Getting started¶

Install¶

pip install django-data-seed

SQLite works out of the box. For other databases, install the matching extra (these just pull in the driver — see Dependencies):

pip install django-data-seed[postgres]    # psycopg
pip install django-data-seed[mysql]       # mysqlclient (MySQL & MariaDB)

Configure¶

Add the app to INSTALLED_APPS:

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    "django_data_seed",
]

That's the entire setup. No other settings are required.

Your first seed¶

# Every model in your project, 10 rows each:
python manage.py seeddata

# A specific model, 50 rows, reproducibly:
python manage.py seeddata shop.Book --count 50 --seed 42

You'll see a live pre-flight checklist, the seed plan as a dependency tree, a progress bar, and a summary table:

Pre-flight
  ✔ Database: sqlite (JSON ✓, bulk-returns-pk ✓)
  ✔ Migrations: all applied
  ✔ Schema: 6 models in sync
Seed plan — 50 rows per model
└── shop.Book
✨ 50 rows across 1 model in 0.06s (seed 42)

Watch it in action¶

A two-minute walkthrough — configuring the app, --dry-run, the main CLI flags one at a time, and a 750-row whole-project seed:

Preview before you write¶

--dry-run runs the pre-flight checks and prints the plan without inserting a single row — a fast way to see the seed order and confirm your schema is in sync:

python manage.py seeddata --dry-run

From Python¶

Everything the command does is available as a function, so seeding fits into scripts, data-migration steps, and tests:

from django_data_seed import seed

seed("shop.Book", count=50, seed=42)   # one model, reproducible
seed(count=25)                         # the whole project

See the Python API for seed(), SeedPlan, and the SeedResult it returns.

A 30-second tour¶

python manage.py seeddata shop.Author --count 20        # seed parents first
python manage.py seeddata shop.Book --count 100         # books reuse those authors
python manage.py seeddata --exclude shop.AuditLog       # whole project minus one
python manage.py seeddata --strategy create             # fresh parents, not reuse
python manage.py seeddata --locale de_DE                # localised data
python manage.py seeddata --format json                 # machine-readable summary

Next: the Features section explains what's happening under each of these.