mssql-django 1.7.1

Django backend for Microsoft SQL Server

Django Backend for Microsoft SQL

mssql-django is the official Microsoft‑supported Django database backend for SQL Server, Azure SQL and SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric.

It provides a reliable, enterprise‑grade database connectivity option for the Django web framework, enabling Python developers to build and run production‑ready applications on Microsoft’s data platform.

This project is the continuation and evolution of earlier community efforts, and it builds on the strong foundation established by django-mssql-backend and its predecessors. mssql-django focuses on long‑term stability, performance, security, and compatibility with both Django and SQL Server.

Supportability

Component	Supported Versions
Django	3.2, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0
Python	3.8 – 3.14 (Django 6.0 requires 3.12+)
SQL Server	2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2025
Azure SQL	Database, Managed Instance, SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric
ODBC Driver	Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 or 18 for SQL Server
FreeTDS	Supported via FreeTDS ODBC driver

Quick Start

1. Install mssql-django (pulls in Django, pyodbc, and pytz automatically):

   pip install mssql-django
   

2. Configure your settings.py:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'mssql',
        'NAME': 'mydb',
        'USER': 'user@myserver',
        'PASSWORD': 'password',
        'HOST': 'myserver.database.windows.net',
        'PORT': '',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'driver': 'ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server',
        },
    },
}

# set this to False if you want to turn off pyodbc's connection pooling
DATABASE_CONNECTION_POOLING = False

Configuration Reference

Standard Django Settings

Setting	Type	Description
ENGINE	String	Must be "mssql"
NAME	String	Database name. Required.
HOST	String	SQL Server instance in "server\instance" format
PORT	String	Server instance port. Empty string means default port.
USER	String	Database user name. If not given, MS Integrated Security is used.
PASSWORD	String	Database user password
TOKEN	String	Access token for Azure AD auth (e.g. via azure.identity)
AUTOCOMMIT	Boolean	Set to False to disable Django's transaction management
Trusted_Connection	String	Default "yes". Set to "no" if required.

TEST Settings

Setting	Type	Description
NAME	String	Test database name. Default: "test_" + NAME
COLLATION	String	Collation for test database. Default: instance default.
DEPENDENCIES	String	Creation-order dependencies of the database
MIRROR	String	Alias of database to mirror during testing

OPTIONS

Option	Type	Default	Description
driver	String	"ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server"	ODBC driver to use. Auto-falls back to Driver 17 if 18 is not installed.
isolation_level	String	None	Transaction isolation level: READ UNCOMMITTED, READ COMMITTED, REPEATABLE READ, SNAPSHOT, or SERIALIZABLE
dsn	String	—	Named DSN, can be used instead of HOST
host_is_server	Boolean	False	Set to True to use HOST/PORT directly with FreeTDS instead of a freetds.conf dataserver name. Details
unicode_results	Boolean	False	Activate pyodbc's unicode_results feature
extra_params	String	—	Additional ODBC params ("param=value;param=value"). Use for Azure AD Authentication.
collation	String	None	Collation for text field lookups (e.g. "Chinese_PRC_CI_AS")
connection_timeout	Integer	0	Connection timeout in seconds (0 = disabled)
connection_retries	Integer	5	Number of connection retry attempts
connection_retry_backoff_time	Integer	5	Back-off time in seconds between retries
query_timeout	Integer	0	Query timeout in seconds (0 = disabled)
setencoding / setdecoding	List	—	pyodbc encoding / decoding config
return_rows_bulk_insert	Boolean	False	Allow returning rows from bulk insert. Must be False if tables have triggers.

Backend-Specific Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
DATABASE_CONNECTION_POOLING	Boolean	True	Set to False to disable pyodbc's connection pooling

Known Limitations

The following limitations apply when using SQL Server with Django:

• Altering a model field from or to AutoField at migration
• Floating point arithmetic in some annotate functions
• Annotate/exists function in order_by
• Righthand power and arithmetic with datetimes
• Timezones and timedeltas not fully supported
• Rename field/model with foreign key constraint
• Database level constraints and filtered indexes
• Date extract function
• Bulk insert with triggers and returning rows

Version-Specific Notes

Version	Notes
Django 5.1	Minor limitations with composite primary key inspection via inspectdb
Django 5.2	Tuple lookups require Django 5.2.4+ for full support. Some JSONField bulk/CASE WHEN update edge cases. See test exclusions for details.
Django 6.0	Requires Python 3.12+. All 5.2 limitations apply. Backend handles all 6.0 API changes transparently.

JSONField lookups have additional limitations — see the JSONField wiki page.

Helpful Links

Resource	Link
Wiki & Guides	mssql-django Wiki
Contributing	Contributing Guide
Code of Conduct	Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct

Still have questions?

Check the FAQ or open an issue on GitHub.

Contributing

We welcome contributions and suggestions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

All contributors are listed on GitHub: Contributor Insights

Most contributions require a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com. A CLA bot will guide you when you submit a pull request.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct.

Security

For security reporting instructions please refer to SECURITY.md.

Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.