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cookiecutter/cookiecutter-django

13,512PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

TLDR

Cookiecutter Django generates a fully wired-up, production-ready Django project in minutes by asking you setup questions, so you skip building user auth, email, Docker config, and secure defaults from scratch.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Project template
      Answers questions
      Generates Django app
    Included by default
      User auth
      PostgreSQL
      Secure settings
    Optional add-ons
      Docker support
      Celery tasks
      Sentry tracking
    Deploy targets
      Heroku
      PythonAnywhere
      Custom server
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Bootstrap a new Django web app with user registration, PostgreSQL, and Docker already configured in under an hour.

USE CASE 2

Generate a SaaS starter with Celery background tasks, email sending, and Sentry error tracking pre-wired from the start.

USE CASE 3

Create a Django project with SSL, 12-Factor environment variable config, and secure production defaults out of the box.

Tech stack

PythonDjangoPostgreSQLDockerCeleryBootstrap

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Python, Cookiecutter installed via pip, and a PostgreSQL instance, Docker is optional but recommended for local dev.

In plain English

Cookiecutter Django is a project template for quickly starting a production-ready Django web project. Django is a popular framework for building websites in Python. Normally you begin a new Django project with a bare starter and then spend a lot of time wiring up the same things every time: user accounts, email sending, database settings, security defaults, and so on. This template does that setup for you, so you begin with a fully arranged project instead of an empty shell. It is built on a separate tool called Cookiecutter, which generates projects from templates by asking you questions. The README walks through an example: say you want to build a Reddit clone. Instead of creating the project by hand and editing dozens of files, you install Cookiecutter and point it at this template. It then prompts you for choices such as the project name, your name and email, which open-source license to use, the time zone, the PostgreSQL database version, the cloud provider, and the email service. After you answer, it produces a ready-to-use Django project matching your selections. The README lists what the generated project includes. It targets a recent Django and Python version and starts with full test coverage. It comes with the Bootstrap front-end toolkit, settings organized using the 12-Factor approach with environment variables, secure defaults including SSL, separate development and production configurations, user registration, and a custom user model. There is optional Docker support for both development and production, plus instructions for deploying to hosts like Heroku and PythonAnywhere. Several integrations are optional and chosen during setup, such as serving files from cloud storage services, background task processing with Celery, local email testing with Mailpit, and error tracking with Sentry. The project states some constraints: it uses only maintained third-party libraries, relies on PostgreSQL throughout, and configures everything through environment variables. It is run by volunteers and accepts sponsorship.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through running Cookiecutter Django to generate a new project with Docker support and Celery enabled.
Prompt 2
What answers should I give Cookiecutter Django prompts when building a small SaaS with PostgreSQL and email signup?
Prompt 3
How do I deploy a Cookiecutter Django generated project to Heroku after running the template?
Prompt 4
Explain the folder structure Cookiecutter Django generates and what each top-level directory is for.
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