django/docs/ref/django-admin.txt

==================================
``django-admin`` and ``manage.py``
==================================

``django-admin`` is Django's command-line utility for administrative tasks.
This document outlines all it can do.

In addition, ``manage.py`` is automatically created in each Django project.
``manage.py`` does the same thing as ``django-admin`` but takes care of a few
things for you:

* It puts your project's package on ``sys.path``.

* It sets the :envvar:`DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE` environment variable so that
  it points to your project's ``settings.py`` file.

The ``django-admin`` script should be on your system path if you installed
Django via its ``setup.py`` utility. If it's not on your path, you can find it
in ``site-packages/django/bin`` within your Python installation. Consider
symlinking it from some place on your path, such as ``/usr/local/bin``.

For Windows users, who do not have symlinking functionality available, you can
copy ``django-admin.exe`` to a location on your existing path or edit the
``PATH`` settings (under ``Settings - Control Panel - System - Advanced -
Environment...``) to point to its installed location.

Generally, when working on a single Django project, it's easier to use
``manage.py`` than ``django-admin``. If you need to switch between multiple
Django settings files, use ``django-admin`` with
:envvar:`DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE` or the :option:`--settings` command line
option.

The command-line examples throughout this document use ``django-admin`` to
be consistent, but any example can use ``manage.py`` or ``python -m django``
just as well.

Usage
=====

.. code-block:: console

    $ django-admin <command> [options]
    $ manage.py <command> [options]
    $ python -m django <command> [options]

``command`` should be one of the commands listed in this document.
``options``, which is optional, should be zero or more of the options available
for the given command.

Getting runtime help
--------------------

.. django-admin:: help

Run ``django-admin help`` to display usage information and a list of the
commands provided by each application.

Run ``django-admin help --commands`` to display a list of all available
commands.

Run ``django-admin help <command>`` to display a description of the given
command and a list of its available options.

App names
---------

Many commands take a list of "app names." An "app name" is the basename of
the package containing your models. For example, if your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`
contains the string ``'mysite.blog'``, the app name is ``blog``.

Determining the version
-----------------------

.. django-admin:: version

Run ``django-admin version`` to display the current Django version.

The output follows the schema described in :pep:`440`::

    1.4.dev17026
    1.4a1
    1.4

Displaying debug output
-----------------------

.. program:: None

Use :option:`--verbosity` to specify the amount of notification and debug
information that ``django-admin`` prints to the console.

Available commands
==================

``check``
---------

.. django-admin:: check [app_label [app_label ...]]

Uses the :doc:`system check framework </ref/checks>` to inspect the entire
Django project for common problems.

By default, all apps will be checked. You can check a subset of apps by
providing a list of app labels as arguments::

    django-admin check auth admin myapp

If you do not specify any app, all apps will be checked.

.. django-admin-option:: --tag TAGS, -t TAGS

The system check framework performs many different types of checks that are
:ref:`categorized with tags <system-check-builtin-tags>`. You can use these
tags to restrict the checks performed to just those in a particular category.
For example, to perform only models and compatibility checks, run::

    django-admin check --tag models --tag compatibility

.. django-admin-option:: --list-tags

Lists all available tags.

.. django-admin-option:: --deploy

Activates some additional checks that are only relevant in a deployment setting.

You can use this option in your local development environment, but since your
local development settings module may not have many of your production settings,
you will probably want to point the ``check`` command at a different settings
module, either by setting the ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`` environment variable,
or by passing the ``--settings`` option::

    django-admin check --deploy --settings=production_settings

Or you could run it directly on a production or staging deployment to verify
that the correct settings are in use (omitting ``--settings``). You could even
make it part of your integration test suite.

.. django-admin-option:: --fail-level {CRITICAL,ERROR,WARNING,INFO,DEBUG}

Specifies the message level that will cause the command to exit with a non-zero
status. Default is ``ERROR``.

``compilemessages``
-------------------

.. django-admin:: compilemessages

Compiles ``.po`` files created by :djadmin:`makemessages` to ``.mo`` files for
use with the built-in gettext support. See :doc:`/topics/i18n/index`.

.. django-admin-option:: --locale LOCALE, -l LOCALE

Specifies the locale(s) to process. If not provided, all locales are processed.

.. django-admin-option:: --exclude EXCLUDE, -x EXCLUDE

Specifies the locale(s) to exclude from processing. If not provided, no locales
are excluded.

.. django-admin-option:: --use-fuzzy, -f

Includes fuzzy translations into compiled files.

Example usage::

    django-admin compilemessages --locale=pt_BR
    django-admin compilemessages --locale=pt_BR --locale=fr -f
    django-admin compilemessages -l pt_BR
    django-admin compilemessages -l pt_BR -l fr --use-fuzzy
    django-admin compilemessages --exclude=pt_BR
    django-admin compilemessages --exclude=pt_BR --exclude=fr
    django-admin compilemessages -x pt_BR
    django-admin compilemessages -x pt_BR -x fr

``createcachetable``
--------------------

.. django-admin:: createcachetable

Creates the cache tables for use with the database cache backend using the
information from your settings file. See :doc:`/topics/cache` for more
information.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database in which the cache table(s) will be created. Defaults to
``default``.

.. django-admin-option:: --dry-run

Prints the SQL that would be run without actually running it, so you can
customize it or use the migrations framework.

``dbshell``
-----------

.. django-admin:: dbshell

Runs the command-line client for the database engine specified in your
:setting:`ENGINE <DATABASE-ENGINE>` setting, with the connection parameters
specified in your :setting:`USER`, :setting:`PASSWORD`, etc., settings.

* For PostgreSQL, this runs the ``psql`` command-line client.
* For MySQL, this runs the ``mysql`` command-line client.
* For SQLite, this runs the ``sqlite3`` command-line client.
* For Oracle, this runs the ``sqlplus`` command-line client.

This command assumes the programs are on your ``PATH`` so that a simple call to
the program name (``psql``, ``mysql``, ``sqlite3``, ``sqlplus``) will find the
program in the right place. There's no way to specify the location of the
program manually.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database onto which to open a shell. Defaults to ``default``.

``diffsettings``
----------------

.. django-admin:: diffsettings

Displays differences between the current settings file and Django's default
settings (or another settings file specified by :option:`--default`).

Settings that don't appear in the defaults are followed by ``"###"``. For
example, the default settings don't define :setting:`ROOT_URLCONF`, so
:setting:`ROOT_URLCONF` is followed by ``"###"`` in the output of
``diffsettings``.

.. django-admin-option:: --all

Displays all settings, even if they have Django's default value. Such settings
are prefixed by ``"###"``.

.. django-admin-option:: --default MODULE

.. versionadded:: 1.11

The settings module to compare the current settings against. Leave empty to
compare against Django's default settings.

``dumpdata``
------------

.. django-admin:: dumpdata [app_label[.ModelName] [app_label[.ModelName] ...]]

Outputs to standard output all data in the database associated with the named
application(s).

If no application name is provided, all installed applications will be dumped.

The output of ``dumpdata`` can be used as input for :djadmin:`loaddata`.

Note that ``dumpdata`` uses the default manager on the model for selecting the
records to dump. If you're using a :ref:`custom manager <custom-managers>` as
the default manager and it filters some of the available records, not all of the
objects will be dumped.

.. django-admin-option:: --all, -a

Uses Django's base manager, dumping records which might otherwise be filtered
or modified by a custom manager.

.. django-admin-option:: --format FORMAT

Specifies the serialization format of the output. Defaults to JSON. Supported
formats are listed in :ref:`serialization-formats`.

.. django-admin-option:: --indent INDENT

Specifies the number of indentation spaces to use in the output. Defaults to
``None`` which displays all data on single line.

.. django-admin-option:: --exclude EXCLUDE, -e EXCLUDE

Prevents specific applications or models (specified in the form of
``app_label.ModelName``) from being dumped. If you specify a model name, the
output will be restricted to that model, rather than the entire application.
You can also mix application names and model names.

If you want to exclude multiple applications, pass ``--exclude`` more than
once::

    django-admin dumpdata --exclude=auth --exclude=contenttypes

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database from which data will be dumped. Defaults to ``default``.

.. django-admin-option:: --natural-foreign

Uses the ``natural_key()`` model method to serialize any foreign key and
many-to-many relationship to objects of the type that defines the method. If
you're dumping ``contrib.auth`` ``Permission`` objects or
``contrib.contenttypes`` ``ContentType`` objects, you should probably use this
flag. See the :ref:`natural keys <topics-serialization-natural-keys>`
documentation for more details on this and the next option.

.. django-admin-option:: --natural-primary

Omits the primary key in the serialized data of this object since it can be
calculated during deserialization.

.. django-admin-option:: --pks PRIMARY_KEYS

Outputs only the objects specified by a comma separated list of primary keys.
This is only available when dumping one model. By default, all the records of
the model are output.

.. django-admin-option:: --output OUTPUT, -o OUTPUT

Specifies a file to write the serialized data to. By default, the data goes to
standard output.

When this option is set and ``--verbosity`` is greater than 0 (the default), a
progress bar is shown in the terminal.

``flush``
---------

.. django-admin:: flush

Removes all data from the database and re-executes any post-synchronization
handlers. The table of which migrations have been applied is not cleared.

If you would rather start from an empty database and re-run all migrations, you
should drop and recreate the database and then run :djadmin:`migrate` instead.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to flush. Defaults to ``default``.

``inspectdb``
-------------

.. django-admin:: inspectdb [table [table ...]]

Introspects the database tables in the database pointed-to by the
:setting:`NAME` setting and outputs a Django model module (a ``models.py``
file) to standard output. You may choose what tables to inspect by passing
their names as arguments.

Use this if you have a legacy database with which you'd like to use Django.
The script will inspect the database and create a model for each table within
it.

As you might expect, the created models will have an attribute for every field
in the table. Note that ``inspectdb`` has a few special cases in its field-name
output:

* If ``inspectdb`` cannot map a column's type to a model field type, it'll
  use ``TextField`` and will insert the Python comment
  ``'This field type is a guess.'`` next to the field in the generated
  model.

* If the database column name is a Python reserved word (such as
  ``'pass'``, ``'class'`` or ``'for'``), ``inspectdb`` will append
  ``'_field'`` to the attribute name. For example, if a table has a column
  ``'for'``, the generated model will have a field ``'for_field'``, with
  the ``db_column`` attribute set to ``'for'``. ``inspectdb`` will insert
  the Python comment
  ``'Field renamed because it was a Python reserved word.'`` next to the
  field.

This feature is meant as a shortcut, not as definitive model generation. After
you run it, you'll want to look over the generated models yourself to make
customizations. In particular, you'll need to rearrange models' order, so that
models that refer to other models are ordered properly.

Primary keys are automatically introspected for PostgreSQL, MySQL and
SQLite, in which case Django puts in the ``primary_key=True`` where
needed.

``inspectdb`` works with PostgreSQL, MySQL and SQLite. Foreign-key detection
only works in PostgreSQL and with certain types of MySQL tables.

Django doesn't create database defaults when a
:attr:`~django.db.models.Field.default` is specified on a model field.
Similarly, database defaults aren't translated to model field defaults or
detected in any fashion by ``inspectdb``.

By default, ``inspectdb`` creates unmanaged models. That is, ``managed = False``
in the model's ``Meta`` class tells Django not to manage each table's creation,
modification, and deletion. If you do want to allow Django to manage the
table's lifecycle, you'll need to change the
:attr:`~django.db.models.Options.managed` option to ``True`` (or simply remove
it because ``True`` is its default value).

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to introspect. Defaults to ``default``.

``loaddata``
------------

.. django-admin:: loaddata fixture [fixture ...]

Searches for and loads the contents of the named fixture into the database.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database into which the data will be loaded. Defaults to
``default``.

.. django-admin-option:: --ignorenonexistent, -i

Ignores fields and models that may have been removed since the fixture was
originally generated.

.. django-admin-option:: --app APP_LABEL

Specifies a single app to look for fixtures in rather than looking in all apps.

.. django-admin-option:: --exclude EXCLUDE, -e EXCLUDE

.. versionadded:: 1.11

Excludes loading the fixtures from the given applications and/or models (in the
form of ``app_label`` or ``app_label.ModelName``). Use the option multiple
times to exclude more than one app or model.

What's a "fixture"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A *fixture* is a collection of files that contain the serialized contents of
the database. Each fixture has a unique name, and the files that comprise the
fixture can be distributed over multiple directories, in multiple applications.

Django will search in three locations for fixtures:

1. In the ``fixtures`` directory of every installed application
2. In any directory named in the :setting:`FIXTURE_DIRS` setting
3. In the literal path named by the fixture

Django will load any and all fixtures it finds in these locations that match
the provided fixture names.

If the named fixture has a file extension, only fixtures of that type
will be loaded. For example::

    django-admin loaddata mydata.json

would only load JSON fixtures called ``mydata``. The fixture extension
must correspond to the registered name of a
:ref:`serializer <serialization-formats>` (e.g., ``json`` or ``xml``).

If you omit the extensions, Django will search all available fixture types
for a matching fixture. For example::

    django-admin loaddata mydata

would look for any fixture of any fixture type called ``mydata``. If a fixture
directory contained ``mydata.json``, that fixture would be loaded
as a JSON fixture.

The fixtures that are named can include directory components. These
directories will be included in the search path. For example::

    django-admin loaddata foo/bar/mydata.json

would search ``<app_label>/fixtures/foo/bar/mydata.json`` for each installed
application,  ``<dirname>/foo/bar/mydata.json`` for each directory in
:setting:`FIXTURE_DIRS`, and the literal path ``foo/bar/mydata.json``.

When fixture files are processed, the data is saved to the database as is.
Model defined :meth:`~django.db.models.Model.save` methods are not called, and
any :data:`~django.db.models.signals.pre_save` or
:data:`~django.db.models.signals.post_save` signals will be called with
``raw=True`` since the instance only contains attributes that are local to the
model. You may, for example, want to disable handlers that access
related fields that aren't present during fixture loading and would otherwise
raise an exception::

    from django.db.models.signals import post_save
    from .models import MyModel

    def my_handler(**kwargs):
        # disable the handler during fixture loading
        if kwargs['raw']:
            return
        ...

    post_save.connect(my_handler, sender=MyModel)

You could also write a simple decorator to encapsulate this logic::

    from functools import wraps

    def disable_for_loaddata(signal_handler):
        """
        Decorator that turns off signal handlers when loading fixture data.
        """
        @wraps(signal_handler)
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            if kwargs['raw']:
                return
            signal_handler(*args, **kwargs)
        return wrapper

    @disable_for_loaddata
    def my_handler(**kwargs):
        ...

Just be aware that this logic will disable the signals whenever fixtures are
deserialized, not just during ``loaddata``.

Note that the order in which fixture files are processed is undefined. However,
all fixture data is installed as a single transaction, so data in
one fixture can reference data in another fixture. If the database backend
supports row-level constraints, these constraints will be checked at the
end of the transaction.

The :djadmin:`dumpdata` command can be used to generate input for ``loaddata``.

Compressed fixtures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fixtures may be compressed in ``zip``, ``gz``, or ``bz2`` format. For example::

    django-admin loaddata mydata.json

would look for any of ``mydata.json``, ``mydata.json.zip``,
``mydata.json.gz``, or ``mydata.json.bz2``. The first file contained within a
zip-compressed archive is used.

Note that if two fixtures with the same name but different
fixture type are discovered (for example, if ``mydata.json`` and
``mydata.xml.gz`` were found in the same fixture directory), fixture
installation will be aborted, and any data installed in the call to
``loaddata`` will be removed from the database.

.. admonition:: MySQL with MyISAM and fixtures

    The MyISAM storage engine of MySQL doesn't support transactions or
    constraints, so if you use MyISAM, you won't get validation of fixture
    data, or a rollback if multiple transaction files are found.

Database-specific fixtures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're in a multi-database setup, you might have fixture data that
you want to load onto one database, but not onto another. In this
situation, you can add a database identifier into the names of your fixtures.

For example, if your :setting:`DATABASES` setting has a 'master' database
defined, name the fixture ``mydata.master.json`` or
``mydata.master.json.gz`` and the fixture will only be loaded when you
specify you want to load data into the ``master`` database.

``makemessages``
----------------

.. django-admin:: makemessages

Runs over the entire source tree of the current directory and pulls out all
strings marked for translation. It creates (or updates) a message file in the
conf/locale (in the Django tree) or locale (for project and application)
directory. After making changes to the messages files you need to compile them
with :djadmin:`compilemessages` for use with the builtin gettext support. See
the :ref:`i18n documentation <how-to-create-language-files>` for details.

This command doesn't require configured settings. However, when settings aren't
configured, the command can't ignore the :setting:`MEDIA_ROOT` and
:setting:`STATIC_ROOT` directories or include :setting:`LOCALE_PATHS`. It will
also write files in UTF-8 rather than in :setting:`FILE_CHARSET`.

.. django-admin-option:: --all, -a

Updates the message files for all available languages.

.. django-admin-option:: --extension EXTENSIONS, -e EXTENSIONS

Specifies a list of file extensions to examine (default: ``html``, ``txt``,
``py`` or ``js`` if :option:`--domain` is ``js``).

Example usage::

    django-admin makemessages --locale=de --extension xhtml

Separate multiple extensions with commas or use ``-e`` or ``--extension``
multiple times::

    django-admin makemessages --locale=de --extension=html,txt --extension xml

.. django-admin-option:: --locale LOCALE, -l LOCALE

Specifies the locale(s) to process.

.. django-admin-option:: --exclude EXCLUDE, -x EXCLUDE

Specifies the locale(s) to exclude from processing. If not provided, no locales
are excluded.

Example usage::

    django-admin makemessages --locale=pt_BR
    django-admin makemessages --locale=pt_BR --locale=fr
    django-admin makemessages -l pt_BR
    django-admin makemessages -l pt_BR -l fr
    django-admin makemessages --exclude=pt_BR
    django-admin makemessages --exclude=pt_BR --exclude=fr
    django-admin makemessages -x pt_BR
    django-admin makemessages -x pt_BR -x fr

.. django-admin-option:: --domain DOMAIN, -d DOMAIN

Specifies the domain of the messages files. Supported options are:

* ``django`` for all ``*.py``, ``*.html`` and ``*.txt`` files (default)
* ``djangojs`` for ``*.js`` files

.. django-admin-option:: --symlinks, -s

Follows symlinks to directories when looking for new translation strings.

Example usage::

    django-admin makemessages --locale=de --symlinks

.. django-admin-option:: --ignore PATTERN, -i PATTERN

Ignores files or directories matching the given :mod:`glob`-style pattern. Use
multiple times to ignore more.

These patterns are used by default: ``'CVS'``, ``'.*'``, ``'*~'``, ``'*.pyc'``.

Example usage::

    django-admin makemessages --locale=en_US --ignore=apps/* --ignore=secret/*.html

.. django-admin-option:: --no-default-ignore

Disables the default values of ``--ignore``.

.. django-admin-option:: --no-wrap

Disables breaking long message lines into several lines in language files.

.. django-admin-option:: --no-location

Suppresses writing '``#: filename:line``’ comment lines in language files.
Using this option makes it harder for technically skilled translators to
understand each message's context.

.. django-admin-option:: --add-location [{full,file,never}]

.. versionadded:: 2.0

Controls ``#: filename:line`` comment lines in language files. If the option
is:

* ``full`` (the default if not given): the lines include both file name and
  line number.
* ``file``: the line number is omitted.
* ``never``: the lines are suppressed (same as :option:`--no-location`).

Requires ``gettext`` 0.19 or newer.

.. django-admin-option:: --keep-pot

Prevents deleting the temporary ``.pot`` files generated before creating the
``.po`` file. This is useful for debugging errors which may prevent the final
language files from being created.

.. seealso::

    See :ref:`customizing-makemessages` for instructions on how to customize
    the keywords that :djadmin:`makemessages` passes to ``xgettext``.

``makemigrations``
------------------

.. django-admin:: makemigrations [app_label [app_label ...]]

Creates new migrations based on the changes detected to your models.
Migrations, their relationship with apps and more are covered in depth in
:doc:`the migrations documentation</topics/migrations>`.

Providing one or more app names as arguments will limit the migrations created
to the app(s) specified and any dependencies needed (the table at the other end
of a ``ForeignKey``, for example).

To add migrations to an app that doesn't have a ``migrations`` directory, run
``makemigrations`` with the app's ``app_label``.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts. If a suppressed prompt cannot be resolved
automatically, the command will exit with error code 3.

.. django-admin-option:: --empty

Outputs an empty migration for the specified apps, for manual editing. This is
for advanced users and should not be used unless you are familiar with the
migration format, migration operations, and the dependencies between your
migrations.

.. django-admin-option:: --dry-run

Shows what migrations would be made without actually writing any migrations
files to disk. Using this option along with ``--verbosity 3`` will also show
the complete migrations files that would be written.

.. django-admin-option:: --merge

Enables fixing of migration conflicts.

.. django-admin-option:: --name NAME, -n NAME

Allows naming the generated migration(s) instead of using a generated name.

Makes ``makemigrations`` exit with error code 1 when no migrations are created
(or would have been created, if combined with ``--dry-run``).

.. django-admin-option:: --check

Makes ``makemigrations`` exit with a non-zero status when model changes without
migrations are detected.

``migrate``
-----------

.. django-admin:: migrate [app_label] [migration_name]

Synchronizes the database state with the current set of models and migrations.
Migrations, their relationship with apps and more are covered in depth in
:doc:`the migrations documentation</topics/migrations>`.

The behavior of this command changes depending on the arguments provided:

* No arguments: All apps have all of their migrations run.
* ``<app_label>``: The specified app has its migrations run, up to the most
  recent migration. This may involve running other apps' migrations too, due
  to dependencies.
* ``<app_label> <migrationname>``: Brings the database schema to a state where
  the named migration is applied, but no later migrations in the same app are
  applied. This may involve unapplying migrations if you have previously
  migrated past the named migration. Use the name ``zero`` to unapply all
  migrations for an app.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to migrate. Defaults to ``default``.

.. django-admin-option:: --fake

Tells Django to mark the migrations as having been applied or unapplied, but
without actually running the SQL to change your database schema.

This is intended for advanced users to manipulate the
current migration state directly if they're manually applying changes;
be warned that using ``--fake`` runs the risk of putting the migration state
table into a state where manual recovery will be needed to make migrations
run correctly.

.. django-admin-option:: --fake-initial

Allows Django to skip an app's initial migration if all database tables with
the names of all models created by all
:class:`~django.db.migrations.operations.CreateModel` operations in that
migration already exist. This option is intended for use when first running
migrations against a database that preexisted the use of migrations. This
option does not, however, check for matching database schema beyond matching
table names and so is only safe to use if you are confident that your existing
schema matches what is recorded in your initial migration.

.. django-admin-option:: --run-syncdb

Allows creating tables for apps without migrations. While this isn't
recommended, the migrations framework is sometimes too slow on large projects
with hundreds of models.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts. An example prompt is asking about removing stale
content types.

``runserver``
-------------

.. django-admin:: runserver [addrport]

Starts a lightweight development Web server on the local machine. By default,
the server runs on port 8000 on the IP address ``127.0.0.1``. You can pass in an
IP address and port number explicitly.

If you run this script as a user with normal privileges (recommended), you
might not have access to start a port on a low port number. Low port numbers
are reserved for the superuser (root).

This server uses the WSGI application object specified by the
:setting:`WSGI_APPLICATION` setting.

DO NOT USE THIS SERVER IN A PRODUCTION SETTING. It has not gone through
security audits or performance tests. (And that's how it's gonna stay. We're in
the business of making Web frameworks, not Web servers, so improving this
server to be able to handle a production environment is outside the scope of
Django.)

The development server automatically reloads Python code for each request, as
needed. You don't need to restart the server for code changes to take effect.
However, some actions like adding files don't trigger a restart, so you'll
have to restart the server in these cases.

If you are using Linux and install `pyinotify`_, kernel signals will be used to
autoreload the server (rather than polling file modification timestamps each
second). This offers better scaling to large projects, reduction in response
time to code modification, more robust change detection, and battery usage
reduction.

.. _pyinotify: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyinotify/

When you start the server, and each time you change Python code while the
server is running, the system check framework will check your entire Django
project for some common errors (see the :djadmin:`check` command). If any
errors are found, they will be printed to standard output.

You can run as many concurrent servers as you want, as long as they're on
separate ports. Just execute ``django-admin runserver`` more than once.

Note that the default IP address, ``127.0.0.1``, is not accessible from other
machines on your network. To make your development server viewable to other
machines on the network, use its own IP address (e.g. ``192.168.2.1``) or
``0.0.0.0`` or ``::`` (with IPv6 enabled).

You can provide an IPv6 address surrounded by brackets
(e.g. ``[200a::1]:8000``). This will automatically enable IPv6 support.

A hostname containing ASCII-only characters can also be used.

If the :doc:`staticfiles</ref/contrib/staticfiles>` contrib app is enabled
(default in new projects) the :djadmin:`runserver` command will be overridden
with its own :ref:`runserver<staticfiles-runserver>` command.

If :djadmin:`migrate` was not previously executed, the table that stores the
history of migrations is created at first run of ``runserver``.

Logging of each request and response of the server is sent to the
:ref:`django-server-logger` logger.

.. django-admin-option:: --noreload

Disables the auto-reloader. This means any Python code changes you make while
the server is running will *not* take effect if the particular Python modules
have already been loaded into memory.

.. django-admin-option:: --nothreading

Disables use of threading in the development server. The server is
multithreaded by default.

.. django-admin-option:: --ipv6, -6

Uses IPv6 for the development server. This changes the default IP address from
``127.0.0.1`` to ``::1``.

Examples of using different ports and addresses
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Port 8000 on IP address ``127.0.0.1``::

    django-admin runserver

Port 8000 on IP address ``1.2.3.4``::

    django-admin runserver 1.2.3.4:8000

Port 7000 on IP address ``127.0.0.1``::

    django-admin runserver 7000

Port 7000 on IP address ``1.2.3.4``::

    django-admin runserver 1.2.3.4:7000

Port 8000 on IPv6 address ``::1``::

    django-admin runserver -6

Port 7000 on IPv6 address ``::1``::

    django-admin runserver -6 7000

Port 7000 on IPv6 address ``2001:0db8:1234:5678::9``::

    django-admin runserver [2001:0db8:1234:5678::9]:7000

Port 8000 on IPv4 address of host ``localhost``::

    django-admin runserver localhost:8000

Port 8000 on IPv6 address of host ``localhost``::

    django-admin runserver -6 localhost:8000

Serving static files with the development server
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By default, the development server doesn't serve any static files for your site
(such as CSS files, images, things under :setting:`MEDIA_URL` and so forth). If
you want to configure Django to serve static media, read
:doc:`/howto/static-files/index`.

``sendtestemail``
-----------------

.. django-admin:: sendtestemail [email [email ...]]

Sends a test email (to confirm email sending through Django is working) to the
recipient(s) specified. For example::

    django-admin sendtestemail foo@example.com bar@example.com

There are a couple of options, and you may use any combination of them
together:

.. django-admin-option:: --managers

Mails the email addresses specified in :setting:`MANAGERS` using
:meth:`~django.core.mail.mail_managers()`.

.. django-admin-option:: --admins

Mails the email addresses specified in :setting:`ADMINS` using
:meth:`~django.core.mail.mail_admins()`.

``shell``
---------

.. django-admin:: shell

Starts the Python interactive interpreter.

.. django-admin-option:: --interface {ipython,bpython,python}, -i {ipython,bpython,python}

Specifies the shell to use. By default, Django will use IPython_ or bpython_ if
either is installed. If both are installed, specify which one you want like so:

IPython::

    django-admin shell -i ipython

bpython::

    django-admin shell -i bpython

If you have a "rich" shell installed but want to force use of the "plain"
Python interpreter, use ``python`` as the interface name, like so::

    django-admin shell -i python

.. _IPython: https://ipython.org/
.. _bpython: http://bpython-interpreter.org/

.. django-admin-option:: --nostartup

Disables reading the startup script for the "plain" Python interpreter. By
default, the script pointed to by the :envvar:`PYTHONSTARTUP` environment
variable or the ``~/.pythonrc.py`` script is read.

.. django-admin-option:: --command COMMAND, -c COMMAND

Lets you pass a command as a string to execute it as Django, like so::

    django-admin shell --command="import django; print(django.__version__)"

You can also pass code in on standard input to execute it. For example:

.. code-block:: console

    $ django-admin shell <<EOF
    > import django
    > print(django.__version__)
    > EOF

On Windows, the REPL is output due to implementation limits of
:func:`select.select` on that platform.

.. versionchanged:: 1.11

    In older versions, the REPL is also output on UNIX systems.

``showmigrations``
------------------

.. django-admin:: showmigrations [app_label [app_label ...]]

Shows all migrations in a project. You can choose from one of two formats:

.. django-admin-option:: --list, -l

Lists all of the apps Django knows about, the migrations available for each
app, and whether or not each migration is applied (marked by an ``[X]`` next to
the migration name).

Apps without migrations are also listed, but have ``(no migrations)`` printed
under them.

This is the default output format.

.. django-admin-option:: --plan, -p

Shows the migration plan Django will follow to apply migrations. Like
``--list``, applied migrations are marked by an ``[X]``. For a ``--verbosity``
of 2 and above, all dependencies of a migration will also be shown.

``app_label``\s arguments limit the output, however, dependencies of provided
apps may also be included.

.. versionchanged:: 1.11

    In older versions, ``showmigrations --plan`` ignores app labels.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to examine. Defaults to ``default``.

``sqlflush``
------------

.. django-admin:: sqlflush

Prints the SQL statements that would be executed for the :djadmin:`flush`
command.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database for which to print the SQL. Defaults to ``default``.

``sqlmigrate``
--------------

.. django-admin:: sqlmigrate app_label migration_name

Prints the SQL for the named migration. This requires an active database
connection, which it will use to resolve constraint names; this means you must
generate the SQL against a copy of the database you wish to later apply it on.

Note that ``sqlmigrate`` doesn't colorize its output.

.. django-admin-option:: --backwards

Generates the SQL for unapplying the migration. By default, the SQL created is
for running the migration in the forwards direction.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database for which to generate the SQL. Defaults to ``default``.

``sqlsequencereset``
--------------------

.. django-admin:: sqlsequencereset app_label [app_label ...]

Prints the SQL statements for resetting sequences for the given app name(s).

Sequences are indexes used by some database engines to track the next available
number for automatically incremented fields.

Use this command to generate SQL which will fix cases where a sequence is out
of sync with its automatically incremented field data.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database for which to print the SQL. Defaults to ``default``.

``squashmigrations``
--------------------

.. django-admin:: squashmigrations app_label [start_migration_name] migration_name

Squashes the migrations for ``app_label`` up to and including ``migration_name``
down into fewer migrations, if possible. The resulting squashed migrations
can live alongside the unsquashed ones safely. For more information,
please read :ref:`migration-squashing`.

When ``start_migration_name`` is given, Django will only include migrations
starting from and including this migration. This helps to mitigate the
squashing limitation of :class:`~django.db.migrations.operations.RunPython` and
:class:`django.db.migrations.operations.RunSQL` migration operations.

.. django-admin-option:: --no-optimize

Disables the optimizer when generating a squashed migration. By default, Django
will try to optimize the operations in your migrations to reduce the size of
the resulting file. Use this option if this process is failing or creating
incorrect migrations, though please also file a Django bug report about the
behavior, as optimization is meant to be safe.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts.

``startapp``
------------

.. django-admin:: startapp name [directory]

Creates a Django app directory structure for the given app name in the current
directory or the given destination.

By default the directory created contains a ``models.py`` file and other app
template files. (See the `source`_ for more details.) If only the app
name is given, the app directory will be created in the current working
directory.

If the optional destination is provided, Django will use that existing
directory rather than creating a new one. You can use '.' to denote the current
working directory.

For example::

    django-admin startapp myapp /Users/jezdez/Code/myapp

.. _custom-app-and-project-templates:

.. django-admin-option:: --template TEMPLATE

Provides the path to a directory with a custom app template file or a path to a
compressed file (``.tar.gz``, ``.tar.bz2``, ``.tgz``, ``.tbz``, ``.zip``)
containing the app template files.

For example, this would look for an app template in the given directory when
creating the ``myapp`` app::

    django-admin startapp --template=/Users/jezdez/Code/my_app_template myapp

Django will also accept URLs (``http``, ``https``, ``ftp``) to compressed
archives with the app template files, downloading and extracting them on the
fly.

For example, taking advantage of GitHub's feature to expose repositories as
zip files, you can use a URL like::

    django-admin startapp --template=https://github.com/githubuser/django-app-template/archive/master.zip myapp

.. django-admin-option:: --extension EXTENSIONS, -e EXTENSIONS

Specifies which file extensions in the app template should be rendered with the
template engine. Defaults to ``py``.

.. django-admin-option:: --name FILES, -n FILES

Specifies which files in the app template (in addition to those matching
``--extension``) should be rendered with the template engine. Defaults to an
empty list.

The :class:`template context <django.template.Context>` used for all matching
files is:

- Any option passed to the ``startapp`` command (among the command's supported
  options)
- ``app_name`` -- the app name as passed to the command
- ``app_directory`` -- the full path of the newly created app
- ``camel_case_app_name`` -- the app name in camel case format
- ``docs_version`` -- the version of the documentation: ``'dev'`` or ``'1.x'``

.. _render_warning:

.. warning::

    When the app template files are rendered with the Django template
    engine (by default all ``*.py`` files), Django will also replace all
    stray template variables contained. For example, if one of the Python files
    contains a docstring explaining a particular feature related
    to template rendering, it might result in an incorrect example.

    To work around this problem, you can use the :ttag:`templatetag`
    templatetag to "escape" the various parts of the template syntax.

    In addition, to allow Python template files that contain Django template
    language syntax while also preventing packaging systems from trying to
    byte-compile invalid ``*.py`` files, template files ending with ``.py-tpl``
    will be renamed to ``.py``.

.. _source: https://github.com/django/django/tree/master/django/conf/app_template/

``startproject``
----------------

.. django-admin:: startproject name [directory]

Creates a Django project directory structure for the given project name in
the current directory or the given destination.

By default, the new directory contains ``manage.py`` and a project package
(containing a ``settings.py`` and other files). See the `template source`_ for
details.

If only the project name is given, both the project directory and project
package will be named ``<projectname>`` and the project directory
will be created in the current working directory.

If the optional destination is provided, Django will use that existing
directory as the project directory, and create ``manage.py`` and the project
package within it. Use '.' to denote the current working directory.

For example::

    django-admin startproject myproject /Users/jezdez/Code/myproject_repo

.. django-admin-option:: --template TEMPLATE

Specifies a directory, file path, or URL of a custom project template. See the
:option:`startapp --template` documentation for examples and usage.

.. django-admin-option:: --extension EXTENSIONS, -e EXTENSIONS

Specifies which file extensions in the project template should be rendered with
the template engine. Defaults to ``py``.

.. django-admin-option:: --name FILES, -n FILES

Specifies which files in the project template (in addition to those matching
``--extension``) should be rendered with the template engine. Defaults to an
empty list.

The :class:`template context <django.template.Context>` used is:

- Any option passed to the ``startproject`` command (among the command's
  supported options)
- ``project_name`` -- the project name as passed to the command
- ``project_directory`` -- the full path of the newly created project
- ``secret_key`` -- a random key for the :setting:`SECRET_KEY` setting
- ``docs_version`` -- the version of the documentation: ``'dev'`` or ``'1.x'``

Please also see the :ref:`rendering warning <render_warning>` as mentioned
for :djadmin:`startapp`.

.. _`template source`: https://github.com/django/django/tree/master/django/conf/project_template/

``test``
--------

.. django-admin:: test [test_label [test_label ...]]

Runs tests for all installed apps. See :doc:`/topics/testing/index` for more
information.

.. django-admin-option:: --failfast

Stops running tests and reports the failure immediately after a test fails.

.. django-admin-option:: --testrunner TESTRUNNER

Controls the test runner class that is used to execute tests. This value
overrides the value provided by the :setting:`TEST_RUNNER` setting.

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts. A typical prompt is a warning about deleting an
existing test database.

Test runner options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ``test`` command receives options on behalf of the specified
:option:`--testrunner`. These are the options of the default test runner:
:class:`~django.test.runner.DiscoverRunner`.

.. django-admin-option:: --keepdb, -k

Preserves the test database between test runs. This has the advantage of
skipping both the create and destroy actions which can greatly decrease the
time to run tests, especially those in a large test suite. If the test database
does not exist, it will be created on the first run and then preserved for each
subsequent run. Any unapplied migrations will also be applied to the test
database before running the test suite.

.. django-admin-option:: --reverse, -r

Sorts test cases in the opposite execution order. This may help in debugging
the side effects of tests that aren't properly isolated. :ref:`Grouping by test
class <order-of-tests>` is preserved when using this option.

.. django-admin-option:: --debug-mode

.. versionadded:: 1.11

Sets the :setting:`DEBUG` setting to ``True`` prior to running tests. This may
help troubleshoot test failures.

.. django-admin-option:: --debug-sql, -d

Enables :ref:`SQL logging <django-db-logger>` for failing tests. If
``--verbosity`` is ``2``, then queries in passing tests are also output.

.. django-admin-option:: --parallel [N]

Runs tests in separate parallel processes. Since modern processors have
multiple cores, this allows running tests significantly faster.

By default ``--parallel`` runs one process per core according to
:func:`multiprocessing.cpu_count()`. You can adjust the number of processes
either by providing it as the option's value, e.g. ``--parallel=4``, or by
setting the ``DJANGO_TEST_PROCESSES`` environment variable.

Django distributes test cases — :class:`unittest.TestCase` subclasses — to
subprocesses. If there are fewer test cases than configured processes, Django
will reduce the number of processes accordingly.

Each process gets its own database. You must ensure that different test cases
don't access the same resources. For instance, test cases that touch the
filesystem should create a temporary directory for their own use.

This option requires the third-party ``tblib`` package to display tracebacks
correctly:

.. code-block:: console

    $ pip install tblib

This feature isn't available on Windows. It doesn't work with the Oracle
database backend either.

If you want to use :mod:`pdb` while debugging tests, you must disable parallel
execution (``--parallel=1``). You'll see something like ``bdb.BdbQuit`` if you
don't.

.. warning::

    When test parallelization is enabled and a test fails, Django may be
    unable to display the exception traceback. This can make debugging
    difficult. If you encounter this problem, run the affected test without
    parallelization to see the traceback of the failure.

    This is a known limitation. It arises from the need to serialize objects
    in order to exchange them between processes. See
    :ref:`python:pickle-picklable` for details.

.. option:: --tag TAGS

Runs only tests :ref:`marked with the specified tags <topics-tagging-tests>`.
May be specified multiple times and combined with :option:`test --exclude-tag`.

.. option:: --exclude-tag EXCLUDE_TAGS

Excludes tests :ref:`marked with the specified tags <topics-tagging-tests>`.
May be specified multiple times and combined with :option:`test --tag`.

``testserver``
--------------

.. django-admin:: testserver [fixture [fixture ...]]

Runs a Django development server (as in :djadmin:`runserver`) using data from
the given fixture(s).

For example, this command::

    django-admin testserver mydata.json

...would perform the following steps:

1. Create a test database, as described in :ref:`the-test-database`.
2. Populate the test database with fixture data from the given fixtures.
   (For more on fixtures, see the documentation for :djadmin:`loaddata` above.)
3. Runs the Django development server (as in :djadmin:`runserver`), pointed at
   this newly created test database instead of your production database.

This is useful in a number of ways:

* When you're writing :doc:`unit tests </topics/testing/overview>` of how your views
  act with certain fixture data, you can use ``testserver`` to interact with
  the views in a Web browser, manually.

* Let's say you're developing your Django application and have a "pristine"
  copy of a database that you'd like to interact with. You can dump your
  database to a fixture (using the :djadmin:`dumpdata` command, explained
  above), then use ``testserver`` to run your Web application with that data.
  With this arrangement, you have the flexibility of messing up your data
  in any way, knowing that whatever data changes you're making are only
  being made to a test database.

Note that this server does *not* automatically detect changes to your Python
source code (as :djadmin:`runserver` does). It does, however, detect changes to
templates.

.. django-admin-option:: --addrport ADDRPORT

Specifies a different port, or IP address and port, from the default of
``127.0.0.1:8000``. This value follows exactly the same format and serves
exactly the same function as the argument to the :djadmin:`runserver` command.

Examples:

To run the test server on port 7000 with ``fixture1`` and ``fixture2``::

    django-admin testserver --addrport 7000 fixture1 fixture2
    django-admin testserver fixture1 fixture2 --addrport 7000

(The above statements are equivalent. We include both of them to demonstrate
that it doesn't matter whether the options come before or after the fixture
arguments.)

To run on 1.2.3.4:7000 with a ``test`` fixture::

    django-admin testserver --addrport 1.2.3.4:7000 test

.. django-admin-option:: --noinput, --no-input

Suppresses all user prompts. A typical prompt is a warning about deleting an
existing test database.

Commands provided by applications
=================================

Some commands are only available when the ``django.contrib`` application that
:doc:`implements </howto/custom-management-commands>` them has been
:setting:`enabled <INSTALLED_APPS>`. This section describes them grouped by
their application.

``django.contrib.auth``
-----------------------

``changepassword``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: changepassword [<username>]

This command is only available if Django's :doc:`authentication system
</topics/auth/index>` (``django.contrib.auth``) is installed.

Allows changing a user's password. It prompts you to enter a new password twice
for the given user. If the entries are identical, this immediately becomes the
new password. If you do not supply a user, the command will attempt to change
the password whose username matches the current user.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to query for the user. Defaults to ``default``.

Example usage::

    django-admin changepassword ringo

``createsuperuser``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: createsuperuser

This command is only available if Django's :doc:`authentication system
</topics/auth/index>` (``django.contrib.auth``) is installed.

Creates a superuser account (a user who has all permissions). This is
useful if you need to create an initial superuser account or if you need to
programmatically generate superuser accounts for your site(s).

When run interactively, this command will prompt for a password for
the new superuser account. When run non-interactively, no password
will be set, and the superuser account will not be able to log in until
a password has been manually set for it.

.. django-admin-option:: --username USERNAME
.. django-admin-option:: --email EMAIL

The username and email address for the new account can be supplied by
using the ``--username`` and ``--email`` arguments on the command
line. If either of those is not supplied, ``createsuperuser`` will prompt for
it when running interactively.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database into which the superuser object will be saved.

You can subclass the management command and override ``get_input_data()`` if you
want to customize data input and validation. Consult the source code for
details on the existing implementation and the method's parameters. For example,
it could be useful if you have a ``ForeignKey`` in
:attr:`~django.contrib.auth.models.CustomUser.REQUIRED_FIELDS` and want to
allow creating an instance instead of entering the primary key of an existing
instance.

``django.contrib.contenttypes``
-------------------------------

``remove_stale_contenttypes``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: remove_stale_contenttypes

.. versionadded:: 1.11

This command is only available if Django's :doc:`contenttypes app
</ref/contrib/contenttypes>` (:mod:`django.contrib.contenttypes`) is installed.

Deletes stale content types (from deleted models) in your database. Any objects
that depend on the deleted content types will also be deleted. A list of
deleted objects will be displayed before you confirm it's okay to proceed with
the deletion.

.. django-admin-option:: --database DATABASE

Specifies the database to use. Defaults to ``default``.

``django.contrib.gis``
----------------------

``ogrinspect``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if :doc:`GeoDjango </ref/contrib/gis/index>`
(``django.contrib.gis``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <ogrinspect>` in the GeoDjango
documentation.

``django.contrib.sessions``
---------------------------

``clearsessions``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. django-admin:: clearsessions

Can be run as a cron job or directly to clean out expired sessions.

``django.contrib.sitemaps``
---------------------------

``ping_google``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`Sitemaps framework
</ref/contrib/sitemaps>` (``django.contrib.sitemaps``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <ping_google>` in the Sitemaps
documentation.

``django.contrib.staticfiles``
------------------------------

``collectstatic``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`static files application
</howto/static-files/index>` (``django.contrib.staticfiles``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <collectstatic>` in the
:doc:`staticfiles </ref/contrib/staticfiles>` documentation.

``findstatic``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This command is only available if the :doc:`static files application
</howto/static-files/index>` (``django.contrib.staticfiles``) is installed.

Please refer to its :djadmin:`description <findstatic>` in the :doc:`staticfiles
</ref/contrib/staticfiles>` documentation.

Default options
===============

.. program:: None

Although some commands may allow their own custom options, every command
allows for the following options:

.. django-admin-option:: --pythonpath PYTHONPATH

Adds the given filesystem path to the Python `import search path`_. If this
isn't provided, ``django-admin`` will use the ``PYTHONPATH`` environment
variable.

This option is unnecessary in ``manage.py``, because it takes care of setting
the Python path for you.

Example usage::

    django-admin migrate --pythonpath='/home/djangoprojects/myproject'

.. _import search path: http://www.diveintopython3.net/your-first-python-program.html#importsearchpath

.. django-admin-option:: --settings SETTINGS

Specifies the settings module to use. The settings module should be in Python
package syntax, e.g. ``mysite.settings``. If this isn't provided,
``django-admin`` will use the ``DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE`` environment variable.

This option is unnecessary in ``manage.py``, because it uses
``settings.py`` from the current project by default.

Example usage::

    django-admin migrate --settings=mysite.settings

.. django-admin-option:: --traceback

Displays a full stack trace when a :exc:`~django.core.management.CommandError`
is raised. By default, ``django-admin`` will show a simple error message when a
``CommandError`` occurs and a full stack trace for any other exception.

Example usage::

    django-admin migrate --traceback

.. django-admin-option:: --verbosity {0,1,2,3}, -v {0,1,2,3}

Specifies the amount of notification and debug information that a command
should print to the console.

* ``0`` means no output.
* ``1`` means normal output (default).
* ``2`` means verbose output.
* ``3`` means *very* verbose output.

Example usage::

    django-admin migrate --verbosity 2

.. django-admin-option:: --no-color

Disables colorized command output.  Some commands format their output to be
colorized. For example, errors will be printed to the console in red and SQL
statements will be syntax highlighted.

Example usage::

    django-admin runserver --no-color

Extra niceties
==============

.. _syntax-coloring:

Syntax coloring
---------------

The ``django-admin`` / ``manage.py`` commands will use pretty
color-coded output if your terminal supports ANSI-colored output. It
won't use the color codes if you're piping the command's output to
another program.

Under Windows, the native console doesn't support ANSI escape sequences so by
default there is no color output. But you can install the `ANSICON`_
third-party tool, the Django commands will detect its presence and will make
use of its services to color output just like on Unix-based platforms.

The colors used for syntax highlighting can be customized. Django
ships with three color palettes:

* ``dark``, suited to terminals that show white text on a black
  background. This is the default palette.

* ``light``, suited to terminals that show black text on a white
  background.

* ``nocolor``, which disables syntax highlighting.

You select a palette by setting a ``DJANGO_COLORS`` environment
variable to specify the palette you want to use. For example, to
specify the ``light`` palette under a Unix or OS/X BASH shell, you
would run the following at a command prompt::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="light"

You can also customize the colors that are used. Django specifies a
number of roles in which color is used:

* ``error`` - A major error.
* ``notice`` - A minor error.
* ``success`` - A success.
* ``warning`` - A warning.
* ``sql_field`` - The name of a model field in SQL.
* ``sql_coltype`` - The type of a model field in SQL.
* ``sql_keyword`` - An SQL keyword.
* ``sql_table`` - The name of a model in SQL.
* ``http_info`` - A 1XX HTTP Informational server response.
* ``http_success`` - A 2XX HTTP Success server response.
* ``http_not_modified`` - A 304 HTTP Not Modified server response.
* ``http_redirect`` - A 3XX HTTP Redirect server response other than 304.
* ``http_not_found`` - A 404 HTTP Not Found server response.
* ``http_bad_request`` - A 4XX HTTP Bad Request server response other than 404.
* ``http_server_error`` - A 5XX HTTP Server Error response.
* ``migrate_heading`` - A heading in a migrations management command.
* ``migrate_label`` - A migration name.

Each of these roles can be assigned a specific foreground and
background color, from the following list:

* ``black``
* ``red``
* ``green``
* ``yellow``
* ``blue``
* ``magenta``
* ``cyan``
* ``white``

Each of these colors can then be modified by using the following
display options:

* ``bold``
* ``underscore``
* ``blink``
* ``reverse``
* ``conceal``

A color specification follows one of the following patterns:

* ``role=fg``
* ``role=fg/bg``
* ``role=fg,option,option``
* ``role=fg/bg,option,option``

where ``role`` is the name of a valid color role, ``fg`` is the
foreground color, ``bg`` is the background color and each ``option``
is one of the color modifying options. Multiple color specifications
are then separated by a semicolon. For example::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="error=yellow/blue,blink;notice=magenta"

would specify that errors be displayed using blinking yellow on blue,
and notices displayed using magenta. All other color roles would be
left uncolored.

Colors can also be specified by extending a base palette. If you put
a palette name in a color specification, all the colors implied by that
palette will be loaded. So::

    export DJANGO_COLORS="light;error=yellow/blue,blink;notice=magenta"

would specify the use of all the colors in the light color palette,
*except* for the colors for errors and notices which would be
overridden as specified.

.. _ANSICON: http://adoxa.altervista.org/ansicon/

Bash completion
---------------

If you use the Bash shell, consider installing the Django bash completion
script, which lives in ``extras/django_bash_completion`` in the Django
distribution. It enables tab-completion of ``django-admin`` and
``manage.py`` commands, so you can, for instance...

* Type ``django-admin``.
* Press [TAB] to see all available options.
* Type ``sql``, then [TAB], to see all available options whose names start
  with ``sql``.

See :doc:`/howto/custom-management-commands` for how to add customized actions.

==========================================
Running management commands from your code
==========================================

.. function:: django.core.management.call_command(name, *args, **options)

To call a management command from code use ``call_command``.

``name``
  the name of the command to call or a command object. Passing the name is
  preferred unless the object is required for testing.

``*args``
  a list of arguments accepted by the command. Arguments are passed to the
  argument parser, so you can use the same style as you would on the command
  line. For example, ``call_command('flush', 'verbosity=0')``.

``**options``
  named options accepted on the command-line. Options are passed to the command
  without triggering the argument parser, which means you'll need to pass the
  correct type. For example, ``call_command('flush', verbosity=0)`` (zero must
  be an integer rather than a string).

Examples::

      from django.core import management
      from django.core.management.commands import loaddata

      management.call_command('flush', verbosity=0, interactive=False)
      management.call_command('loaddata', 'test_data', verbosity=0)
      management.call_command(loaddata.Command(), 'test_data', verbosity=0)

Note that command options that take no arguments are passed as keywords
with ``True`` or ``False``, as you can see with the ``interactive`` option above.

Named arguments can be passed by using either one of the following syntaxes::

      # Similar to the command line
      management.call_command('dumpdata', '--natural-foreign')

      # Named argument similar to the command line minus the initial dashes and
      # with internal dashes replaced by underscores
      management.call_command('dumpdata', natural_foreign=True)

      # `use_natural_foreign_keys` is the option destination variable
      management.call_command('dumpdata', use_natural_foreign_keys=True)

Some command options have different names when using ``call_command()`` instead
of ``django-admin`` or ``manage.py``. For example, ``django-admin
createsuperuser --no-input`` translates to ``call_command('createsuperuser',
interactive=False)``. To find what keyword argument name to use for
``call_command()``, check the command's source code for the ``dest`` argument
passed to ``parser.add_argument()``.

Command options which take multiple options are passed a list::

      management.call_command('dumpdata', exclude=['contenttypes', 'auth'])

The return value of the ``call_command()`` function is the same as the return
value of the ``handle()`` method of the command.

Output redirection
==================

Note that you can redirect standard output and error streams as all commands
support the ``stdout`` and ``stderr`` options. For example, you could write::

    with open('/path/to/command_output') as f:
        management.call_command('dumpdata', stdout=f)