django-dynconfig 0.1.0

Dynamic configuration management for Django with admin UI, type casting, and optional encryption.

django-dynconfig

Dynamic configuration management for Django. Store settings in the database, manage them through the admin, and access them with a simple API. Supports type casting, optional encryption for secrets, and caching.

Features

• Simple API — get_config("key") from anywhere in your code
• Typed values — Automatic casting to str, int, float, bool, list, or json
• Admin UI — Manage configs in Django admin with grouping, search, and filtering
• Optional encryption — Encrypt sensitive values (API keys, secrets) at rest
• Caching — Uses Django's cache framework with automatic invalidation on save/delete
• Import/Export — Management commands to move configs between environments

Quick Start

pip install django-dynconfig

Add to your INSTALLED_APPS and run migrations:

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    "dynconfig",
]

python manage.py migrate

That's it. Open the Django admin and start adding configurations, or use the API:

from dynconfig import get_config, set_config

# Set a config (creates it if it doesn't exist)
set_config("notifications.enabled", True)
set_config("billing.max_retries", 5)
set_config("billing.api_key", "sk_live_...", is_encrypted=True, group="billing")

# Get a config (typed automatically)
get_config("notifications.enabled")      # → True (bool)
get_config("billing.max_retries")        # → 5 (int)
get_config("billing.api_key")            # → "sk_live_..." (decrypted)
get_config("missing.key", default=10)    # → 10

Usage

Type Casting

Values are stored as strings in the database and cast to Python types on retrieval based on the value_type field:

value_type	Python type	Example stored	Example returned
string	str	"hello"	"hello"
integer	int	"42"	42
float	float	"3.14"	3.14
boolean	bool	"true"	True
json	dict/list	'{"a": 1}'	{"a": 1}
list	list	"a, b, c"	["a", "b", "c"]

When using set_config(), the type is auto-detected from the Python value if not specified.

Groups

Organize configs by group for cleaner admin views:

set_config("asaas.api_key", "...", group="billing")
set_config("asaas.webhook_secret", "...", group="billing")

# Get all configs in a group
from dynconfig import get_configs_by_group
billing = get_configs_by_group("billing")
# → {"asaas.api_key": "...", "asaas.webhook_secret": "..."}

Encryption

For sensitive values like API keys and secrets:

pip install django-dynconfig[encryption]

# settings.py
DYNCONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY = env("DYNCONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY")

Generate a key:

from cryptography.fernet import Fernet
print(Fernet.generate_key().decode())

Encrypted values are stored as ciphertext in the database and decrypted transparently on read. The admin shows •••••••• instead of the raw value.

Management Commands

# Export all configs to JSON
python manage.py exportconfigs -o configs.json

# Export only a specific group, excluding secrets
python manage.py exportconfigs -g billing --no-secrets -o billing.json

# Import configs (skip existing by default)
python manage.py importconfigs configs.json

# Import and overwrite existing
python manage.py importconfigs configs.json --overwrite

# Preview without changes
python manage.py importconfigs configs.json --dry-run

Settings

All settings are optional with sensible defaults:

Setting	Default	Description
DYNCONFIG_CACHE_BACKEND	"default"	Django cache backend to use
DYNCONFIG_CACHE_TIMEOUT	300	Cache TTL in seconds
DYNCONFIG_CACHE_PREFIX	"dynconfig"	Cache key prefix
DYNCONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY	None	Fernet key for encryption
DYNCONFIG_RAISE_NOT_FOUND	False	Raise ConfigNotFoundError instead of returning None

Django System Checks

Run python manage.py check to verify your configuration. dynconfig will warn you if encrypted config entries exist but DYNCONFIG_ENCRYPTION_KEY is not set.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.