The system check framework is a set of static checks for validating Django projects. It detects common problems and provides hints for how to fix them. The framework is extensible so you can easily add your own checks.
For details on how to add your own checks and integrate them with Django’s system checks, see the System check topic guide.
CheckMessage
¶The warnings and errors raised by system checks must be instances of
CheckMessage
. An instance encapsulates a single reportable error or
warning. It also provides context and hints applicable to the message, and a
unique identifier that is used for filtering purposes.
Constructor arguments are:
level
DEBUG
,
INFO
, WARNING
, ERROR
, CRITICAL
. If the level is greater or
equal to ERROR
, then Django will prevent management commands from
executing. Messages with level lower than ERROR
(i.e. warnings) are
reported to the console, but can be silenced.msg
hint
None
can be used.obj
__str__()
method.
The method is used while reporting all messages and its result precedes the
message.id
applabel.X001
, where X
is one of the letters
CEWID
, indicating the message severity (C
for criticals, E
for
errors and so). The number can be allocated by the application, but should
be unique within that application.There are subclasses to make creating messages with common levels easier. When
using them you can omit the level
argument because it is implied by the
class name.
Django’s system checks are organized using the following tags:
admin
: Checks of any admin site declarations.caches
: Checks cache related configuration.compatibility
: Flags potential problems with version upgrades.database
: Checks database-related configuration issues. Database checks
are not run by default because they do more than static code analysis as
regular checks do. They are only run by the migrate
command or if
you specify the database
tag when calling the check
command.models
: Checks of model, field, and manager definitions.security
: Checks security related configuration.signals
: Checks on signal declarations and handler registrations.staticfiles
: Checks django.contrib.staticfiles
configuration.templates
: Checks template related configuration.urls
: Checks URL configuration.Some checks may be registered with multiple tags.
Compatibility checks warn of potential problems that might occur after upgrading Django.
<pattern>
has a route
that contains
(?P<
, begins with a ^
, or ends with a $
. This was likely an
oversight when migrating from url()
to path()
.The following checks verify that your CACHES
setting is correctly
configured:
'default'
cache in your
CACHES
setting.If you’re using MySQL, the following checks will be performed:
CharField
s to have a
max_length
> 255."__"
.pk
is a reserved word that cannot be used as a field
name.choices
must be an iterable (e.g., a list or tuple).choices
must be an iterable returning (actual value,
human readable name)
tuples.db_index
must be None
, True
or False
.null=True
.validators
must be callable.AutoField
s must set primary_key=True.BooleanField
s do not accept null values. This check
appeared before support for null values was added in Django 2.1.CharField
s must define a max_length
attribute.max_length
must be a positive integer.max_length
is ignored when used with IntegerField
.DecimalField
s must define a decimal_places
attribute.decimal_places
must be a non-negative integer.DecimalField
s must define a max_digits
attribute.max_digits
must be a non-negative integer.max_digits
must be greater or equal to decimal_places
.FilePathField
s must have either allow_files
or
allow_folders
set to True.GenericIPAddressField
s cannot accept blank values if
null values are not allowed, as blank values are stored as nulls.auto_now
, auto_now_add
, and default
are mutually exclusive. Only one of these options may be present.<database>
does not support a database index on
<field data type>
columns.IPAddressField
has been removed except for support in
historical migrations.IPAddressField
has been deprecated. Support for it
(except in historical migrations) will be removed in Django 1.9. This check
appeared in Django 1.7 and 1.8.CommaSeparatedIntegerField
has been deprecated. Support
for it (except in historical migrations) will be removed in Django 2.0. This
check appeared in Django 1.10 and 1.11.CommaSeparatedIntegerField
is removed except for support
in historical migrations.unique
is not a valid argument for a FileField
.
This check is removed in Django 1.11.primary_key
is not a valid argument for a FileField
.FileField
’s upload_to
argument must be a relative
path, not an absolute path.ImageField
because Pillow is not installed.<swappable>
is not of the form app_label.app_name
.<SETTING>
references <model>
, which has not been
installed, or is abstract.<app_label>.<model>
.id
can only be used as a field name if the field also
sets primary_key=True
.<field name>
from parent model <model>
clashes with the field <field name>
from parent model <model>
.<field name>
from model
<model>
.<field name>
has column name <column name>
that is used by another field.index_together
must be a list or tuple.index_together
elements must be lists or tuples.unique_together
must be a list or tuple.unique_together
elements must be lists or tuples.indexes/index_together/unique_together
refers to the
nonexistent field <field name>
.indexes/index_together/unique_together
refers to a
ManyToManyField
<field name>
, but ManyToManyField
s are not
supported for that option.ordering
must be a tuple or list (even if you want to
order by only one field).ordering
refers to the nonexistent field
<field name>
.indexes/index_together/unique_together
refers to field
<field_name>
which is not local to model <model>
.<model>
contains model fields.<field>
.
Maximum length is <maximum length>
for database <alias>
.<M2M field>
. Maximum length is <maximum length>
for database
<alias>
.<model>.check()
class method is currently overridden.ordering
and order_with_respect_to
cannot be used
together.<function>
contains a lazy reference to
<app label>.<model>
, but app <app label>
isn’t installed or
doesn’t provide model <model>
.<model>
cannot start or end with an
underscore as it collides with the query lookup syntax.<model>
cannot contain double underscores
as it collides with the query lookup syntax.<property name>
clashes with a related
field accessor.primary_key=True
.The security checks do not make your site secure. They do not audit code, do intrusion detection, or do anything particularly complex. Rather, they help perform an automated, low-hanging-fruit checklist. They help you remember the simple things that improve your site’s security.
Some of these checks may not be appropriate for your particular deployment
configuration. For instance, if you do your HTTP to HTTPS redirection in a load
balancer, it’d be irritating to be constantly warned about not having enabled
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT
. Use SILENCED_SYSTEM_CHECKS
to
silence unneeded checks.
The following checks are run if you use the check --deploy
option:
django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware
in your
MIDDLEWARE
so the SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS
,
SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF
, SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER
,
and SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT
settings will have no effect.django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware
in your
MIDDLEWARE
, so your pages will not be served with an
'x-frame-options'
header. Unless there is a good reason for your
site to be served in a frame, you should consider enabling this
header to help prevent clickjacking attacks.django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware
is not in your
MIDDLEWARE
). Enabling the middleware is the safest
approach to ensure you don’t leave any holes.SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS
setting. If your entire site is served only
over SSL, you may want to consider setting a value and enabling HTTP
Strict Transport Security. Be sure to read
the documentation first; enabling HSTS carelessly can cause serious,
irreversible problems.SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS
setting to True
. Without this,
your site is potentially vulnerable to attack via an insecure connection to a
subdomain. Only set this to True
if you are certain that all subdomains of
your domain should be served exclusively via SSL.SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF
setting is not
set to True
, so your pages will not be served with an
'x-content-type-options: nosniff'
header. You should consider enabling
this header to prevent the browser from identifying content types incorrectly.SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER
setting is not
set to True
, so your pages will not be served with an
'x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block'
header. You should consider enabling
this header to activate the browser’s XSS filtering and help prevent XSS
attacks.SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT
setting is not set to
True
. Unless your site should be available over both SSL and non-SSL
connections, you may want to either set this setting to True
or configure
a load balancer or reverse-proxy server to redirect all connections to HTTPS.SECRET_KEY
has less than 50 characters or
less than 5 unique characters. Please generate a long and random
SECRET_KEY
, otherwise many of Django’s security-critical features will be
vulnerable to attack.django.contrib.sessions
in your
INSTALLED_APPS
but you have not set
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE
to True
. Using a secure-only session
cookie makes it more difficult for network traffic sniffers to hijack user
sessions.django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware
in your
MIDDLEWARE
, but you have not set SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE
to True
. Using a secure-only session cookie makes it more difficult for
network traffic sniffers to hijack user sessions.SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE
is not set to True
.
Using a secure-only session cookie makes it more difficult for network traffic
sniffers to hijack user sessions.django.contrib.sessions
in your
INSTALLED_APPS
, but you have not set
SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
to True
. Using an HttpOnly
session
cookie makes it more difficult for cross-site scripting attacks to hijack user
sessions.django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware
in your
MIDDLEWARE
, but you have not set SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
to True
. Using an HttpOnly
session cookie makes it more difficult for
cross-site scripting attacks to hijack user sessions.SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
is not set to True
.
Using an HttpOnly
session cookie makes it more difficult for cross-site
scripting attacks to hijack user sessions.CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE
is not set to True
.
Using a secure-only CSRF cookie makes it more difficult for network traffic
sniffers to steal the CSRF token.CSRF_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
is not set to True
.
Using an HttpOnly
CSRF cookie makes it more difficult for cross-site
scripting attacks to steal the CSRF token. This check is removed in Django
1.11 as the CSRF_COOKIE_HTTPONLY
setting offers no pratical
benefit.DEBUG
set to True
in
deployment.django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware
in your
MIDDLEWARE
, but X_FRAME_OPTIONS
is not set to
'DENY'
. The default is 'SAMEORIGIN'
, but unless there is a good reason
for your site to serve other parts of itself in a frame, you should change
it to 'DENY'
.ALLOWED_HOSTS
must not be empty in deployment.SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD
setting to True
. Without this, your site
cannot be submitted to the browser preload list.<handler>
was connected to the <signal>
signal with
a lazy reference to the sender <app label>.<model>
, but app <app label>
isn’t installed or doesn’t provide model <model>
.The following checks are performed on your URL configuration:
<pattern>
uses
include()
with a route
ending with a $
. Remove the
dollar from the route
to avoid problems including URLs.<pattern>
has a route
beginning with
a /
. Remove this slash as it is unnecessary. If this pattern is targeted
in an include()
, ensure the include()
pattern has a trailing /
.<pattern>
has a name
including a :
. Remove the colon, to avoid ambiguous namespace
references.<pattern>
is invalid. Ensure that
urlpatterns
is a list of path()
and/or
re_path()
instances.<namespace>
isn’t unique. You may not be
able to reverse all URLs in this namespace.MEDIA_URL
/ STATIC_URL
setting must
end with a slash.contrib
app checks¶admin
¶Admin checks are all performed as part of the admin
tag.
The following checks are performed on any
ModelAdmin
(or subclass) that is registered
with the admin site:
raw_id_fields
must be a list or tuple.raw_id_fields[n]
refers to <field name>
,
which is not an attribute of <model>
.raw_id_fields[n]
must be a foreign key or
a many-to-many field.fields
must be a list or tuple.fieldsets
and fields
are specified.fields
contains duplicate field(s).fieldsets
must be a list or tuple.fieldsets[n]
must be a list or tuple.fieldsets[n]
must be of length 2.fieldsets[n][1]
must be a dictionary.fieldsets[n][1]
must contain the key
fields
.fieldsets[n][1]
.fields[n]/fieldsets[n][m]
cannot include the
ManyToManyField
<field name>
, because that field manually specifies a
relationship model.exclude
must be a list or tuple.exclude
contains duplicate field(s).form
must inherit from BaseModelForm
.filter_vertical
must be a list or tuple.filter_horizontal
must be a list or tuple.filter_vertical[n]/filter_vertical[n]
refers
to <field name>
, which is not an attribute of <model>
.filter_vertical[n]/filter_vertical[n]
must
be a many-to-many field.radio_fields
must be a dictionary.radio_fields
refers to <field name>
,
which is not an attribute of <model>
.radio_fields
refers to <field name>
,
which is not a ForeignKey
, and does not have a choices
definition.radio_fields[<field name>]
must be either
admin.HORIZONTAL
or admin.VERTICAL
.view_on_site
must be either a callable or a
boolean value.prepopulated_fields
must be a dictionary.prepopulated_fields
refers to
<field name>
, which is not an attribute of <model>
.prepopulated_fields
refers to
<field name>
, which must not be a DateTimeField
, a ForeignKey
,
a OneToOneField
, or a ManyToManyField
field.prepopulated_fields[<field name>]
must be a
list or tuple.prepopulated_fields
refers to
<field name>
, which is not an attribute of <model>
.ordering
must be a list or tuple.ordering
has the random ordering marker
?
, but contains other fields as well.ordering
refers to <field name>
, which
is not an attribute of <model>
.readonly_fields
must be a list or tuple.readonly_fields[n]
is not a callable, an
attribute of <ModelAdmin class>
, or an attribute of <model>
.autocomplete_fields
must be a list or tuple.autocomplete_fields[n]
refers to
<field name>
, which is not an attribute of <model>
.autocomplete_fields[n]
must be a foreign
key or a many-to-many field.<model>
has to be registered to be
referenced by <modeladmin>.autocomplete_fields
.<modeladmin>
must define search_fields
, because
it’s referenced by <other_modeladmin>.autocomplete_fields
.ModelAdmin
¶The following checks are performed on any
ModelAdmin
that is registered
with the admin site:
save_as
must be a boolean.save_on_top
must be a boolean.inlines
must be a list or tuple.<InlineModelAdmin class>
must inherit from
InlineModelAdmin
.<InlineModelAdmin class>
must have a model
attribute.<InlineModelAdmin class>.model
must be a
Model
.list_display
must be a list or tuple.list_display[n]
refers to <label>
,
which is not a callable, an attribute of <ModelAdmin class>
, or an
attribute or method on <model>
.list_display[n]
must not be a
ManyToManyField
field.list_display_links
must be a list, a tuple,
or None
.list_display_links[n]
refers to <label>
,
which is not defined in list_display
.list_filter
must be a list or tuple.list_filter[n]
must inherit from
ListFilter
.list_filter[n]
must not inherit from
FieldListFilter
.list_filter[n][1]
must inherit from
FieldListFilter
.list_filter[n]
refers to <label>
,
which does not refer to a Field.list_select_related
must be a boolean,
tuple or list.list_per_page
must be an integer.list_max_show_all
must be an integer.list_editable
must be a list or tuple.list_editable[n]
refers to <label>
,
which is not an attribute of <model>
.list_editable[n]
refers to <label>
,
which is not contained in list_display
.list_editable[n]
cannot be in both
list_editable
and list_display_links
.list_editable[n]
refers to the first field
in list_display
(<label>
), which cannot be used unless
list_display_links
is set.list_editable[n]
refers to <field name>
,
which is not editable through the admin.search_fields
must be a list or tuple.date_hierarchy
refers to <field name>
,
which does not refer to a Field.date_hierarchy
must be a DateField
or
DateTimeField
.<modeladmin>
must define a has_<foo>_permission()
method for the <action>
action.InlineModelAdmin
¶The following checks are performed on any
InlineModelAdmin
that is registered as an
inline on a ModelAdmin
.
<field name>
, because it is the
foreign key to the parent model <app_label>.<model>
.<model>
has no ForeignKey
to <parent model>
./
<model>
has more than one ForeignKey
to <parent model>
.extra
must be an integer.max_num
must be an integer.min_num
must be an integer.formset
must inherit from
BaseModelFormSet
.GenericInlineModelAdmin
¶The following checks are performed on any
GenericInlineModelAdmin
that is
registered as an inline on a ModelAdmin
.
'ct_field'
references <label>
, which is not a field
on <model>
.'ct_fk_field'
references <label>
, which is not a
field on <model>
.<model>
has no GenericForeignKey
.<model>
has no GenericForeignKey
using content type
field <field name>
and object ID field <field name>
.AdminSite
¶The following checks are performed on the default
AdminSite
:
django.contrib.contenttypes
must be in
INSTALLED_APPS
in order to use the admin application.django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth
must be in TEMPLATES
in order to use the admin application.auth
¶REQUIRED_FIELDS
must be a list or tuple.USERNAME_FIELD
for a custom user
model must not be included in REQUIRED_FIELDS
.<field>
must be unique because it is named as the
USERNAME_FIELD
.<field>
is named as the USERNAME_FIELD
, but it is not
unique.<codename>
clashes with a builtin
permission for model <model>
.<codename>
is duplicated for model
<model>
.verbose_name
of model <model>
must be at most
244 characters for its builtin permission names
to be at most 255 characters.<name>
of model <model>
is longer
than 255 characters.<User model>.is_anonymous
must be an attribute or property
rather than a method. Ignoring this is a security issue as anonymous users
will be treated as authenticated!<User model>.is_authenticated
must be an attribute or
property rather than a method. Ignoring this is a security issue as anonymous
users will be treated as authenticated!contenttypes
¶The following checks are performed when a model contains a
GenericForeignKey
or
GenericRelation
:
GenericForeignKey
object ID references the
nonexistent field <field>
.GenericForeignKey
content type references the
nonexistent field <field>
.<field>
is not a ForeignKey
.<field>
is not a ForeignKey
to
contenttypes.ContentType
.postgres
¶The following checks are performed on django.contrib.postgres
model
fields:
<field>
default should be a callable instead of an
instance so that it’s not shared between all field instances.sites
¶The following checks are performed on any model using a
CurrentSiteManager
:
CurrentSiteManager
could not find a field named
<field name>
.CurrentSiteManager
cannot use <field>
as it is not a
foreign key or a many-to-many field.staticfiles
¶The following checks verify that django.contrib.staticfiles
is correctly
configured:
STATICFILES_DIRS
setting is not a tuple
or list.STATICFILES_DIRS
setting should not
contain the STATIC_ROOT
setting.Oct 31, 2018