---
id: django-read-only
version: "1.21.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# django-read-only — Disable Django database writes.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 125.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

django-read-only is a Django package that enforces read-only mode on your database by intercepting and rejecting data modification queries. It works by inspecting executed queries at the Django database instrumentation layer and raising an exception when a write is detected. The package is designed for interactive sessions—particularly shell environments in production or staging—where developers need to run exploratory queries without risking accidental data changes.

You control read-only mode via a setting or environment variable, and can temporarily or permanently re-enable writes within a session using provided functions and context managers. It also integrates with IPython as an extension for quick toggling. The package uses a "fail closed" philosophy, meaning unknown query patterns are blocked to be safe. Note that it cannot intercept queries bypassing Django's ORM entirely or operations within stored procedures.

Use it for:

- Enable read-only mode in production shell sessions to prevent developers from accidentally modifying data during exploratory queries.
- Protect staging environments during interactive debugging by blocking write queries while allowing reads.
- Temporarily allow writes within a context manager to run a specific management command or data fix without disabling read-only mode globally.
- Use the IPython extension to quickly toggle read-only mode on and off during interactive development sessions.
- Enforce a safe-by-default policy where writes are disabled in interactive shells but remain enabled for automated processes like WSGI servers.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Prevents Django database write operations by intercepting and blocking data modification queries, with the ability to selectively re-enable writes within a session.

Yes. This is a lightweight, actively maintained package with no security vulnerabilities that solves a real operational safety problem—preventing accidental database modifications in interactive sessions. The low install friction (one dependency), permissive MIT license, and production-stable status make it a practical choice for teams running Django in production or staging environments where shell access is common.

## Install

pip install django-read-only
uv add django-read-only
poetry add django-read-only

## Installing django-read-only

Before you install: Low friction installation with a single runtime dependency on Django. The package is actively maintained with recent releases and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.

Quickstart:

pip install django-read-only

# Add to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [..., "django_read_only", ...]

# Enable via environment variable or setting
DJANGO_READ_ONLY = True

# In shell, writes are now blocked; re-enable with:
import django_read_only
django_read_only.enable_writes()

Requires Django 4.2 to 6.0 and Python 3.9 or later. Cannot block queries executed directly through the underlying database connection or stored procedures.

Verify before relying:

- Performance overhead of query inspection during read-only sessions is not quantified in the fact sheet.
- Compatibility with custom database backends or non-standard query patterns beyond standard Django ORM is unclear.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 125.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

django read-only mode, disable django database writes, prevent accidental database changes, django query interception, safe exploratory queries django, django write protection, database mutation blocking, django-extension, database-safety, interactive-shell

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