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The django-admin utility provides commands for common Django administrative tasks. When using manage.py, the commands are the same.

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Project & App Creation

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startproject

Creates a Django project directory structure for the given project name. 
django-admin startproject myproject
django-admin startproject myproject /path/to/destination
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name
string
required
Name of the project to create.
​
directory
string
Optional destination directory. Will be created if it doesn’t exist.
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--template
string
Path or URL to load the template from.
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--extension
string
File extension(s) to render (default: “py”). Separate multiple extensions with commas, or use -e multiple times.
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--name
string
File name(s) to render. Separate multiple names with commas, or use -n multiple times.
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--exclude
string
Directory name(s) to exclude, in addition to .git and pycache.
The project name should be a valid Python identifier (no hyphens, must not conflict with Python or Django package names).

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startapp

Creates a Django app directory structure for the given app name. 
python manage.py startapp myapp
python manage.py startapp myapp /path/to/destination
​
name
string
required
Name of the application to create.
​
directory
string
Optional destination directory. Will be created if it doesn’t exist.
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--template
string
Path or URL to load the template from.
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--extension
string
File extension(s) to render (default: “py”).
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--name
string
File name(s) to render.

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Database Migrations

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makemigrations

Creates new migration files based on model changes. 
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py makemigrations myapp
python manage.py makemigrations --dry-run
python manage.py makemigrations --name custom_migration_name
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app_label
string
Specify app label(s) to create migrations for. If omitted, creates migrations for all apps.
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--dry-run
bool
Show what migrations would be made without actually writing them.
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--merge
bool
Enable fixing of migration conflicts.
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--empty
bool
Create an empty migration.
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--noinput
bool
Tells Django NOT to prompt for input.
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--name
string
Use this name for migration file(s).
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--check
bool
Exit with non-zero status if model changes are missing migrations. Implies —dry-run.
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--scriptable
bool
Divert log output to stderr, writing only migration file paths to stdout.
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--update
bool
Merge model changes into the latest migration and optimize operations.

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migrate

Applies and unapplies migrations to synchronize the database schema with models. 
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py migrate myapp
python manage.py migrate myapp 0001_initial
python manage.py migrate myapp zero
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app_label
string
App label to synchronize the state for.
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migration_name
string
Migrate to this specific migration. Use “zero” to unapply all migrations.
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--database
string
Nominates a database to synchronize. Defaults to “default”.
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--fake
bool
Mark migrations as run without actually running them.
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--fake-initial
bool
Detect if tables already exist and fake-apply initial migrations if so.
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--plan
bool
Shows a list of migration actions that will be performed.
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--run-syncdb
bool
Creates tables for apps without migrations.
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--noinput
bool
Tells Django NOT to prompt for input.
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--check
bool
Exit with non-zero status if unapplied migrations exist. Does not apply migrations.
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--prune
bool
Delete nonexistent migrations from the django_migrations table.
Always backup your database before running migrations in production.

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Development Server

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runserver

Starts a lightweight development web server. 
python manage.py runserver
python manage.py runserver 8080
python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
python manage.py runserver --noreload
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addrport
string
Optional port number or ipaddr:port. Default is 127.0.0.1:8000.
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--ipv6
bool
Tells Django to use an IPv6 address.
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--nothreading
bool
Tells Django NOT to use threading.
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--noreload
bool
Tells Django NOT to use the auto-reloader.
DO NOT use this server in production. It’s designed for development only and hasn’t been audited for security or performance.

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Interactive Shell

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shell

Runs a Python interactive interpreter with Django environment loaded. 
python manage.py shell
python manage.py shell --interface ipython
python manage.py shell -c "from myapp.models import MyModel; print(MyModel.objects.count())"
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--interface
string
Specify an interactive interpreter interface: “ipython”, “bpython”, or “python”.
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--no-startup
bool
When using plain Python, ignore PYTHONSTARTUP environment variable and ~/.pythonrc.py script.
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--no-imports
bool
Disable automatic imports of models.
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--command
string
Instead of opening an interactive shell, run a command as Django and exit.
The shell automatically imports:
  • django.conf.settings
  • django.db.connection
  • django.db.models
  • django.db.models.functions
  • django.db.reset_queries
  • django.utils.timezone
  • All models from INSTALLED_APPS

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System Checks

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check

Checks the entire Django project for potential problems. 
python manage.py check
python manage.py check myapp
python manage.py check --tag models
python manage.py check --deploy
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app_label
string
Check specific app(s) only.
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--tag
string
Run only checks labeled with given tag. Can be used multiple times.
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--list-tags
bool
List available tags.
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--deploy
bool
Check deployment settings.
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--fail-level
string
Message level that will cause the command to exit with non-zero status. Choices: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG. Default is ERROR.
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--database
string
Run database related checks against specific aliases. Can be used multiple times.

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Other Useful Commands

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showmigrations

Shows all available migrations and which have been applied. 
python manage.py showmigrations
python manage.py showmigrations myapp
python manage.py showmigrations --plan

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sqlmigrate

Displays the SQL statements for a migration. 
python manage.py sqlmigrate myapp 0001

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dbshell

Runs the command-line client for the database engine specified in your settings. 
python manage.py dbshell

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flush

Removes all data from the database and re-executes any post-synchronization handlers. 
python manage.py flush
This is a destructive operation. Use with caution.

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dumpdata

Outputs all data from the database (or a specific app/model) as JSON, XML, or YAML. 
python manage.py dumpdata
python manage.py dumpdata myapp
python manage.py dumpdata myapp.MyModel

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loaddata

Loads data from a fixture file into the database. 
python manage.py loaddata fixture.json

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createsuperuser

Creates a superuser account for the Django admin. 
python manage.py createsuperuser

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changepassword

Changes a user’s password. 
python manage.py changepassword username

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collectstatic

Collects static files from all apps into STATIC_ROOT. 
python manage.py collectstatic
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

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test

Runs tests for all installed apps or specific apps. 
python manage.py test
python manage.py test myapp
python manage.py test myapp.tests.MyTestCase

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compilemessages

Compiles .po files to .mo files for use with gettext. 
python manage.py compilemessages
python manage.py compilemessages --locale=pt_BR

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makemessages

Runs over the entire source tree and pulls out all strings marked for translation. It creates (or updates) message files in the locale directory. 
python manage.py makemessages -l pt_BR
python manage.py makemessages --all

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createcachetable

Creates the database tables needed for the database cache backend. 
python manage.py createcachetable

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diffsettings

Displays differences between the current settings and Django’s default settings. 
python manage.py diffsettings
python manage.py diffsettings --all

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inspectdb

Introspects the database tables and outputs a Django model module to standard output. 
python manage.py inspectdb
python manage.py inspectdb table_name

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sqlflush

Returns SQL statements that would be executed for the flush command. 
python manage.py sqlflush

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sqlsequencereset

Prints the SQL statements for resetting sequences for the given app names. 
python manage.py sqlsequencereset myapp

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squashmigrations

Squashes a range of migrations for an app into a single migration. 
python manage.py squashmigrations myapp 0001 0004

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testserver

Runs the development server with data from given fixture files. 
python manage.py testserver fixture1.json fixture2.json

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sendtestemail

Sends a test email to confirm email settings are configured correctly. 
python manage.py sendtestemail [email protected]

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optimizemigration

Optimizes a migration by removing redundant operations. 
python manage.py optimizemigration myapp 0002

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