dj-toml-settings ⚙️

Load Django settings from a TOML file

dj-toml-settings reads settings from a TOML file. By default, both pyproject.toml and django.toml files are parsed for settings in the [tool.django] namespace.

[tool.django]

# Paths are relative to the TOML file (unless they are absolute)
BASE_DIR = { "$path" = "." }
STATIC_ROOT = { "$path" = "staticfiles" }

# This sets the key based on the environment variable
SECRET_KEY = { "$env" = "SECRET_KEY" }

# This sets the key based on the environment variable, but has a fallback
ADMIN_URL_PATH = { "$env" = "ADMIN_URL_PATH", "$default"="admin" }

# Booleans, arrays, tables (dictionaries), integers, strings, floats, dates are all supported in TOML
DEBUG = true
ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
  "127.0.0.1",
]

# Values can be cast to a bool, int, str, float, decimal, datetime, date, time, timedelta, url, Path
SITE_ID = { "$int" = "1" }
SITE_ID = { "$value" = "1", "$type" = "int" }  # This is equivalent to the previous line

# Database and cache URLs can be parsed and converted to typical Django dictionary settings
DATABASES = { default = { "$db" = "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/dbname" } }
CACHES = { default = { "$cache" = "redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1" } }

# This is an implicit dictionary and equivalent to `COLTRANE = { TITLE = "Example blog" }`
[tool.django.COLTRANE]
TITLE = "Example blog"

# Any name can be used under the `apps` namespace to organize settings
[tool.django.apps.tailwind-cli]
TAILWIND_CLI_USE_DAISY_UI = true
TAILWIND_CLI_SRC_CSS = ".django_tailwind_cli/source.css"

# The `envs` namespace can be used for environment-specific settings, e.g. these settings are included when the `ENVIRONMENT` environment variable is "development"
[tool.django.envs.development]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = { "$insert" = "example.localhost" }

# These settings would be included when the `ENVIRONMENT` environment variable is "production"
[tool.django.envs.production]
DEBUG = false
ALLOWED_HOSTS = { "$insert" = "example.com" }

Features 🤩

Variables

Use ${SOME_VARIABLE_NAME} to use an existing setting as a value.

[tool.django]
GOOD_IPS = ["127.0.0.1"]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = "${GOOD_IPS}"  # note: this needs to be quoted as a string to be valid TOML, but will be converted into a `list`

Apps

[tool.django.apps.{ANY_NAME_HERE}] sections of the TOML file can be used to group settings together. They can be named anything. They will override any settings in [tool.django].

[tool.django.apps.tailwind-cli]
TAILWIND_CLI_USE_DAISY_UI = true
TAILWIND_CLI_SRC_CSS = ".django_tailwind_cli/source.css"

Environments

The [tool.django.envs.{ENVIRONMENT_NAME}] section of the TOML file will be used when {ENVIRONMENT_NAME} is set to the ENVIRONMENT environment variable. For example, ENVIRONMENT=production python manage.py runserver will load all settings in the [tool.django.envs.production] section. There settings will override any settings in [tool.django.apps.*] or [tool.django].

[tool.django]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["127.0.0.1"]

[tool.django.envs.development]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["example.localhost"]

[tool.django.envs.production]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["example.com"]

Special operations 😎

By default, special operations are denoted by an inline table, (aka a dictionary) with a key that starts with a $, e.g. { "$value" = "1" }.

Path

Converts a string to a Path object by using a $path key. Handles relative paths based on the location of the parsed TOML file.

[tool.django]
BASE_DIR = { "$path" = "." }
PROJECT_DIR = { "$path" = "./your_project_folder" }
REPOSITORY_DIR = { "$path" = "./.." }

Environment Variable

Retrieve variables from the environment by using an $env key. Specify an optional $default key for a fallback value.

[tool.django]
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = { "$env" = "SECRET_PASSWORD" }
SECRET_KEY = { "$env" = "SECRET_KEY", "$default" = "this-is-a-secret" }

Arrays

Add items to an array by using the $insert key.

[tool.django]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = { "$insert" = "127.0.0.1" }

Specify the index of the new item with the $index key.

[tool.django]
ALLOWED_HOSTS = { "$insert" = "127.0.0.1", "$index" = 0 }

Integer Access

Modify specific elements of an array by using numeric sub-keys. This is particularly useful for overriding individual items in a list from different sections (like envs).

[tool.django.TEMPLATES.0]
BACKEND = "django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates"
DIRS = []
APP_DIRS = true

If the array already exists, the specified index will be updated. If it does not exist, a new array will be created with the specified values.

Operators now work at any depth, which is especially useful for nested Django settings like DATABASES or CACHES.

[tool.django.DATABASES.default]
# This will insert an option into the existing default database configuration
OPTIONS = { "$insert" = "some_option" }

None

Specify None for a variable with a $none key. The value must be truthy, i.e. true or 1 (even though the value won't get used).

[tool.django]
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = { "$none" = 1 }

Value

Specifies a value for a variable.

[tool.django]
SITE_ID = { "$value" = 1 }

Two styles are supported for parsing database and cache URLs: special and cast.

Special

Use the $db or $cache operator.

[tool.django]
DATABASES = { default = { "$db" = "postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/dbname" } }
CACHES = { default = { "$cache" = "redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1" } }

Cast

Use $value and $type (useful when combining with other operators like $env).

[tool.django]
DATABASES = { default = { "$value" = "sqlite:///:memory:", "$type" = "db" } }

# Combining with environment variables
CACHES = { default = { "$env" = "REDIS_URL", "$type" = "cache" } }

$type can be used as an additional operator with any other operator.

[tool.django]
SITE_ID = { "$env" = "SITE_ID", $type = "int" }

[tool.django]
SITE_ID = { "$value" = "1", $type = "int" }

Example Integrations 💚

Django

This will override any variables defined in settings.py with settings from the TOML files.

# settings.py
from dj_toml_settings import configure_toml_settings

...

configure_toml_settings(data=globals())

nanodjango

# app.py
from pathlib import Path
from dj_toml_settings import get_toml_settings

base_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
app = Django(**get_toml_settings(base_dir=base_dir))

...

coltrane

# app.py
from pathlib import Path
from django.core.management import execute_from_command_line
from dj_toml_settings import get_toml_settings
from coltrane import initialize

base_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
wsgi = initialize(**get_toml_settings(base_dir=base_dir))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    execute_from_command_line()

...

Precedence 🔻

This is the order that files and sections are parsed (by default). The later sections override the previous settings.

1. pyproject.toml -> [tool.django]
2. pyproject.toml -> [tool.django.apps.*]
3. pyproject.toml -> [tool.django.envs.*] that match ENVIRONMENT environment variable
4. django.toml -> [tool.django]
5. django.toml -> [tool.django.apps.*]
6. django.toml -> [tool.django.envs.*] that match ENVIRONMENT environment variable

Specify a TOML file 🤓

from pathlib import Path
from dj_toml_settings import get_toml_settings

base_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
toml_settings = get_toml_settings(base_dir=base_dir, toml_settings_files=["custom-settings.toml"])
...

Test 🧪

• uv install pip install -e .[dev]
• just test

Inspiration 😍

• django-pyproject
• django-settings-toml