How to Convert a Django App into a Pip-Installable Package

Sreethul — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 11:43:34 +0000

Sometimes you develop a reusable Django app in your project and want to share it across multiple projects—or even publicly via PyPI. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to convert your Django app into a pip-installable package.

Step 1: Create a Dedicated Django App

Inside your Django project, create a new app for your reusable functionality:

python manage.py startapp your_app_name

Do all your coding only inside this app.
Outside the app, only update settings.py → INSTALLED_APPS if needed.
Keep the app self-contained so that it can work independently when installed in other projects.

Step 2: Prepare Your App for Packaging

Once your app is ready, create a new folder outside your Django project with the same name as your app:

mkdir your_app_name

Copy your Django app into this folder.
Add the following files to the folder:

LICENSE – your license file
README.md – a brief description of your app
MANIFEST.in – to include non-Python files
setup.py – packaging script
pyproject.toml – build configuration

Example `setup.py`

from setuptools import setup, find_packages

setup(
    name="your_app_name",
    version="0.1.0",
    packages=find_packages(),
    include_package_data=True,
    install_requires=[
        "Django>=4.2",  # specify dependencies
    ],
    license="MIT",
    description="A reusable Django app",
    long_description=open("README.md").read(),
    long_description_content_type="text/markdown",
    url="https://github.com/yourusername/your_app_name",
)

Step 3: Build the Package

Run the following command in your app folder:

python -m build

This will create a dist/ folder containing .whl and .tar.gz files.

Step 4: Install Locally

Go back to your Django project.
Remove the old app from your project.
Install the package from the dist folder:

pip install ../your_app_name/dist/your_app_name-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl

4.Now your app is installed into your virtual environment and can be used like any other installed package.

Step 5: Publish to PyPI

Go back to your django app standalone folder,Same folder that you run python -m build.
Upload to PyPI using Twine:

python -m twine upload dist/*

It will prompt for your PyPI API token. Generate one from your PyPI account.
After a successful upload, your app is publicly available! Anyone can install it with:

pip install your_app_name

Build and test locally before uploading to PyPI.
After publishing, your app can be reused across projects or shared with the community.

Forem: Sreethul