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Django Orbit Documentation

Welcome to the Django Orbit documentation. This guide covers installation, configuration, usage, and customization.

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Table of Contents

  1. Installation
  2. Quick Start
  3. Configuration
  4. Running the Demo
  5. Dashboard Guide
  6. Stats DashboardNew in v0.5.0
  7. API Reference
  8. Customization
  9. Security
  10. Troubleshooting

What is Django Orbit?

Django Orbit is a debugging and observability tool for Django applications. Unlike Django Debug Toolbar, which injects HTML into your templates, Orbit runs on its own isolated URL and provides a modern, reactive dashboard for monitoring your application.

Key Concepts

  • OrbitEntry: The central model that stores all telemetry data
  • Middleware: Captures HTTP requests and coordinates recording
  • Watchers: Specialized components for SQL, logging, jobs, Redis, permissions, etc.
  • Family Hash: Links related events (e.g., all queries for one request)

Why Orbit?

Feature Django Debug Toolbar Django Orbit
DOM Injection Yes No
Works with APIs Limited Full
Works with SPAs Limited Full
Persistent Storage No Yes
Historical Data No Yes
Stats & Analytics No Yes
Modern UI Basic Space-themed

What's New in v0.6.0

  • Transaction Watcher: Track database transactions (commits/rollbacks)
  • Storage Watcher: Monitor file operations (save, open, delete, exists)
  • Improved Summaries: More informative entry summaries with duration and sizes
  • Enhanced Analytics: Transaction and storage metrics in Stats Dashboard

What's New in v0.5.0

  • Jobs Watcher: Track Celery, Django-Q, RQ, APScheduler tasks
  • Redis Watcher: Monitor Redis operations
  • Gates Watcher: Audit permission checks
  • Stats Dashboard: Apdex, percentiles, interactive charts
  • N+1 Navigation: Click through duplicate queries

Getting Help