django-subadmin

django-subadmin lets a ModelAdmin live under another ModelAdmin. When related objects have outgrown an inline, a SubAdmin gives them their own list and change pages, with search, filters, and pagination scoped to a parent object. Subadmins can be nested several levels deep.

Compatibility

The package version follows the oldest Django version supported by that line. The 5.2 release drops support for Django before 5.2 and Python before 3.10.

Installation

pip install django-subadmin

Add subadmin to INSTALLED_APPS so Django can find its templates:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # Django's contrib apps and your own apps...
    "subadmin",
]

Example

The test app has a Parent model with related Child objects. Django's inline admin would put the children on the parent's form; a SubAdmin gives each parent its own child changelist instead.

# models.py
from django.db import models


class Parent(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)


class Child(models.Model):
    parent = models.ForeignKey(Parent, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)

# admin.py
from django.contrib import admin
from subadmin import RootSubAdmin, SubAdmin

from .models import Child, Parent


class ChildAdmin(SubAdmin):
    model = Child


@admin.register(Parent)
class ParentAdmin(RootSubAdmin):
    subadmins = (ChildAdmin,)

Open a parent in the admin and follow the link to its child admin. The child pages show only records for that parent. The parent foreign key is set automatically when adding a child and omitted from the nested form.

The test app models and admin configuration also show deeper nesting. Their workflows are covered by integration tests, which you can run from a source checkout with:

python -m django test tests --settings=tests.settings

Screenshots

The parent change page links to its child admin.

The child changelist contains only that parent's children.

The child add form omits the parent foreign key, which is set automatically.

Labels

Set subadmin_label to change a subadmin link and its collection breadcrumbs without renaming the model:

class ChildAdmin(SubAdmin):
    model = Child
    subadmin_label = "Members"

The default is the model's verbose_name_plural. Object breadcrumbs and other model names keep their usual Django wording. Override get_subadmin_label(request) if the label needs to vary by request.

Upgrading from 3.2

Parent objects are now loaded through the parent admin's get_object() method, so custom get_queryset() filters affect nested pages. Each parent in the URL must also pass that admin's has_view_or_change_permission(request, obj) check. A parent hidden by the queryset returns 404; a visible parent without permission returns 403. Child permissions alone no longer grant access through a parent.

If you need the previous direct model lookup while adapting a project, set:

SUBADMIN_USE_DIRECT_PARENT_LOOKUP = True

This changes how parents are loaded, but does not skip the parent permission check.

Custom overrides of get_parent_instance() and get_subadmin_helper() need to accept request as their first argument after self. Their signatures are now get_parent_instance(self, request, parent_id) and get_subadmin_helper(self, request, view_args, object_id=None).

SubAdmin wraps forms to validate parent-scoped fields. If you override get_form() or get_changelist_form(), call super() so that wrapping still runs.