Django Verification Loop

Run before PRs, after major changes, and pre-deploy to ensure Django application quality and security.

When to Activate

• Before opening a pull request for a Django project
• After major model changes, migration updates, or dependency upgrades
• Pre-deployment verification for staging or production
• Running full environment → lint → test → security → deploy readiness pipeline
• Validating migration safety and test coverage

Phase 1: Environment Check

# Verify Python version
python --version  # Should match project requirements

# Check virtual environment
which python
pip list --outdated

# Verify environment variables
python -c "import os; import environ; print('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY set' if os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY') else 'MISSING: DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')"

If environment is misconfigured, stop and fix.

Phase 2: Code Quality & Formatting

# Type checking
mypy . --config-file pyproject.toml

# Linting with ruff
ruff check . --fix

# Formatting with black
black . --check
black .  # Auto-fix

# Import sorting
isort . --check-only
isort .  # Auto-fix

# Django-specific checks
python manage.py check --deploy

Common issues:

• Missing type hints on public functions
• PEP 8 formatting violations
• Unsorted imports
• Debug settings left in production configuration

Phase 3: Migrations

# Check for unapplied migrations
python manage.py showmigrations

# Create missing migrations
python manage.py makemigrations --check

# Dry-run migration application
python manage.py migrate --plan

# Apply migrations (test environment)
python manage.py migrate

# Check for migration conflicts
python manage.py makemigrations --merge  # Only if conflicts exist

Report:

• Number of pending migrations
• Any migration conflicts
• Model changes without migrations

Phase 4: Tests + Coverage

# Run all tests with pytest
pytest --cov=apps --cov-report=html --cov-report=term-missing --reuse-db

# Run specific app tests
pytest apps/users/tests/

# Run with markers
pytest -m "not slow"  # Skip slow tests
pytest -m integration  # Only integration tests

# Coverage report
open htmlcov/index.html

Report:

• Total tests: X passed, Y failed, Z skipped
• Overall coverage: XX%
• Per-app coverage breakdown

Coverage targets:

Component	Target
Models	90%+
Serializers	85%+
Views	80%+
Services	90%+
Overall	80%+

Phase 5: Security Scan

# Dependency vulnerabilities
pip-audit
safety check --full-report

# Django security checks
python manage.py check --deploy

# Bandit security linter
bandit -r . -f json -o bandit-report.json

# Secret scanning (if gitleaks is installed)
gitleaks detect --source . --verbose

# Environment variable check
python -c "from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured; from django.conf import settings; settings.DEBUG"

Report:

• Vulnerable dependencies found
• Security configuration issues
• Hardcoded secrets detected
• DEBUG mode status (should be False in production)

Phase 6: Django Management Commands

# Check for model issues
python manage.py check

# Collect static files
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput --clear

# Create superuser (if needed for tests)
echo "from apps.users.models import User; User.objects.create_superuser('admin@example.com', 'admin')" | python manage.py shell

# Database integrity
python manage.py check --database default

# Cache verification (if using Redis)
python -c "from django.core.cache import cache; cache.set('test', 'value', 10); print(cache.get('test'))"

Phase 7: Performance Checks

# Django Debug Toolbar output (check for N+1 queries)
# Run in dev mode with DEBUG=True and access a page
# Look for duplicate queries in SQL panel

# Query count analysis
django-admin debugsqlshell  # If django-debug-sqlshell installed

# Check for missing indexes
python manage.py shell << EOF
from django.db import connection
with connection.cursor() as cursor:
    cursor.execute("SELECT table_name, index_name FROM information_schema.statistics WHERE table_schema = 'public'")
    print(cursor.fetchall())
EOF

Report:

• Number of queries per page (should be < 50 for typical pages)
• Missing database indexes
• Duplicate queries detected

Phase 8: Static Assets

# Check for npm dependencies (if using npm)
npm audit
npm audit fix

# Build static files (if using webpack/vite)
npm run build

# Verify static files
ls -la staticfiles/
python manage.py findstatic css/style.css

Phase 9: Configuration Review

# Run in Python shell to verify settings
python manage.py shell << EOF
from django.conf import settings
import os

# Critical checks
checks = {
    'DEBUG is False': not settings.DEBUG,
    'SECRET_KEY set': bool(settings.SECRET_KEY and len(settings.SECRET_KEY) > 30),
    'ALLOWED_HOSTS set': len(settings.ALLOWED_HOSTS) > 0,
    'HTTPS enabled': getattr(settings, 'SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT', False),
    'HSTS enabled': getattr(settings, 'SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS', 0) > 0,
    'Database configured': settings.DATABASES['default']['ENGINE'] != 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
}

for check, result in checks.items():
    status = '✓' if result else '✗'
    print(f"{status} {check}")
EOF

Phase 10: Logging Configuration

# Test logging output
python manage.py shell << EOF
import logging
logger = logging.getLogger('django')
logger.warning('Test warning message')
logger.error('Test error message')
EOF

# Check log files (if configured)
tail -f /var/log/django/django.log

Phase 11: API Documentation (if DRF)

# Generate schema
python manage.py generateschema --format openapi-json > schema.json

# Validate schema
# Check if schema.json is valid JSON
python -c "import json; json.load(open('schema.json'))"

# Access Swagger UI (if using drf-yasg)
# Visit http://localhost:8000/swagger/ in browser

Phase 12: Diff Review

# Show diff statistics
git diff --stat

# Show actual changes
git diff

# Show changed files
git diff --name-only

# Check for common issues
git diff | grep -i "todo\|fixme\|hack\|xxx"
git diff | grep "print("  # Debug statements
git diff | grep "DEBUG = True"  # Debug mode
git diff | grep "import pdb"  # Debugger

Checklist:

• No debugging statements (print, pdb, breakpoint())
• No TODO/FIXME comments in critical code
• No hardcoded secrets or credentials
• Database migrations included for model changes
• Configuration changes documented
• Error handling present for external calls
• Transaction management where needed

Output Template

DJANGO VERIFICATION REPORT
==========================

Phase 1: Environment Check
  ✓ Python 3.13.x
  ✓ Virtual environment active
  ✓ All environment variables set

Phase 2: Code Quality
  ✓ mypy: No type errors
  ✗ ruff: 3 issues found (auto-fixed)
  ✓ black: No formatting issues
  ✓ isort: Imports properly sorted
  ✓ manage.py check: No issues

Phase 3: Migrations
  ✓ No unapplied migrations
  ✓ No migration conflicts
  ✓ All models have migrations

Phase 4: Tests + Coverage
  Tests: 247 passed, 0 failed, 5 skipped
  Coverage:
    Overall: 87%
    users: 92%
    products: 89%
    orders: 85%
    payments: 91%

Phase 5: Security Scan
  ✗ pip-audit: 2 vulnerabilities found (fix required)
  ✓ safety check: No issues
  ✓ bandit: No security issues
  ✓ No secrets detected
  ✓ DEBUG = False

Phase 6: Django Commands
  ✓ collectstatic completed
  ✓ Database integrity OK
  ✓ Cache backend reachable

Phase 7: Performance
  ✓ No N+1 queries detected
  ✓ Database indexes configured
  ✓ Query count acceptable

Phase 8: Static Assets
  ✓ npm audit: No vulnerabilities
  ✓ Assets built successfully
  ✓ Static files collected

Phase 9: Configuration
  ✓ DEBUG = False
  ✓ SECRET_KEY configured
  ✓ ALLOWED_HOSTS set
  ✓ HTTPS enabled
  ✓ HSTS enabled
  ✓ Database configured

Phase 10: Logging
  ✓ Logging configured
  ✓ Log files writable

Phase 11: API Documentation
  ✓ Schema generated
  ✓ Swagger UI accessible

Phase 12: Diff Review
  Files changed: 12
  +450, -120 lines
  ✓ No debug statements
  ✓ No hardcoded secrets
  ✓ Migrations included

RECOMMENDATION: ⚠️ Fix pip-audit vulnerabilities before deploying

NEXT STEPS:
1. Update vulnerable dependencies
2. Re-run security scan
3. Deploy to staging for final testing

Pre-Deployment Checklist

• All tests passing
• Coverage ≥ 80%
• No security vulnerabilities
• No unapplied migrations
• DEBUG = False in production settings
• SECRET_KEY properly configured
• ALLOWED_HOSTS set correctly
• Database backups enabled
• Static files collected and served
• Logging configured and working
• Error monitoring (Sentry, etc.) configured
• CDN configured (if applicable)
• Redis/cache backend configured
• Celery workers running (if applicable)
• HTTPS/SSL configured
• Environment variables documented

Continuous Integration

GitHub Actions Example

# .github/workflows/django-verification.yml
name: Django Verification

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  verify:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:18-alpine
        env:
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'

      - name: Cache pip
        uses: actions/cache@v3
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/pip
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          pip install ruff black mypy pytest pytest-django pytest-cov bandit safety pip-audit

      - name: Code quality checks
        run: |
          ruff check .
          black . --check
          isort . --check-only
          mypy .

      - name: Security scan
        run: |
          bandit -r . -f json -o bandit-report.json
          safety check --full-report
          pip-audit

      - name: Run tests
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/test
          DJANGO_SECRET_KEY: test-secret-key
        run: |
          pytest --cov=apps --cov-report=xml --cov-report=term-missing

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3

Quick Reference

Check	Command
Environment	python --version
Type checking	mypy .
Linting	ruff check .
Formatting	black . --check
Migrations	python manage.py makemigrations --check
Tests	pytest --cov=apps
Security	pip-audit && bandit -r .
Django check	python manage.py check --deploy
Collectstatic	python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
Diff stats	git diff --stat

Remember: Automated verification catches common issues but doesn't replace manual code review and testing in staging environment.

Related Skills

This is the Django-specific verification loop. For other frameworks or general projects:

• verification-loop — General-purpose verification for any project type (TypeScript, Go, Java, etc.)
• springboot-verification — Spring Boot-specific: Maven/Gradle build, SpotBugs, JaCoCo, OWASP