sqladmin-inline

SQLAdmin Inline is an extension for sqladmin that brings Django-style inline editing to your SQLAlchemy models. It allows you to manage related records (one-to-many) directly within the parent model's form.

Works fully offline. Every asset is either bundled with this package (SortableJS, the inline JS/CSS) or already shipped by sqladmin (Bootstrap/Tabler, Font Awesome, jQuery, select2, flatpickr). Nothing is loaded from a CDN, so the admin keeps working inside a VPN or on an isolated network. This is enforced by the test-suite.

Features

• Add / edit in a modal, bulk delete with confirmation
• AJAX search, pagination and "Load more"
• Drag-and-drop ordering (order_field)
• Layouts: center (under the form) or sidebar (right column)
• Async and sync SQLAlchemy session makers
• Same security as sqladmin's edit page: authentication_backend, is_accessible, can_edit, check_can_edit and form_edit_query all apply to inline endpoints
• Works with sqladmin's base_url and behind reverse proxies (root_path)

Installation

pip install sqladmin-inline

Quick start

from fastapi import FastAPI
from sqladmin import Admin
from sqladmin_inline import InlineModelAdmin, ModelViewWithInlines, setup_inline_routes


class TagInline(InlineModelAdmin, model=Tag):
    inline_label = "Tags"
    icon = "fa-solid fa-tag"
    layout = "sidebar"
    order_field = "position"            # integer column -> drag-and-drop
    column_list = [Tag.name]
    column_searchable_list = [Tag.name]
    form_excluded_columns = [Tag.post, Tag.position]
    page_size = 5


class CommentInline(InlineModelAdmin, model=Comment):
    inline_label = "Comments"
    icon = "fa-solid fa-comments"
    column_default_sort = ("id", True)   # newest first
    column_list = [Comment.body, Comment.author]
    column_labels = {Comment.body: "Text"}
    form_columns = [Comment.body, Comment.author]   # FK select for author
    can_edit = False


class PostAdmin(ModelViewWithInlines, model=Post):
    column_list = [Post.id, Post.title]
    inlines = [TagInline, CommentInline]


app = FastAPI()
admin = Admin(app, engine)
setup_inline_routes(admin)   # registers endpoints, templates and static files
admin.add_view(PostAdmin)

InlineModelAdmin options

If the form contains the relationship to the parent, it is pre-selected when adding a row, and the parent passed in the URL always wins on create. Most projects simply exclude it (form_excluded_columns = [Tag.post]).

HTTP endpoints

All are relative to the admin mount point and protected like the parent's edit page:

GET    /{identity}/inline/{inline}/{parent_pk}/list      table fragment (?page=&search=)
GET    /{identity}/inline/{inline}/{parent_pk}/form      form fragment (?pk= to edit)
POST   /{identity}/inline/{inline}/{parent_pk}/save      create/update (422 + form on errors)
DELETE /{identity}/inline/{inline}/{parent_pk}/delete    {"pks": [...]}
POST   /{identity}/inline/{inline}/{parent_pk}/reorder   {"pks": [...]} in the new order
GET    /_inline/static/...                               bundled JS/CSS

Compatibility

Python ≥ 3.10, SQLAlchemy ≥ 2.0, sqladmin ≥ 0.25 (tested with 0.25, 0.28, 0.30, 0.32). On sqladmin ≥ 0.31 the official edit_context hook is used; older versions get a thin wrapper around the edit route that keeps sqladmin's own handler.

Development

task sync     # uv sync with demo/tests/lint groups
task test     # unit + HTTP + security + offline checks (async and sync sessions)
task e2e      # headless browser test (needs node), external network blocked
task lint     # pre-commit: ruff, black, mypy, bandit
task demo     # http://localhost:8000/admin

Licenses

SortableJS (MIT) is bundled; its license is in sqladmin_inline/statics/licenses/.