How to use the django-patterns agent skill for Django

What the django-patterns skill makes the agent do

The skill contains instructions and code examples for Django architecture, Django REST Framework API design, ORM practices, caching, signals, middleware and production-level applications. It covers project layout, splitting settings into base, development and production files, designing custom user and product models, writing reusable queryset helpers, and configuring production security options such as secure cookies and HTTPS redirects.

The skill only supplies guidance. It does not run anything by itself, and the package includes a single file, SKILL.md. The agent reads that file and uses it as a reference when it writes or reviews your Django code.

• Suggests a project layout with config/settings split into base.py, development.py, production.py and test.py
• Shows a custom User model extending AbstractUser with email as the login field
• Shows a Product model with indexes and a check constraint on price
• Provides QuerySet methods such as active(), with_category(), with_tags() and in_stock() that use select_related and prefetch_related to avoid repeated database queries
• Lists production settings such as SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT, SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE, CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE and HSTS options

Install the django-patterns skill

Download the ZIP for the skill from this page. Unzip it into one of two locations. Use ~/.claude/skills/ to make the skill available to all your projects, or use .claude/skills/ inside a specific project to make it available only there.

If you use the Claude apps instead of a local folder, you can upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into .claude/skills/ in your project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill is meant to apply when your request matches its scope. Its own list of triggers covers building Django web applications, designing APIs with Django REST Framework, working with the Django ORM and models, configuring project structure, and implementing caching, signals or middleware.

Name the Django task and the outcome you want. Mentioning your database, your environment or your existing project layout helps the agent choose the right pattern.

• Set up a Django project with separate development and production settings
• Design a custom user model where users log in with email
• Review my Product model and suggest indexes and constraints
• Refactor this view so it stops making one query per product
• Add a DRF API for my orders app and follow Django best practices

Example: reuse a queryset helper

The skill's queryset pattern lets you chain small, named filters instead of repeating query logic across views. A custom QuerySet is attached to the model with ProductQuerySet.as_manager(), and each method returns a filtered or optimised query.

The skill's example usage chains three helpers together. Ask the agent to apply the same approach to your own models and it will follow this structure.

What you need before you start

The skill assumes you already work with Python and Django. Its guidance applies to Django and Django REST Framework projects. The example database configuration uses PostgreSQL, and some examples reference the packages whitenoise, django-cors-headers and django-debug-toolbar. If your project does not use these, adapt the examples rather than copying them.

The skill is not suitable for projects built on other frameworks such as Flask or FastAPI, because the patterns do not apply to them.

• Python and Django
• Django REST Framework, for API patterns
• PostgreSQL, for the example database settings
• whitenoise, django-cors-headers and django-debug-toolbar, if you use the examples as written

Safety notes and what to adapt

The skill runs no scripts and makes no network requests. The risk lies in applying its examples without thinking. Placeholders must be changed for your environment, including ALLOWED_HOSTS and the log file path, which the example sets to /var/log/django/django.log. The example settings also read values such as the secret key and database credentials from environment variables, so you need to provide those yourself.

Review every change the agent makes to settings and security configuration, and test the result before deploying it.

• Replace ALLOWED_HOSTS with your real domain names
• Change the log file path to a location your server can write to
• Provide the environment variables the settings read, such as DJANGO_SECRET_KEY and the database variables
• Test production settings such as SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT in a staging environment before going live