djicons 0.3.1

Multi-library SVG icon system for Django - like react-icons, but backend-driven

djicons

Multi-library SVG icon system for Django. Like react-icons, but 100% backend-driven.

Zero-config development. Minimal production builds.

Features

• Multi-library support: Ionicons, Heroicons, Material Symbols, Tabler, Lucide, Font Awesome
• CDN mode for development: Access all ~177,000 icons without downloading anything
• Smart collection for production: Only download the icons you actually use
• SVG inline rendering: Full CSS control, no font loading
• Namespace system: {% icon "ion:home" %}, {% icon "hero:pencil" %}
• LRU caching: Fast rendering with memory + optional Django cache
• Django 4.2 – 6.0: Fully compatible with modern Django

Installation

pip install djicons

Add to INSTALLED_APPS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'djicons',
    # ...
]

That's it! Start using icons immediately - no download required in development.

How It Works

Development (default)

Icons are fetched from CDN on demand. Zero setup, access to all ~177,000 icons.

Production

Run djicons_collect to download only the icons used in your templates:

python manage.py djicons_collect

This scans your templates, finds all {% icon %} usages, and downloads only those icons (~KBs instead of ~700MB).

Quick Start

{% load djicons %}

{# Basic usage #}
{% icon "home" %}

{# With namespace (explicit library) #}
{% icon "ion:cart-outline" %}
{% icon "hero:pencil-square" %}
{% icon "material:shopping_cart" %}
{% icon "tabler:home" %}
{% icon "lucide:settings" %}
{% icon "fa:house" %}
{% icon "fa:github-brands" %}

{# With size #}
{% icon "ion:home" size=24 %}

{# With CSS classes #}
{% icon "hero:pencil" css_class="w-5 h-5 text-blue-500" %}

{# With color #}
{% icon "ion:heart" color="#ff0000" %}
{% icon "ion:heart" fill="currentColor" %}

{# With ARIA accessibility #}
{% icon "ion:menu" aria_label="Open menu" %}

{# With data attributes #}
{% icon "ion:close" data_action="dismiss" data_target="#modal" %}

{# Store in variable #}
{% icon "ion:home" as home_icon %}
{{ home_icon }}

Available Icon Packs

Pack	Namespace	Icons	License
Ionicons	ion:	~1,400	MIT
Heroicons	hero:	~300	MIT
Material Symbols	material:	~2,500	Apache 2.0
Tabler Icons	tabler:	~5,000	MIT
Lucide	lucide:	~1,500	ISC
Font Awesome Free	fa:	~2,000	CC BY 4.0 / MIT

Total: ~12,700 icons

Font Awesome Styles

Font Awesome icons come in three styles:

{% icon "fa:house" %}              {# solid (default) #}
{% icon "fa:heart-regular" %}      {# regular/outlined #}
{% icon "fa:github-brands" %}      {# brand logos #}

Note: Font Awesome Free requires attribution. See fontawesome.com/license

Configuration

Development (CDN mode - default)

# settings.py - Development
DJICONS = {
    'MODE': 'cdn',  # Fetch from CDN (default)
}

Production (Local mode)

# settings.py - Production
DJICONS = {
    'MODE': 'local',
    'COLLECT_DIR': BASE_DIR / 'static' / 'icons',  # Where collected icons are stored
}

Full Configuration Options

DJICONS = {
    # Mode: 'cdn' (development) or 'local' (production)
    'MODE': 'cdn',

    # Default namespace for unqualified names
    'DEFAULT_NAMESPACE': 'ion',

    # Directory for collected icons (production)
    'COLLECT_DIR': BASE_DIR / 'static' / 'icons',

    # Icon packs to enable
    'PACKS': ['ionicons', 'heroicons', 'material', 'tabler', 'lucide', 'fontawesome'],

    # Custom icon directories by namespace
    'ICON_DIRS': {
        'custom': BASE_DIR / 'static' / 'my-icons',
    },

    # Return empty string for missing icons (vs raising error)
    'MISSING_ICON_SILENT': True,

    # Default CSS class for all icons
    'DEFAULT_CLASS': '',

    # Default icon size
    'DEFAULT_SIZE': None,

    # Add aria-hidden by default
    'ARIA_HIDDEN': True,

    # Semantic aliases
    'ALIASES': {
        'edit': 'hero:pencil',
        'delete': 'hero:trash',
        'add': 'ion:add-outline',
    },
}

Collecting Icons for Production

The djicons_collect command scans your templates and downloads only the icons you use:

# Per-app mode (default): saves icons into each app's static/icons/ directory
python manage.py djicons_collect

# Central mode: saves all icons to a single directory
python manage.py djicons_collect --central

# Specify custom output directory (central mode)
python manage.py djicons_collect --central --output ./static/icons

# Preview what would be downloaded (dry run)
python manage.py djicons_collect --dry-run

# Verbose output
python manage.py djicons_collect -v2

Per-app mode is ideal for modular projects — each app owns its icons and Django's staticfiles finders discover them automatically.

Custom Icon Directories

Use ICON_DIRS to load icons from your project's static directory:

from pathlib import Path

DJICONS = {
    'ICON_DIRS': {
        # Load ionicons from your static folder
        'ion': BASE_DIR / 'static' / 'ionicons' / 'dist' / 'svg',
        # Add your own custom icons
        'app': BASE_DIR / 'static' / 'icons',
    },
    # Disable bundled packs if you don't need them
    'PACKS': [],
}

Icons in ICON_DIRS take priority over bundled packs, so you can override specific icons.

Programmatic Usage

from djicons import icons, Icon, get, register
from djicons.loaders import DirectoryIconLoader

# Get an icon
icon = icons.get("ion:home")
html = icon.render(size=24, css_class="text-primary")

# Shortcut function
html = get("ion:home", size=24)

# Register custom icon
icons.register("my-icon", "<svg>...</svg>", namespace="myapp")

# Register a directory of icons
loader = DirectoryIconLoader("/path/to/icons")
icons.register_loader(loader, namespace="custom")

# Create aliases
icons.register_alias("edit", "hero:pencil")

# List icons
all_icons = icons.list_icons()
ion_icons = icons.list_icons("ion")
namespaces = icons.list_namespaces()

Icon Class API

from djicons import Icon

icon = Icon(
    name="home",
    svg_content="<svg>...</svg>",
    namespace="myapp",
    category="navigation",
    tags=["house", "main"],
)

# Render with options
html = icon.render(
    size=24,              # width & height
    width=24,             # or separate
    height=24,
    css_class="icon",     # CSS classes
    color="#000",         # CSS color
    fill="currentColor",  # SVG fill
    stroke="#000",        # SVG stroke
    aria_label="Home",    # Accessibility
    aria_hidden=True,     # Hide from screen readers
    data_action="click",  # data-* attributes
)

ERPlora Integration

For ERPlora modules:

# In your module's apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class InventoryConfig(AppConfig):
    name = 'inventory'

    def ready(self):
        from djicons.contrib.erplora import register_module_icons
        register_module_icons(self.name, self.path)

Or auto-discover all modules:

# In Django settings or ready()
from djicons.contrib.erplora import discover_module_icons

discover_module_icons("/path/to/modules")

Then use in templates:

{% icon "inventory:box" %}
{% icon "sales:receipt" %}

Template Tags Reference

{% icon %}

Render an SVG icon inline.

{% icon name [size=N] [width=N] [height=N] [css_class="..."] [color="..."] [fill="..."] [stroke="..."] [aria_label="..."] [aria_hidden=True|False] [**attrs] %}

{% icon_exists %}

Check if an icon exists.

{% icon_exists "ion:home" as has_home %}
{% if has_home %}...{% endif %}

{% icon_list %}

List available icons.

{% icon_list "ion" as ionicons %}
{% for name in ionicons %}
    {% icon name size=24 %}
{% endfor %}

{% icon_sprite %}

Render SVG sprite sheet (for advanced use).

{% icon_sprite "ion" %}

Development

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/djicons/djicons.git
cd djicons

# Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Download icon packs
python scripts/download_icons.py

# Run tests
pytest

# Run linting
ruff check .
ruff format .

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Icon packs are distributed under their respective licenses:

• Ionicons: MIT License
• Heroicons: MIT License
• Material Symbols: Apache License 2.0
• Tabler Icons: MIT License
• Lucide: ISC License
• Font Awesome Free: CC BY 4.0 (icons) / MIT (code)

Note: This project includes Material Icons by Google, licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Credits

• Inspired by react-icons
• Built for ERPlora modular ERP system
• Created by Ioan Beilic