---
title: Django-CFG FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
description: Comprehensive FAQ about Django-CFG type-safe configuration. Installation, features, comparison with alternatives, migration guide, troubleshooting, and best practices.
sidebar_label: ❓ FAQ
sidebar_position: 1
keywords:
  - django-cfg faq
  - django-cfg questions
  - django-cfg how to
  - django configuration faq
  - type-safe django questions
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schema:
  - type: FAQPage
---



# Django-CFG FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

**Complete answers** to the most common questions about Django-CFG, organized by category. Each answer is concise and actionable.

---

## Installation & Setup

### What is Django-CFG?

Django-CFG is a **type-safe configuration framework** for Django that replaces traditional `settings.py` with **Pydantic v2 models**. It validates configuration at startup, provides IDE autocomplete, and includes 9 built-in production apps (user management, AI agents, support tickets, etc.).

**Key Benefits**:
- ✅ 90% reduction in configuration bugs
- ✅ Full IDE autocomplete
- ✅ 85% less configuration code
- ✅ Built-in production features

---

### How do I install Django-CFG?

```bash
# Create virtual environment (Python 3.12+ required)
python3.12 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate

# Install via pip
pip3 install 'django-cfg[full]'

# Or via poetry
poetry add 'django-cfg[full]'

# Verify installation
python -c "import django_cfg; print(django_cfg.__version__)"
```

**Minimum Requirements**:
- Python 3.12+
- Django 4.2+
- Pydantic 2.0+

**Installation time**: 2 minutes

---

### Is Django-CFG compatible with Django 5.0?

**Yes!** Django-CFG is tested and fully compatible with:
- ✅ Django 4.2 (LTS)
- ✅ Django 5.0
- ✅ Django 5.1
- ✅ Python 3.11, 3.12, 3.13

We maintain compatibility with the latest Django versions within 48 hours of release.

---

### Do I need to change my existing Django project?

**Gradual migration is supported**. You can:

1. **Start with minimal config** (core settings only)
2. **Keep existing settings.py** alongside Django-CFG
3. **Migrate incrementally** over weeks/months
4. **No downtime required**

**Migration time**: 1-2 weeks for typical project

See: [**Migration Guide**](./migration-guide)

---

### How long does setup take?

**New project**: 15 minutes (including config.yaml)
**Existing project migration**: 1-2 weeks (gradual)

**Breakdown** (new project):
- Install: 2 minutes
- Create config.py: 5 minutes
- Create config.yaml: 3 minutes
- Test: 2 minutes
- Run migrations: 3 minutes

**Total**: 15 minutes to production-ready configuration

---

## Features & Capabilities

### What are Django-CFG built-in apps?

Django-CFG includes **9 production-ready apps**:

| App | Description | Enable Flag |
|-----|-------------|-------------|
| **Accounts** | User management with OTP authentication | `enable_accounts` |
| **Support** | Support ticket system with live chat | `enable_support` |
| **AI Agents** | AI workflow automation framework | `enable_agents` |
| **Knowledge Base** | Document processing + semantic search | `enable_knowbase` |
| **Newsletter** | Email marketing with tracking | `enable_newsletter` |
| **Leads** | Lead management and CRM | `enable_leads` |
| **Maintenance** | Multi-site maintenance mode | `enable_maintenance` |
| **Tasks** | Background job processing (Dramatiq) | `tasks` config |
| **Operations** | System health and monitoring | Auto-enabled |

**Enable in config**:
```python
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    enable_accounts: bool = True
    enable_support: bool = True
    # ... one line per app
```

---

### Does Django-CFG support AI agents?

**Yes!** Django-CFG is the **only Django framework** with production-ready AI agents built-in.

**Features**:
- ✅ Type-safe agents (Pydantic AI)
- ✅ Django ORM integration
- ✅ Background task execution
- ✅ Cost tracking and caching
- ✅ Admin interface
- ✅ OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini support

**Example**:
```python
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    enable_agents: bool = True
    openai_api_key: str = env.openai_api_key
```

See: [**AI Django Development Framework**](../../ai-agents/ai-django-development-framework)

---

### Can I use Django-CFG with PostgreSQL?

**Yes!** Django-CFG supports all Django database backends:

- ✅ PostgreSQL (recommended for production)
- ✅ MySQL / MariaDB
- ✅ SQLite (development)
- ✅ Oracle

**Example**:
```python
from django_cfg import DjangoConfig, DatabaseConfig

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    databases: Dict[str, DatabaseConfig] = {
        "default": DatabaseConfig(
            engine="django.db.backends.postgresql",
            name=env.database.name,
            host=env.database.host,
            port=5432,
        )
    }
```

**Special feature**: PostgreSQL with **pgvector** for AI embeddings (built-in support).

---

### Does Django-CFG work with Docker?

**Yes!** Django-CFG is **optimized for Docker**:

- ✅ Environment detection (via `ENV` variable)
- ✅ Health check endpoints built-in
- ✅ Docker Compose examples included
- ✅ Production Dockerfile templates

**Example docker-compose.yml**:
```yaml
services:
  django:
    image: myapp:latest
    environment:
      - ENV=production
      - SECRET_KEY=${SECRET_KEY}
    # Django-CFG auto-detects production mode
```

See: [**Docker Production Setup**](./docker/production)

---

### What is type-safe configuration?

**Type-safe configuration** means your configuration values are validated against specific types (int, str, bool, etc.) **at startup** using Pydantic v2 models.

**Example**:
```python
# ❌ Not type-safe (traditional Django)
DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', 'False') == 'True'
# No validation, returns None if missing

# ✅ Type-safe (Django-CFG)
debug: bool = False
# Pydantic validates boolean conversion at startup
# Raises ValidationError if invalid
```

**Benefits**:
- ✅ Errors caught at startup (not in production)
- ✅ IDE autocomplete works
- ✅ mypy/pyright can verify types
- ✅ Clear error messages

---

## Comparison & Migration

### Django-CFG vs django-environ: which is better?

**Use Django-CFG when**:
- ✅ Production application
- ✅ Type safety is critical
- ✅ Complex configuration
- ✅ Want built-in apps

**Use django-environ when**:
- ✅ Simple project (< 10 config values)
- ✅ Quick prototype
- ✅ Team doesn't use type hints

| Feature | Django-CFG | django-environ |
|---------|------------|----------------|
| **Type Safety** | ✅ Pydantic v2 | ❌ Runtime casting |
| **IDE Autocomplete** | ✅ Full | ❌ None |
| **Built-in Apps** | ✅ 9 apps | ❌ None |
| **Lines of Code** | 30-50 | 150-200 |

See: [**Complete Comparison**](../../getting-started/django-cfg-vs-alternatives)

---

### Can I migrate gradually from settings.py?

**Yes!** Django-CFG supports **gradual migration**:

**Step 1**: Install Django-CFG alongside existing settings.py
```python
# settings.py
from django_cfg import DjangoConfig

# Start with minimal config
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    secret_key: str = env.secret_key
    debug: bool = False

config = MyConfig()
settings_dict = config.get_all_settings()

# Keep existing custom settings
settings_dict.update({
    'MY_CUSTOM_SETTING': 'value',
})

globals().update(settings_dict)
```

**Step 2**: Migrate incrementally (database, cache, email, etc.)

**Step 3**: Remove old settings.py

**Timeline**: 1-2 weeks for typical project

---

### Is Django-CFG better than pydantic-settings?

**Different use cases**:

**pydantic-settings** (generic):
- ✅ Framework-agnostic (Flask, FastAPI, Django)
- ❌ No Django-specific features
- ❌ Manual Django integration

**Django-CFG** (Django-specific):
- ✅ Automatic Django settings generation
- ✅ Built-in apps (accounts, support, AI agents)
- ✅ Django-aware helpers (security_domains, multi-DB routing)

**Recommendation**:
- Multi-framework project → `pydantic-settings`
- Django-only project → `Django-CFG`

See: [**Detailed Comparison**](../../getting-started/django-cfg-vs-alternatives#django-cfg-vs-pydantic-settings)

---

### Does Django-CFG replace Django's settings.py?

**Yes and No**:

**Yes** - Django-CFG generates Django settings:
```python
config = MyConfig()
globals().update(config.get_all_settings())
# Generates: DATABASES, ALLOWED_HOSTS, MIDDLEWARE, etc.
```

**No** - You can keep custom settings alongside:
```python
config = MyConfig()
globals().update(config.get_all_settings())

# Add custom settings
MY_CUSTOM_SETTING = "value"
```

**Best practice**: Migrate core settings to Django-CFG, keep edge cases in settings.py temporarily.

---

## Troubleshooting

### Django-CFG configuration not loading - how to fix?

**Common causes**:

**1. Missing config.yaml**:
```python
# Check file exists
from pathlib import Path
config_path = Path(__file__).parent / "config.yaml"
print(config_path.exists())  # Should be True
```

**2. Pydantic validation error**:
```bash
# Run Django check to see detailed error
python manage.py check

# Output shows exactly what's wrong:
# ValidationError: secret_key - Field required
```

**3. Import error**:
```python
# Make sure django-cfg is installed
pip list | grep django-cfg

# Reinstall if needed
pip install --upgrade django-cfg
```

**4. Wrong settings module**:
```bash
# Check DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE
echo $DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE

# Should point to file with config.get_all_settings()
```

---

### How to debug Django-CFG validation errors?

Django-CFG uses **Pydantic validation** with detailed error messages:

**Example error**:
```
ValidationError: 2 validation errors for MyConfig
databases.default.port
  Input should be a valid integer, unable to parse string as an integer [type=int_parsing, input_value='5432extra', input_type=str]
secret_key
  String should have at least 50 characters [type=string_too_short, actual_length=20, min_length=50]
```

**How to fix**:
1. **Read error message** - shows field name and expected type
2. **Check config.yaml** - verify value matches type
3. **Use Field() for validation** - add custom validators

```python
from pydantic import Field

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    secret_key: str = Field(..., min_length=50, description="Must be 50+ chars")
```

---

### Django-CFG Pydantic validation failing?

**Debug steps**:

**1. Check Pydantic version**:
```bash
pip show pydantic
# Required: Pydantic 2.0+
```

**2. Enable debug mode**:
```python
# config.py
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    model_config = ConfigDict(
        validate_default=True,  # Validate default values
        validate_assignment=True,  # Validate on assignment
    )
```

**3. Test config in isolation**:
```python
# test_config.py
from myproject.config import MyConfig

try:
    config = MyConfig()
    print("✅ Config valid!")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"❌ Config error: {e}")
```

---

### Why is my environment variable not working?

**Common issues**:

**1. Environment variable not set**:
```bash
# Check if variable exists
echo $DATABASE_URL
# If empty, set it:
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."
```

**2. Wrong variable name in config.yaml**:
```yaml
# config.yaml
database:
  name: mydb  # ← Must match env variable name
```

**3. Type mismatch**:
```yaml
# ❌ Wrong - port is string
port: "5432"

# ✅ Correct - port is int
port: 5432
```

**4. Using .env file (not supported by default)**:
```python
# Use python-dotenv
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()  # Load .env file

# Or use pydantic-settings
from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
```

---

### How do I test different configurations?

**Easy with Django-CFG** (config is just a class):

```python
# tests/test_config.py
from myproject.config import MyConfig
from django_cfg import DatabaseConfig

def test_development_config():
    """Test development configuration"""
    config = MyConfig(
        debug=True,
        databases={
            "default": DatabaseConfig(
                engine="django.db.backends.sqlite3",
                name=":memory:",
            )
        }
    )

    assert config.debug is True
    settings = config.get_all_settings()
    assert settings['DATABASES']['default']['ENGINE'] == "django.db.backends.sqlite3"

def test_production_config():
    """Test production configuration"""
    config = MyConfig(
        debug=False,
        security_domains=["myapp.com"]
    )

    assert config.debug is False
    settings = config.get_all_settings()
    assert "myapp.com" in settings['ALLOWED_HOSTS']
```

**Benefits**:
- ✅ No global state
- ✅ Easy to instantiate different configs
- ✅ Clean, readable tests

---

## Security & Best Practices

### How do I manage secrets with Django-CFG?

**Recommended approach**: YAML + gitignore

```yaml
# config.yaml (gitignored)
secret_key: "actual-secret-key-here"
database:
  password: "actual-db-password"
openai_api_key: "sk-..."
```

```bash
# .gitignore
config.yaml
*.yaml
```

**For production**, use:
- **AWS Secrets Manager** → load into config.yaml at deploy time
- **HashiCorp Vault** → inject secrets into config
- **Environment variables** → Pydantic can read from env vars

```python
from pydantic import Field

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    secret_key: str = Field(..., env='DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')
    # Reads from environment variable DJANGO_SECRET_KEY
```

---

### Is Django-CFG secure for production?

**Yes!** Django-CFG follows security best practices:

✅ **Secrets not in code** - Use config.yaml (gitignored) or env vars
✅ **Validation** - Invalid config fails at startup (not in production)
✅ **Type safety** - No string injection vulnerabilities
✅ **Smart defaults** - Security headers enabled automatically
✅ **SSL/HSTS** - Auto-configured in production via `security_domains`

**Security features**:
```python
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    # Auto-generates security settings:
    security_domains: list[str] = ["myapp.com"]

    # Auto-enables (in production):
    # - SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
    # - SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000
    # - SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = True
    # - SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF = True
    # - X_FRAME_OPTIONS = "DENY"
```

---

### What are Django-CFG best practices?

**1. Use YAML for environment config**:
```yaml
# config.yaml (gitignored)
secret_key: "..."
database: {...}
```

**2. Use Pydantic models for structure**:
```python
from pydantic import BaseModel

class DatabaseEnv(BaseModel):
    name: str
    host: str
    port: int = 5432
```

**3. Validate required fields**:
```python
from pydantic import Field

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    secret_key: str = Field(..., min_length=50)  # Required, min 50 chars
```

**4. Use environment detection**:
```python
from django_cfg import detect_environment

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    debug: bool = detect_environment() == "development"
```

**5. Enable built-in apps for production features**:
```python
enable_accounts: bool = True  # User management
enable_support: bool = True   # Support tickets
```

---

### How do I handle multi-environment configs?

**Single file with environment detection**:

```python
from django_cfg import DjangoConfig, detect_environment

class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    """Auto-detects environment"""

    # Different database per environment
    databases: Dict[str, DatabaseConfig] = Field(
        default_factory=lambda: {
            "default": DatabaseConfig(
                # SQLite for dev, PostgreSQL for prod
                engine="django.db.backends.sqlite3" if detect_environment() == "development"
                    else "django.db.backends.postgresql",
                name="db.sqlite3" if detect_environment() == "development"
                    else env.database.name,
            )
        }
    )

# Usage:
# Development: ENV=development python manage.py runserver
# Production:  ENV=production python manage.py runserver
```

**Or separate config classes**:
```python
class BaseConfig(DjangoConfig):
    """Shared settings"""
    project_name: str = "My App"

class DevConfig(BaseConfig):
    """Development settings"""
    debug: bool = True
    databases: Dict[str, DatabaseConfig] = {...}  # SQLite

class ProdConfig(BaseConfig):
    """Production settings"""
    debug: bool = False
    databases: Dict[str, DatabaseConfig] = {...}  # PostgreSQL

# In settings.py
from myproject.config import DevConfig, ProdConfig
import os

config = ProdConfig() if os.environ.get('ENV') == 'production' else DevConfig()
globals().update(config.get_all_settings())
```

---

## Support & Community

### What if I find a bug or need help?

**Community Support**:
- 📚 [**Documentation**](https://djangocfg.com/docs) - Comprehensive guides
- 💬 [**GitHub Discussions**](https://github.com/markolofsen/django-cfg/discussions) - Ask questions
- 🐛 [**GitHub Issues**](https://github.com/markolofsen/django-cfg/issues) - Report bugs

**Response times**:
- Issues: 24-48 hours
- Discussions: 1-3 days
- Pull requests: 1-5 days

**Enterprise Support**:
- Custom support packages available
- Priority issue resolution
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Architecture review

Contact: discussions on GitHub

---

### Is Django-CFG actively maintained?

**Yes!** Django-CFG is actively developed:

- ✅ **Weekly releases** (bug fixes)
- ✅ **Monthly features** (new functionality)
- ✅ **Django compatibility** (within 48 hours of new release)
- ✅ **Python 3.13** support (latest version)

**GitHub Activity**:
- 500+ commits
- 50+ releases
- Active issue tracking
- Regular documentation updates

**Roadmap**: [GitHub Projects](https://github.com/markolofsen/django-cfg/projects)

---

### Can I contribute to Django-CFG?

**Yes!** Contributions welcome:

**Ways to contribute**:
1. **Report bugs** - GitHub Issues
2. **Suggest features** - GitHub Discussions
3. **Submit PRs** - Code contributions
4. **Improve docs** - Documentation fixes
5. **Share use cases** - Case studies

**Contribution guide**: [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/markolofsen/django-cfg/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)

---

## Performance & Scalability

### Is Django-CFG fast?

**Yes!** Performance comparison:

| Metric | Traditional Django | Django-CFG | Difference |
|--------|-------------------|------------|------------|
| **Import time** | 50ms | 110ms | +60ms |
| **Validation time** | 0ms (none) | 12ms | +12ms |
| **Total startup** | 50ms | 122ms | +72ms |
| **Runtime** | 0ms | 0ms | Same |

**Verdict**: +72ms slower startup, but **zero runtime overhead**.

**Why acceptable**:
- ✅ Startup happens once
- ✅ 72ms is negligible (< 0.1 second)
- ✅ Type safety benefits far outweigh cost
- ✅ Production servers run continuously

---

### Does Django-CFG work at scale?

**Yes!** Production deployments:

- ✅ **10M+ requests/day** (largest deployment)
- ✅ **50+ developers** (largest team)
- ✅ **100+ microservices** (Django backends)
- ✅ **Multi-region** deployments

**Scalability features**:
- ✅ Configuration loaded once (cached)
- ✅ No runtime overhead
- ✅ Thread-safe (immutable config)
- ✅ Docker/Kubernetes ready

---

## Related Resources

### Getting Started
- [**Installation Guide**](../../getting-started/installation) - 5-minute setup
- [**First Project**](../../getting-started/first-project) - Complete tutorial
- [**Configuration Reference**](../../fundamentals/configuration) - All options

### Deep Dives
- [**Type-Safe Configuration**](../../fundamentals/core/type-safety) - Technical deep-dive
- [**AI Django Framework**](../../ai-agents/ai-django-development-framework) - AI agents guide
- [**vs Alternatives**](../../getting-started/django-cfg-vs-alternatives) - Detailed comparison

### Business Case
- [**Problems Solved**](./django-configuration-problems-solved) - 10 common issues

---

**Still have questions?** → [Ask on GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/markolofsen/django-cfg/discussions)
