Getting Started with Django Automate

Django Automate is a production-grade workflow automation platform for Django. It provides a control plane (Studio) and execution plane (Rules Engine, Outbox) to build reliable, auditable, and secure automation workflows.

What is it?

Think of it as "Zapier inside your Django app", but built for developers who need: * Idempotency: Guaranteed exactly-once processing intent. * Audit Trails: Every action, rule check, and external call is logged. * Security: Secret redaction, policy engines, and execution sandboxing. * Observability: OpenTelemetry-compatible tracing and structured logging.

Compatibility

• Python: 3.10+
• Django: 4.2+
• Databases: Postgres (Recommended), SQLite (Dev), MySQL 8+

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5-Minute Quickstart

1. Installation

Install the package:

pip install django-automate

Add to INSTALLED_APPS in your settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ... django apps ...
    'automate', 
    'automate_core',
    'automate_governance',
    'automate_llm',
    'automate_studio', # Optional: Admin UI
    'automate_observability',
    'rest_framework',
]

2. Minimal Configuration

Set the basic configuration in settings.py:

DJANGO_AUTOMATE = {
    "ENABLED": True,
    "SECRET_KEY_PREFIX": "AUTOMATE_", # For env-based secrets
    "EXECUTION": {
        "timeout_seconds": 60,
        "max_retries": 3,
    }
}

Run migrations:

python manage.py migrate

3. Create Your First Workflow

You can define workflows via code (JSON) or the Visual Studio. Let's create a simple JSON workflow that logs a message when a user is created.

Go to http://localhost:8000/studio/wizard/ (if running locally) or define it programmatically:

from automate_core.models import Workflow

Workflow.objects.create(
    name="Welcome New User",
    trigger_spec={
        "type": "signal",
        "config": {
            "model": "auth.User",
            "signal": "post_save",
            "condition": "created == true"
        }
    },
    steps=[
        {
            "id": "log_action",
            "action": "core.log",
            "config": {
                "level": "INFO",
                "message": "New user registered: {{ event.instance.username }}"
            }
        }
    ]
)

4. Run the Worker

In development, you can run the simplified management command worker:

python manage.py automate_worker

Trigger the workflow by creating a new User in Django Admin. You should see the log output in your worker console.

5. Inspect the Run

Visit the Execution Explorer at http://localhost:8000/studio/explorer/ to see the timeline of your execution, verify inputs/outputs, and check audit logs.