django-silk
Silky smooth profiling for the Django Framework
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Silk is a mature, actively maintained profiling tool with low install friction and no known vulnerabilities. It integrates seamlessly into Django projects via middleware and provides both automatic request profiling and manual code profiling. Ideal for development and staging environments to diagnose performance issues; production use requires careful configuration to limit data retention and avoid overhead.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Middleware order is sensitive; GZipMiddleware must be placed before SilkyMiddleware to avoid encoding errors.
- Python 3.10+ required.
- Low friction installation with three runtime dependencies.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT License (permissive) — MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and proprietary projects.
last release 2026-08-13 (1 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-13 · 4,991 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 2,593,281 downloads/mo, #2,977 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install django-silk
# In settings.py:
MIDDLEWARE = [..., 'silk.middleware.SilkyMiddleware', ...]
INSTALLED_APPS = (..., 'silk')
# In urls.py:
urlpatterns += [path('silk/', include('silk.urls', namespace='silk'))]
# Then: python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic
# Access UI at /silk/- Whether cProfile concurrency limitation on Python 3.12+ significantly impacts real-world profiling workflows.
- Performance overhead of request/response interception in high-traffic production environments.
What it is and what it does
Silk is a live profiling and inspection tool built as Django middleware that automatically intercepts HTTP requests, responses, and database queries, storing them in the configured database for later inspection. It provides a web UI to explore request metadata (timing, query counts, headers, bodies), SQL execution details, and optional Python cProfile output with graph visualization via gprof2dot. Developers can also manually profile specific code blocks or functions using decorators or context managers.
The package depends on Django, sqlparse for SQL parsing, and gprof2dot for profiler graph generation. It supports Django 4.2 through 6.0 and Python 3.10–3.15. Configuration is straightforward—add the middleware and app to settings, include URLs, run migrations, and the UI becomes available. Middleware ordering matters: GZipMiddleware must precede Silk's middleware to avoid encoding issues, and any middleware before Silk that returns early will prevent profiling.
Use it for
- Identify slow database queries and N+1 problems by inspecting SQL execution within individual requests.
- Profile view functions and code blocks to find performance bottlenecks using cProfile integration and decorator-based profiling.
- Debug request/response issues by examining headers, bodies, and timing data through the web UI without code changes.
- Analyze which endpoints generate the most queries or consume the most time during development and testing.
- Generate downloadable .prof files for deeper analysis with tools like snakeviz or other cProfile utilities.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Silk is a mature, actively maintained profiling tool with low install friction and no known vulnerabilities. It integrates seamlessly into Django projects via middleware and provides both automatic request profiling and manual code profiling. Ideal for development and staging environments to diagnose performance issues; production use requires careful configuration to limit data retention and avoid overhead.
Install
django-silk on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with three runtime dependencies. Active maintenance with recent commits and a stable production status across Django 4.2 through 6.0 and Python 3.10–3.15.
Middleware order is sensitive; GZipMiddleware must be placed before SilkyMiddleware to avoid encoding errors. Python 3.10+ required.
License in practice
MIT License permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and proprietary projects.
Quickstart
pip install django-silk
# In settings.py:
MIDDLEWARE = [..., 'silk.middleware.SilkyMiddleware', ...]
INSTALLED_APPS = (..., 'silk')
# In urls.py:
urlpatterns += [path('silk/', include('silk.urls', namespace='silk'))]
# Then: python manage.py migrate && python manage.py collectstatic
# Access UI at /silk/Verify before relying
- Whether cProfile concurrency limitation on Python 3.12+ significantly impacts real-world profiling workflows.
- Performance overhead of request/response interception in high-traffic production environments.
Package facts
| License | MIT License permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagesDjangosqlparsegprof2dot |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 2,593,281 / month, #2,977 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentFramework :: DjangoFramework :: Django :: 4.2Framework :: Django :: 5.1Framework :: Django :: 5.2Framework :: Django :: 6.0Intended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.15Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTPTopic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Dynamic Content |
Evidence: django_silk-5.5.2-py3-none-any.whl
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See also django-cprofile-middleware · django-queryinspect · django-querycount · drf-api-logger · django-graphiql-debug-toolbar · requests-tracker · Flask-Silk · snakeviz · sqltap · fastapi-profiler