$ python -m django --version
If Django is installed, you should see the version of your installation. If it
isn’t, you’ll get an error telling “No module named django”.
This tutorial is written for Django 6.1, which supports Python 3.12 and
later. If the Django version doesn’t match, you can refer to the tutorial for
your version of Django by using the version switcher at the bottom right corner
of this page, or update Django to the newest version. If you’re using an older
version of Python, check What Python version can I use with Django? to find a compatible
version of Django.
Where to get help:
If you’re having trouble going through this tutorial, please head over to
the Getting Help section of the FAQ.
Creating a project
If this is your first time using Django, you’ll have to take care of some
initial setup. Namely, you’ll need to auto-generate some code that establishes
a Django project – a collection of settings for an instance of Django,
including database configuration, Django-specific options and
application-specific settings.
From the command line, cd into a directory where you’d like to store your
code and run the following command to bootstrap a new Django project:
$ django-admin startproject mysite djangotutorial
This will create a directory djangotutorial with a project called
mysite inside. The directory name doesn’t matter to Django; you can rename
it to anything you like. If it didn’t work, see
Problems running django-admin.
You’ll need to avoid naming projects after built-in Python or Django
components. In particular, this means you should avoid using names like
django (which will conflict with Django itself) or test (which
conflicts with a built-in Python package).
Let’s look at what startproject created:
djangotutorial/
manage.py
mysite/
__init__.py
settings.py
urls.py
asgi.py
wsgi.py
These files are:
manage.py: A command-line utility that lets you interact with this
Django project in various ways. You can read all the details about
manage.py in django-admin and manage.py.
mysite/: A directory that is the actual Python package for your
project. Its name is the Python package name you’ll need to use to import
anything inside it (e.g. mysite.urls).
mysite/__init__.py: An empty file that tells Python that this
directory should be considered a Python package. If you’re a Python beginner,
read more about packages in the official Python docs.
mysite/settings.py: Settings/configuration for this Django
project. Django settings will tell you all about how settings
work.
mysite/urls.py: The URL declarations for this Django project; a
“table of contents” of your Django-powered site. You can read more about
URLs in URL dispatcher.
mysite/asgi.py: An entry-point for ASGI-compatible web servers to
serve your project. See How to deploy with ASGI for more details.
mysite/wsgi.py: An entry-point for WSGI-compatible web servers to
serve your project. See How to deploy with WSGI for more details.
The development server
Let’s verify your Django project works. Change into the djangotutorial
directory, if you haven’t already, and run the following commands:
$ python manage.py runserver
System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
You have unapplied migrations; your app may not work properly until they are
applied. Run 'python manage.py migrate' to apply them.
September 08, 2026 - 15:50:53
Django version 6.1, using settings 'mysite.settings'
Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
WARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production setting. Use a production WSGI or ASGI server instead.
For more information on production servers see: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.1/howto/deployment/
Ignore the warning about unapplied database migrations for now; we’ll deal
with the database shortly.
Now that the server’s running, visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/ with your web
browser. You’ll see a “Congratulations!” page, with a rocket taking off.
It worked!
You’ve started the Django development server, a lightweight web server written
purely in Python. We’ve included this with Django so you can develop things
rapidly, without having to deal with configuring a production server – such as
Apache – until you’re ready for production.
Now’s a good time to note: don’t use this server in anything resembling a
production environment. It’s intended only for use while developing. (We’re in
the business of making web frameworks, not web servers.)
(To serve the site on a different port, see the runserver
reference.)
Automatic reloading of runserver
The development server automatically reloads Python code for each request
as needed. You don’t need to restart the server for code changes to take
effect. However, some actions like adding files don’t trigger a restart,
so you’ll have to restart the server in these cases.
Creating the Polls app
Now that your environment – a “project” – is set up, you’re set to start
doing work.
Each application you write in Django consists of a Python package that follows
a certain convention. Django comes with a utility that automatically generates
the basic directory structure of an app, so you can focus on writing code
rather than creating directories.
Projects vs. apps
What’s the difference between a project and an app? An app is a web
application that does something – e.g., a blog system, a database of
public records or a small poll app. A project is a collection of
configuration and apps for a particular website. A project can contain
multiple apps. An app can be in multiple projects.
Your apps can live anywhere in your Python path. In
this tutorial, we’ll create our poll app inside the djangotutorial folder.
To create your app, make sure you’re in the same directory as manage.py
and type this command:
$ python manage.py startapp polls
Write your first view
Let’s write the first view. Open the file polls/views.py
and put the following Python code in it:
polls/views.py
from django.http import HttpResponse
def index(request):
return HttpResponse("Hello, world. You're at the polls index.")
This is the most basic view possible in Django. To access it in a browser, we
need to map it to a URL - and for this we need to define a URL configuration,
or “URLconf” for short. These URL configurations are defined inside each
Django app, and they are Python files named urls.py.
To define a URLconf for the polls app, create a file polls/urls.py
with the following content:
polls/urls.py
from django.urls import path
from . import views
urlpatterns = [
path("", views.index, name="index"),
Your app directory should now look like:
polls/
__init__.py
admin.py
apps.py
migrations/
__init__.py
models.py
tests.py
urls.py
views.py
The next step is to configure the root URLconf in the mysite project to
include the URLconf defined in polls.urls. To do this, add an import for
django.urls.include in mysite/urls.py and insert an
include() in the urlpatterns list, so you have:
mysite/urls.py
from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import include, path
urlpatterns = [
path("polls/", include("polls.urls")),
path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
The path() function expects at least two arguments:
route and view.
The include() function allows referencing other URLconfs.
Whenever Django encounters include(), it chops off whatever
part of the URL matched up to that point and sends the remaining string to the
included URLconf for further processing.
The idea behind include() is to make it easy to
plug-and-play URLs. Since polls are in their own URLconf
(polls/urls.py), they can be placed under “/polls/”, or under
“/fun_polls/”, or under “/content/polls/”, or any other path root, and the
app will still work.
When to use include()
You should always use include() when you include other URL patterns.
The only exception is admin.site.urls, which is a pre-built URLconf
provided by Django for the default admin site.
You have now wired an index view into the URLconf. Verify it’s working with
the following command:
$ python manage.py runserver
Go to http://localhost:8000/polls/ in your browser, and you should see the
text “Hello, world. You’re at the polls index.”, which you defined in the
index view.
Page not found?
If you get an error page here, check that you’re going to
http://localhost:8000/polls/ and not http://localhost:8000/.
When you’re comfortable with the basic request and response flow, read
part 2 of this tutorial to start working with the
database.
Try the FAQ — it's got answers to many common questions.
Index, Module Index, or Table of Contents
Handy when looking for specific information.
Django Discord Server
Join the Django Discord Community.
Official Django Forum
Join the community on the Django Forum.
Ticket tracker
Report bugs with Django or Django documentation in our ticket tracker.
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