drf-spectacular-sidecar
Serve self-contained distribution builds of Swagger UI and Redoc with Django
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Low install friction, permissive licensing, active maintenance with monthly updates, no known vulnerabilities, and a clear single purpose: serve pre-built API documentation UIs. Install if you need Swagger UI or Redoc in a Django project and want to avoid npm/Node.js tooling. Skip only if you prefer to manage these distributions separately or have custom UI requirements.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Django >= 2.2 required; the package must be added to INSTALLED_APPS for Django to discover static files.
- Low friction: single runtime dependency on Django, wheel-only distribution, and active maintenance with releases every month.
- Last commit 2026-08-01 and release 13 days ago.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD (permissive) — Permissive BSD license on the package itself; includes Apache 2.0 (Swagger UI) and MIT (Redoc) licensed distributions. All three are permissive and compatible with most projects.
last release 2026-08-01 (13 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-01 · 48 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,798,720 downloads/mo, #3,546 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install drf-spectacular-sidecar
# In settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'drf_spectacular_sidecar',
]
# Then use with drf-spectacular or serve static files via runserver/collectstatic- Whether this package works standalone or primarily as a companion to drf-spectacular (description says it can be used independently, but typical usage patterns are unclear).
- Performance characteristics when serving large API documentation or with many concurrent requests.
What it is and what it does
drf-spectacular-sidecar packages pre-built distributions of Swagger UI (version 5.32.11) and Redoc (version 2.5.3) as Django static files. It eliminates the need to build these UI libraries from npm or manage Node.js tooling in your Django project—you install the package, add it to INSTALLED_APPS, and Django's static file system handles serving the documentation interface.
The package is designed as an optional companion to drf-spectacular but can be used independently. It updates monthly on the 1st, pulling fresh distributions from npm via jsdelivr, validating them, and publishing to PyPI. This means you get current versions of Swagger UI and Redoc without manual intervention, as long as you keep the package updated.
Use it for
- Add interactive Swagger UI documentation to a Django REST API without Node.js build tooling.
- Serve Redoc-based API documentation alongside drf-spectacular schema generation.
- Deploy API docs as part of Django's collectstatic workflow for production environments.
- Reduce build complexity in CI/CD pipelines by eliminating npm dependencies for documentation UI.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Low install friction, permissive licensing, active maintenance with monthly updates, no known vulnerabilities, and a clear single purpose: serve pre-built API documentation UIs. Install if you need Swagger UI or Redoc in a Django project and want to avoid npm/Node.js tooling. Skip only if you prefer to manage these distributions separately or have custom UI requirements.
Install
drf-spectacular-sidecar on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: single runtime dependency on Django, wheel-only distribution, and active maintenance with releases every month. Last commit 2026-08-01 and release 13 days ago.
Django >= 2.2 required; the package must be added to INSTALLED_APPS for Django to discover static files.
License in practice
Permissive BSD license on the package itself; includes Apache 2.0 (Swagger UI) and MIT (Redoc) licensed distributions. All three are permissive and compatible with most projects.
Quickstart
pip install drf-spectacular-sidecar
# In settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'drf_spectacular_sidecar',
]
# Then use with drf-spectacular or serve static files via runserver/collectstaticVerify before relying
- Whether this package works standalone or primarily as a companion to drf-spectacular (description says it can be used independently, but typical usage patterns are unclear).
- Performance characteristics when serving large API documentation or with many concurrent requests.
Package facts
| License | BSD permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.6 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageDjango |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 13 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,798,720 / month, #3,546 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 :: DjangoIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: DocumentationTopic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTPTopic :: Software Development :: Code Generators |
Evidence: drf_spectacular_sidecar-2026.8.1-py3-none-any.whl
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See also drf-spectacular · fastapi-offline · ledoc-ui · drf-yasg · drf-spectacular-jsonapi · swagger-ui-bundle · swagger-ui-py · Collectfasta · mkdocs-render-swagger-plugin · flask-openapi3-swagger