Project Structure

Understand the files Django generates and what each one does.

A fresh Django project has a small, predictable layout. Knowing what each file does saves confusion later.

File	Purpose
`manage.py`	Command-line utility (runserver, migrate, etc.).
`settings.py`	All project configuration.
`urls.py`	The root URL routing table.
`wsgi.py`	Entry point for WSGI servers (production).
`asgi.py`	Entry point for ASGI/async servers.

Your project is made of one or more apps, each a self-contained folder of related features.

One project wires together many small, reusable apps.

Example

mysite/
    manage.py
    mysite/
        __init__.py
        settings.py
        urls.py
        asgi.py
        wsgi.py

When to use it

A new Django developer learns which file to edit for URL routing by understanding the project structure.
A team lead explains the purpose of manage.py and the inner config package during code onboarding.
A developer knows to add apps to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py after studying the project layout.

More examples

Project directory tree

Shows the files Django generates and the role each one plays in the project.

mysite/
  manage.py          # CLI entry point
  mysite/
    __init__.py
    settings.py        # project configuration
    urls.py            # root URL router
    asgi.py
    wsgi.py

Common manage.py commands

Lists the most frequently used manage.py sub-commands every Django developer needs daily.

python manage.py runserver
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py shell

Root urls.py wires up apps

The root URLconf delegates URL prefixes to individual app URL modules using include().

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
    path("blog/", include("blog.urls")),
]

Discussion

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