Gremoire

How to Create a Django Application Using Poetry ​

Modern Python development encourages using tools that handle dependency management and environment isolation effectively. Poetry is one of the most popular solutions today. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a Django application from scratch using Poetry.

What Is Poetry? ​

Poetry is a modern dependency and packaging manager for Python. It simplifies managing virtual environments, installing dependencies, and building your Python projects.

Prerequisites ​

  • Python 3.7 or higher
  • Poetry installed
  • Basic command line knowledge

Step 1: Install Poetry ​

If you haven’t installed Poetry yet, run:

bash
curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -

After installation, restart your terminal and check:

bash
poetry --version

Step 2: Create a New Poetry Project ​

Create your project folder:

bash
poetry new mysite
cd mysite

This creates a new directory mysite/ with the following structure:

mysite/
├── mysite/
│   └── __init__.py
├── tests/
│   └── __init__.py
├── pyproject.toml

Step 3: Add Django as a Dependency ​

Tell Poetry to install Django:

bash
poetry add django

Poetry updates your pyproject.toml file and installs Django inside a virtual environment.

Step 4: Activate the Virtual Environment ​

To activate Poetry’s virtual environment, run:

bash
poetry shell

You are now inside an isolated environment with Django available.

Step 5: Create Your Django Project ​

From inside the Poetry shell, create a Django project:

bash
django-admin startproject config .

The . tells Django to use the current directory rather than creating a subfolder.

You now have:

mysite/
├── config/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   ├── asgi.py
│   └── wsgi.py
├── manage.py
├── pyproject.toml

Step 6: Run the Development Server ​

Run the initial migration and start the server:

bash
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Now visit http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser—you’re up and running!

Step 7 (Optional): Add Development Tools ​

Want code formatting and linting? Add dev dependencies like so:

bash
poetry add --group dev black flake8 isort

These tools help enforce clean code standards.

Summary of Commands ​

bash
curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -
poetry new mysite
cd mysite
poetry add django
poetry shell
django-admin startproject config .
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Final Tips ​

  • Use poetry install to install all dependencies from pyproject.toml on a new machine.
  • Use poetry add package_name to add new dependencies.
  • Manage Python version with poetry env use python3.x if needed.

By combining the power of Django with the modern tooling of Poetry, you get a cleaner, more maintainable development experience. This setup is ideal for solo projects, startups, and even enterprise applications.