django-debug-toolbar

What it is and what it does

Django Debug Toolbar is a browser-injected debugging interface for Django applications that displays configurable panels showing request/response metadata, SQL queries, cache behavior, and other diagnostic information. It runs only during development when DEBUG is enabled and appears as an overlay in the browser, allowing developers to inspect details about each HTTP request without leaving the application.

The toolbar is built as a Django middleware and URL configuration that intercepts requests and collects telemetry. It depends on django and sqlparse for SQL query formatting. The package is production-stable (version 7.1.1), actively maintained, and supports current Django versions (5.2, 6.0, 6.1) and Python 3.10 through 3.14. It has experimental support for Django's async views but does not yet handle concurrent requests.

Use it for:

• Inspect SQL queries executed during a request to identify N+1 problems and optimize database access.
• Debug template rendering, context variables, and view execution flow during development.
• Profile request/response timing and middleware execution to find performance bottlenecks.
• Monitor cache hits/misses and HTTP header behavior during development iteration.
• Examine signal dispatch and form validation errors in real time without adding print statements.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Displays debug information panels in Django applications during development, showing request/response details, SQL queries, and other diagnostic data directly in the browser.

Yes. This is a standard, low-friction development tool for Django projects. It has no security vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, minimal dependencies, and active maintenance. Install it in your development environment to gain visibility into request handling, SQL queries, and performance without modifying application code.

Install

django-debug-toolbar on PyPI

pip install django-debug-toolbar

uv add django-debug-toolbar

poetry add django-debug-toolbar

Installing django-debug-toolbar

Before you install

Low friction installation with only two runtime dependencies (django and sqlparse). The package is actively maintained with a recent release and 8377 repository stars, indicating stable, community-backed development.

License in practice

Released under BSD-3-Clause, a permissive open-source license. You can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in both commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install django-debug-toolbar

# In Django settings.py:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'debug_toolbar',
    # ...
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware',
    # ...
]

# In urls.py:
if DEBUG:
    urlpatterns += [
        path('__debug__/', include('debug_toolbar.urls')),
    ]

Requires Django ≥ 5.2.0 and Python ≥ 3.10. Only intended for development (DEBUG=True); do not deploy to production.

Verify before relying

• Extent of third-party panel ecosystem and how to discover/install community-contributed panels.
• Performance impact of running the toolbar on development server response times.
• Current state of async view support beyond 'experimental' label and whether concurrent request handling has been added.

Package facts

Evidence: django_debug_toolbar-7.1.1-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

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