommended (using pipx):
pipx install djinitx
Or with pip:
pip install djinitx
Or with uv:
uv tool install djinitx
Requirements: Python 3.13+
Getting Started
djinit setup
or the shorter alias:
dj setup
The wizard will ask you a few questions:
-
What structure do you want?
- Standard – Classic Django layout with split settings
- Predefined – Organized with
apps/andapi/folders (great for larger projects) - Unified – Everything under
core/andapps/(clean and minimal) - Single Folder – All apps in one configurable folder (simple and flat)
-
Project Setup – Destination directory (use
.for current) and project name. -
Database Configuration – Choose
DATABASE_URL(recommended) or individual variables; pick PostgreSQL or MySQL. -
Frontend Tools (optional) – Pick Tailwind CSS, HTMX, or Vite for frontend bundling.
-
Django Apps (Standard structure only) – Whether to create an
apps/folder and which apps to scaffold. -
CI/CD Pipeline – GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, both, or skip it.
That’s it—your project will be ready with everything configured.
What You Get
- Split settings for development and production
- Django REST Framework with JWT authentication
- API documentation (Swagger UI at
/docs/) - CORS configured for local development
- WhiteNoise for static files
- PostgreSQL support (SQLite for dev)
- Modern admin interface (
django-jazzmin) - Deployment ready with
Procfileandruntime.txt - Development tools (
Justfilewith common commands) - Environment template (
.env.sample) - Git ready (
.gitignoreincluded) - Tailwind CSS – Optionally scaffolded with
django-tailwind-cli - HTMX – Optionally included with
django-htmxand middleware - Vite – Optionally set up with
django-viteandvite.config.ts
Commands
Create a Project
djinit setup
Add Apps to an Existing Project
djinit app users products orders
Creates the apps, adds them to INSTALLED_APPS, and wires up URLs.
Generate Secret Keys
djinit secret
Use --count 5 to generate five keys or --length 64 to change the length.
Project Structures
Standard Structure
myproject/
├── manage.py
├── myproject/ # Config module
│ ├── settings/ # Split settings
│ ├── urls.py
│ └── wsgi.py
└── apps/ # Your apps (optional)
└── users/
Single Folder Layout
myproject/
├── manage.py
├── project/ # Configurable folder name
│ ├── settings/
│ ├── urls.py
│ ├── models/ # All models here
│ ├── api/ # API views & serializers
│ │ └── your_model_name/
│ │ ├── views.py
│ │ ├── serializers.py
│ │ └── urls.py
│ └── wsgi.py
Predefined Structure
myproject/
├── manage.py
├── config/ # Django config
│ ├── settings/
│ └── urls.py
├── apps/ # Business logic
│ ├── users/
│ └── core/
└── api/ # API routes
└── v1/
Unified Structure
myproject/
├── manage.py
├── core/ # Django config
│ ├── settings/
│ └── urls.py
└── apps/ # Main application package
├── admin/
├── models/
├── serializers/
├── views/
├── urls/
└── api/ # API routes
Development Workflow
Your project ships with a Justfile for common tasks:
just dev # Start dev server
just migrate # Run migrations
just makemigrations # Create migrations
just shell # Django shell
just test # Run tests
just format # Format code
just lint # Lint code
just vite # Start Vite dev server (if Vite selected)
just dev-full # Run Django + Vite together (if Vite selected)
If you don’t have just installed, these are just shortcuts for the equivalent Django commands.
What's Included
Packages
- Django – Web framework
- Django REST Framework – API toolkit
- djangorestframework‑simplejwt – JWT authentication
- drf‑yasg – OpenAPI/Swagger docs
- django‑cors‑headers – CORS handling
- django‑jazzmin – Modern admin UI
- whitenoise – Static file serving
- psycopg2‑binary – PostgreSQL driver
- gunicorn – Production WSGI server
- python‑dotenv –
.envhandling - django‑tailwind‑cli – Tailwind CSS integration (optional)
- django‑htmx – HTMX integration (optional)
- django‑vite – Vite bundler integration (optional)
API Endpoints
| Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|
/admin/ |
Django admin |
/token/ |
Obtain JWT token |
/token/refresh/ |
Refresh JWT token |
/docs/ |
Swagger UI (dev only) |
/schema/ |
ReDoc API docs (dev only) |
Settings Overview
- Development – SQLite,
DEBUG=True, console email backend, permissive CORS. - Production – PostgreSQL, hardened security settings, SMTP email backend, strict CORS.
Environment Setup
Copy the sample file and fill in your values:
cp .env.sample .env
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here # Generate with: djinit secret
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db
ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com
SQLite works out of the box for development—no extra DB setup required.
Contributing
Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue or submit a pull request. Contributions are always welcome!
- Fork the repository.
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/awesome-feature). - Make your changes and ensure tests pass (
just test). - Submit a pull request with a clear description of the change.
Please follow the existing code style (ruff + black) and include tests for new functionality.
License
MIT © Sankalp Tharu