Code Reference

Built-in class-based views

Django · Reference cheat sheet

Built-in class-based views

Django · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

Django ships generic class-based views (CBVs) for common patterns: templates, lists, details, create/update/delete, redirects, and dates. Subclass, set attributes (model, queryset, template_name), and wire with as_view() in URLconfs.

🔧 Core concepts

ViewPurpose
TemplateViewRender a template with optional extra context
RedirectViewHTTP redirect
ListView / DetailViewObject collections / single object
CreateView / UpdateView / DeleteViewModel form CRUD
FormViewArbitrary form
Date viewsArchiveIndexView, YearArchiveView, …
MixinsLoginRequiredMixin, PermissionRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin

Lifecycle hooks: get_queryset, get_context_data, form_valid, get_success_url.

💡 Examples

List and detail:

from django.views.generic import DetailView, ListView
from .models import Article


class ArticleListView(ListView):
    model = Article
    paginate_by = 20
    context_object_name = "articles"
    template_name = "blog/article_list.html"

    def get_queryset(self):
        return Article.objects.filter(is_published=True).select_related("author")


class ArticleDetailView(DetailView):
    model = Article
    slug_field = "slug"
    context_object_name = "article"

Create with auth:

from django.contrib.auth.mixins import LoginRequiredMixin
from django.urls import reverse_lazy
from django.views.generic import CreateView
from .models import Article


class ArticleCreateView(LoginRequiredMixin, CreateView):
    model = Article
    fields = ("title", "body", "slug")
    success_url = reverse_lazy("article-list")

    def form_valid(self, form):
        form.instance.author = self.request.user
        return super().form_valid(form)

URLs:

from django.urls import path
from .views import ArticleCreateView, ArticleDetailView, ArticleListView

urlpatterns = [
    path("", ArticleListView.as_view(), name="article-list"),
    path("new/", ArticleCreateView.as_view(), name="article-create"),
    path("<slug:slug>/", ArticleDetailView.as_view(), name="article-detail"),
]

⚠️ Pitfalls

  • Forgetting .as_view() in urlpatterns passes the class, not a callable.
  • fields = "__all__" on Create/Update can expose sensitive model fields.
  • Overriding get() without calling super() drops mixin behavior.
  • Multiple inheritance mixin order matters—mixins left of the base view.

🔗 Related

Authentication

Django · Reference cheat sheet

Caching

Django · Reference cheat sheet

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Built-in class-based views📋 Overview🔧 Core concepts💡 Examples⚠️ Pitfalls🔗 Related