Django Create App

A Django project can contain many apps; this lesson shows how to generate a new app with startapp and register it so Django knows to use it.

Projects vs. Apps

In Django terminology, a project is the entire website: its settings, root URL configuration, and the collection of apps that make it work. An app is a self-contained Python package that implements one specific piece of functionality, such as a blog, a polls system, or user profiles. A single project commonly contains several apps, and a well-written app can even be reused across different projects.

  • A project holds the global settings.py, the root urls.py, and the WSGI/ASGI entry points
  • An app holds its own models.py, views.py, admin.py, migrations, and (optionally) templates and urls
  • Apps are meant to be small and focused - 'one app, one job' keeps code reusable and testable

Creating an App with startapp

manage.py wraps django-admin and automatically points at your project's settings, so from inside a project directory you generate new apps with python manage.py startapp <name>. Django creates a new folder with a standard set of files ready to be filled in.

Example 1: Generate a New App

(env) $ python manage.py startapp polls

polls/
    __init__.py
    admin.py
    apps.py
    migrations/
        __init__.py
    models.py
    tests.py
    views.py
FileWhat Goes Here
models.pyDatabase table definitions (Django ORM models)
views.pyFunctions or classes that handle requests and return responses
admin.pyRegisters models so they appear in the Django admin site
apps.pyApp configuration class used by Django's app registry
migrations/Auto-generated files that track database schema changes

Registering the App in INSTALLED_APPS

Creating the app's folder is not enough - Django only loads apps listed in the INSTALLED_APPS setting. Until an app is added there, migrations won't be generated for its models and its templates won't be discovered.

Example 2: Add the App in settings.py

# mysite/settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    "django.contrib.admin",
    "django.contrib.auth",
    "django.contrib.contenttypes",
    "django.contrib.sessions",
    "django.contrib.messages",
    "django.contrib.staticfiles",
    "polls",  # newly created app
]

Example 3: The Generated apps.py

# polls/apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class PollsConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = "django.db.models.BigAutoField"
    name = "polls"
Note: You can also register an app using its AppConfig path, e.g. 'polls.apps.PollsConfig', which is useful when an app needs custom startup logic in its ready() method.

Exercise: Django Create App

Which command generates a new Django app inside an existing project?

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