Overview

This skill sets up Django for HTTPS development with virtual environments and local SSL certificates.

Artifacts Builder

To set up Django for HTTPS development with virtual environments and local SSL certificates, follow these steps:

1. Verify/Install Python
2. Create Virtual Environment
3. Install Django and Dependencies
4. Create Django Project
5. Set Up HTTPS
6. Configure settings.py
7. Create a health API
8. Add import and URL routes to urls.py
9. Apply Initial Migrations
10. Test HTTPS Server
11. Create .gitignore

Step 1: Verify/Install Python

Check for Python 3.8 - 3.13

Check all available Python versions: Detect the operating system by running uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo %OS% 2>/dev/null || ver

Execute the platform-specific command based on the detected system.

# macOS/Linux
for v in 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13; do
  if command -v python$v >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "✅ Python $v found: $(python$v --version)"
  else
    echo "❌ Python $v not found"
  fi
done

# Windows
$versions = 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13
foreach ($v in $versions) {
    try {
        $output = py -$v --version 2>$null
        if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
            Write-Host "✅ Python $v found: $output"
        } else {
            Write-Host "❌ Python $v not found"
        }
    } catch {
        Write-Host "❌ Python $v not found"
    }
}

Strategy:

• If you have any Python 3.8 - 3.13, use the highest version
• If no compatible Python found, install Python 3.13

Install Python 3.13 (if needed)

No compatible Python? See platform-specific installation:

• macOS → platform-install/macos.md
• Ubuntu/Debian → platform-install/linux-ubuntu.md
• Fedora/RHEL → platform-install/linux-fedora.md
• Windows → platform-install/windows.md

Verify installation:

python3.13 --version  # or python3.12, python3.11, etc.
which python3.13      # macOS/Linux
where python          # Windows

---

Step 2: Create Virtual Environment

Create venv with your Python version:

# Use highest available version
python3.13 -m venv venv  # macOS/Linux
py -3.13 -m venv venv    # Windows

# Or use default python3
python3 -m venv venv

Verify creation:

ls venv/bin/activate     # macOS/Linux - should exist
dir venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows - should exist

Errors? See troubleshooting/venv-issues.md

---

Step 3: Install Django and Dependencies

Activate virtual environment and upgrade pip:

# macOS/Linux
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip

# Windows (PowerShell)
venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install --upgrade pip

# Windows (CMD)
venv\Scripts\activate.bat
pip install --upgrade pip

Install core dependencies:

pip install Django python-dotenv djangorestframework

What's installed:

• Django - Web framework
• python-dotenv - Environment variable management (for secrets)
• djangorestframework - REST API toolkit (optional but recommended)

Update requirements.txt:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

Installation issues? See troubleshooting/pip-problems.md

---

Step 4: Create Django Project

Create project in current directory (flat structure):

django-admin startproject backend .

Important: The . creates the project in your current directory, not a subdirectory.

Verify creation:

ls manage.py  # Should exist
ls backend/settings.py  # Should exist

---

Step 5: Set Up HTTPS with mkcert

Detect Operating System

Detect the operating system if you have not done it yet by running:

uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo %OS% 2>/dev/null || ver

Platform-Specific Instructions

Follow the instructions for your operating system:

• macOS → platform-https/mkcert-https-setup-macos.md
• Ubuntu/Debian (Linux) → platform-https/mkcert-https-setup-linux.md
• Windows → platform-https/mkcert-https-setup-windows.md

What these guides cover:

1. Installing mkcert
2. Installing local certificate authority
3. Creating SSL certificates directory
4. Installing Uvicorn (ASGI server with SSL support)
5. Updating requirements.txt
6. Creating platform-specific run script (run.sh or run.bat)

Note: Replace backend with your project name if different in the run scripts.

Create VS Code launch configuration:**

For debugging in VS Code, create .vscode/launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Django HTTPS (Uvicorn)",
      "type": "debugpy",
      "request": "launch",
      "module": "uvicorn",
      "args": [
        "backend.asgi:application",
        "--host", "0.0.0.0",
        "--port", "8000",
        "--ssl-keyfile", "./certs/localhost+2-key.pem",
        "--ssl-certfile", "./certs/localhost+2.pem",
        "--reload"
      ],
      "django": true,
      "justMyCode": true,
      "python": "${workspaceFolder}/venv/bin/python"
    }
  ]
}

---

Step 6: Configure settings.py

Find the settings file using Glob tool with pattern "**/*settings.py"

Editing steps for settings.py:

• Add FRONTEND_URL, ALLOWED_HOSTS, CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS AND CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS
• Update INSTALLED_APPS
• Update MIDDLEWARE

Add FRONTEND_URL, ALLOWED_HOSTS, CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS AND CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS

Find the line ALLOWED_HOSTS = [] in settings.py and replace that single line with:

FRONTEND_URL = 'https://localhost:5173'

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1']

CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS = True

CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS = [
    FRONTEND_URL,
]

CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS = [
    FRONTEND_URL,
]

Update INSTALLED_APPS

Find the INSTALLED_APPS list and append the following to the end of the list:

    # Cross-Origin Resource Sharing
    'corsheaders',

    # REST API support
    'rest_framework',

Update MIDDLEWARE

Find the MIDDLEWARE list. After 'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',, add:

'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',

Critical:

• CorsMiddleware must come AFTER SessionMiddleware and BEFORE CommonMiddleware

Expected result:

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',  # ← Add here
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

---

Step 7: Create a health API

Create backend/views.py (next to settings.py/urls.py):

from django.http import JsonResponse
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
from django.middleware.csrf import get_token

def api_health(request):
    return JsonResponse({
        "status": "ok",
        "message": "Django is alive and speaking HTTPS",
    })

@csrf_exempt
def csrf_token_view(request):
    # This forces Django to generate/set the csrftoken cookie
    token = get_token(request)
    return JsonResponse({"csrftoken": token})

---

Step 8: Add import and URL routes to urls.py

first add from .views import api_health, csrf_token_view to imports and then add these endpoints to urls.py:

 path('api/health/', api_health),
 path('api/csrf/', csrf_token_view),

---

Step 9: Apply Initial Migrations

Run database migrations:

python manage.py migrate

Creates:

• db.sqlite3 database file
• Default tables for auth, admin, sessions

---

Step 10: Test HTTPS Server

Start the HTTPS server:

macOS/Linux:

./run.sh

Windows:

run.bat

Expected output:

INFO:     Started server process [12345]
INFO:     Waiting for application startup.
INFO:     Application startup complete.
INFO:     Uvicorn running on https://127.0.0.1:8000 (Press CTRL+C to quit)

Open browser and visit:

https://localhost:8000

Expected:

• ✅ Django welcome page (rocket ship)
• ✅ No certificate warnings (padlock icon shows secure)
• ✅ URL shows https:// not http://

If you see certificate warnings: mkcert CA not properly installed. Run mkcert -install again and restart browser.

Stop server: Press Ctrl+C

Issues? See mkcert-https-setup troubleshooting

---

Step 11: Create .gitignore

Strategy: Check for existing .gitignore first, then create or enhance accordingly.

Check if .gitignore already exists

First, check if .gitignore exists in the project root:

ls -la <path-to-root>/.gitignore 

Option A: No .gitignore exists

If .gitignore does not exist, create it using the script at scripts/create_gitignore.py:

# Create .gitignore in project root
python <path-to-this-skill>/django-setup/scripts/create_gitignore.py --output .

Verify creation at project root:

ls -la <path-to-root>/.gitignore    # Should exist at project root
cat <path-to-root>/.gitignore       # Review contents

Option B: .gitignore already exists

If .gitignore already exists, enhance it manually by reading both files and merging missing entries:

1. Read the existing .gitignore to understand what's already covered
2. Read the template at .claude/skills/django-setup/examples/.gitignore-template
3. Compare both files to identify missing entries from the template
4. Use the Edit tool to append missing sections/entries to the existing .gitignore, preserving the existing content
5. Avoid duplicates - only add entries that don't already exist (case-insensitive comparison)

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