Dynaconf Quick Start¶

Configuration Management for Python.

GitHub Release Date GitHub last commit

Features¶

Inspired by the 12-factor application guide
Settings management (default values, validation, parsing, templating)
Protection of sensitive information (passwords/tokens)
Multiple file formats toml|yaml|json|ini|py and also customizable loaders.
Full support for environment variables to override existing settings (dotenv support included).
Optional layered system for multi environments [default, development, testing, production] (also called multi profiles)
Built-in support for Hashicorp Vault and Redis as settings and secrets storage.
Built-in extensions for Django and Flask web frameworks.
CLI for common operations such as init, list, write, validate, export.

Installation¶

Install from pypi ¶

pip install dynaconf

Initialize Dynaconf on your project¶

Using Python Only

Using Python only¶

In your project's root directory run dynaconf init command.

cd path/to/your/project/
dynaconf init -f toml

The command output must be:

⚙️  Configuring your Dynaconf environment
------------------------------------------
🐍 The file `config.py` was generated.

🎛️  settings.toml created to hold your settings.

🔑 .secrets.toml created to hold your secrets.

🙈 the .secrets.* is also included in `.gitignore`
beware to not push your secrets to a public repo.

🎉 Dynaconf is configured! read more on https://dynaconf.com

ℹ️ You can choose toml|yaml|json|ini|py on dynaconf init -f <fileformat>, toml is the default and also the most recommended format for configuration.

Dynaconf init command creates the following files

.
├── config.py       # Where you import your settings object (required)
├── .secrets.toml   # Sensitive data like passwords and tokens (optional)
└── settings.toml   # Application setttings (optional)

your_program.pyconfig.pysettings.toml.secrets.tomlenv vars

On your own code you import and use settings object imported from your config.py file

from config import settings

assert settings.key == "value"
assert settings.number == 789
assert settings.a_dict.nested.other_level == "nested value"
assert settings['a_boolean'] is False
assert settings.get("DONTEXIST", default=1) == 1

On this file a new instance of Dynaconf settings object is initialized and configured.

from dynaconf import Dynaconf

settings = Dynaconf(
    settings_files=['settings.toml', '.secrets.toml'],
)

More options described on Dynaconf Configuration

Optionally store settings in a file (or in multiple files)

key = "value"
a_boolean = false
number = 1234
a_float = 56.8
a_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]
a_dict = {hello="world"}

[a_dict.nested]
other_level = "nested value"

More details in Settings Files

Optionally store sensitive data in a local only file .secrets.toml

password = "s3cr3t"
token = "dfgrfg5d4g56ds4gsdf5g74984we5345-"
message = "This file doesn't go to your pub repo"

⚠️ dynaconf init command puts the .secrets.* in yout .gitignore to avoid it to be exposed on public repos but it is your responsibility to keep it safe in your local environment, also the recommendation for production environments is to use the built-in support for Hashicorp Vault service for password and tokens.

# Secrets doesn't go to public repos
.secrets.*

Using Flask¶

app.pysettings.toml.secrets.tomlenv vars

In your Flask project import FlaskDynaconf extension and initialize as a Flask extension.

from flask import Flask
from dynaconf import FlaskDynaconf

app = Flask(__name__)

FlaskDynaconf(app, settings_files=["settings.toml"])

Across your Flask application you can access all the settings variables direct from app.config that is now replaced by a dynaconf settings instance.

@app.route("/a_view)
def a_view():
    app.config.NAME == "BRUNO"
    app.config['DEBUG'] is True
    app.config.SQLALCHEMY_DB_URI == "sqlite://data.db"

Optionally store settings in a file using layered environments.

[default]
key = "value"
a_boolean = false
number = 1234

[development]
key = "development value"
SQLALCHEMY_DB_URI = "sqlite://data.db"

[production]
key = "production value"
SQLALCHEMY_DB_URI = "postgresql://..."

ℹ️ On Flask, settings files are layered in multiple environments by default, you can disable it passing environments=False to FlaskDynaconf extension.

More details in Settings Files

Optionally store sensitive data in a local only file .secrets.toml

[development]
password = "s3cr3t"
token = "dfgrfg5d4g56ds4gsdf5g74984we5345-"
message = "This file doesn't go to your pub repo"

⚠️ put .secrets.* in yout .gitignore to avoid it to be exposed on public repos but it is your responsibility to keep it safe in your local environment, also the recommendation for production environments is to use the built-in support for Hashicorp Vault service for password and tokens.

# Secrets doesn't go to public repos
.secrets.*

Using Django¶

Ensure you have DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE exported:

export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=yourproject.settings

On the same folder where your manage.py is located run dynaconf init command.

dynaconf init -f yaml

Then follow the instructions on terminal.

Django app detected
⚙️  Configuring your Dynaconf environment
------------------------------------------
🎛️  settings.yaml created to hold your settings.

🔑 .secrets.yaml created to hold your secrets.

🙈 the .secrets.yaml is also included in `.gitignore`
beware to not push your secrets to a public repo
or use dynaconf builtin support for Vault Servers.

⁉  path/to/yourproject/settings.py is found do you want to add dynaconf? [y/N]:

Answer y

🎠  Now your Django settings are managed by Dynaconf
🎉  Dynaconf is configured! read more on https://dynaconf.com

ℹ️ On Django the recommended file format is yaml because it can hold complex data structures easier, however you can choose to use toml,json,ini or even keep your settings in .py format.

appname/views.pysettings.yaml.secrets.yamlenv varsprojectname/settings.py

On your Django views, models and all other places you can now use django.conf.settings normally because it is replaced by a Dynaconf settings object.

from django.conf import settings


def index(request):
    assert settings.DEBUG is True
    assert settings.NAME == "Bruno"
    assert settings.DATABASES.default.name == "db"
    assert settings.get("NONEXISTENT", 2) == 2

Optionally store settings in a file using layered environments. this file must be located in the folder where your manage.py is located.

default:
    ALLOWED_HOSTS:
        - '*'
    INSTALLED_APPS:
        - django.contrib.admin
        - django.contrib.auth
        - django.contrib.contenttypes
        - django.contrib.sessions
        - django.contrib.messages
        - django.contrib.staticfiles
production:
    ALLOWED_HOSTS:
        - 'server.prod.com'

ℹ️ On Django settings files are layered in multiple environments by default, you can disable it passing environments=False to FlaskDynaconf extension.

More details in Settings Files

Optionally store sensitive data in a local only file .secrets.toml

development:
    SECRET_KEY: 43grng9398534nfkjer
production:
    SECRET_KEY: vfkjndkjg098gdf90gudfsg

⚠️ put .secrets.* in yout .gitignore to avoid it to be exposed on public repos but it is your responsibility to keep it safe in your local environment, also the recommendation for production environments is to use the built-in support for Hashicorp Vault service for password and tokens.

# Secrets doesn't go to public repos
.secrets.*

Defining your settings variables¶

Dynaconf prioritizes the use of environment variables and you can optionally store settings in Settings Files using any of toml|yaml|json|ini|py extension.

On env vars¶

environment variables are loaded by Dynaconf if prefixed either with DYNACONF_ or a CUSTOM_ name that you can customize on your settings instance, or FLASK_ and DJANGO_ respectively if you are using extensions.

export DYNACONF_FOO=BAR                      # string value
                                             # default DYNACONF_ prefix

export DYNACONF_NUMBER=123                   # automatically loaded as int

export DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS="['*', 'other']" # DJANGO_ extension prefix
                                             # automatically loaded as a list

export FLASK_DEBUG=true                      # FLASK_ extension prefix
                                             # automatically loaded as boolean

export CUSTOM_NAME=Bruno                     # CUSTOM_ prefix as specified in
                                             # Dynaconf(envvar_prefix="custom")

export DYNACONF_NESTED__LEVEL__KEY=1         # Double underlines
                                             # denotes nested settings
                                             # nested = {
                                             #     "level": {"key": 1}
                                             # }

More details on environment variables.

On files¶

Optionally you can store settings in files, dynaconf supports multiple file formats, you are recommended to choose one format but you can also use mixed settings formats across your application.

Supported formats¶

.toml - Default and recommended file format.
.yaml|.yml - Recommended for Django applications.
.json - Useful to reuse existing or exported settings.
.ini - Useful to reuse legacy settings.
.py - Not Recommended but supported for backwards compatibility.
.env - Useful to automate the loading of environment variables.

Info

Create your settings in desired format and specify it on settings_files argument on your dynaconf instance or pass it in -f <format> if using dynaconf init command.

Tip

Can't find the file format you need for your settings? You can create your custom loader and read any data source. read more on extending dynaconf

Reading settings from files¶

On files by default dynaconf loads all the existing keys and sections as first level settings.

settings.tomlsettings.yamlsettings.jsonsettings.inisettings.py

name = "Bruno"

name: Bruno

{"name": "Bruno"}

name = 'Bruno'

NAME = "Bruno"

⚠️ on .py files dynaconf only read UPPERCASE variables.

Then on your application code:

settings.name == "Bruno"

Layered environments on files¶

It is also possible to make dynaconf to read the files separated by layered environments so each section or first level key is loaded as a distinct environment.

Warning

To enable layered environments the argument environments must be set to True, otherwise dynaconf will ignore layers and read all first level keys as normal values.

config.pysettings.tomlsettings.yamlsettings.jsonsettings.ini

settings = Dynaconf(environments=True)

[default]
name = ""
[development]
name = "developer"
[production]
name = "admin"

default:
    name: ''
development:
    name: developer
production:
    name: admin

{
    "default": {
        "name": ""
    },
    "development": {
        "name": "developer"
    },
    "production": {
        "name": "admin"
    }
}

[default]
name = ""
[development]
name = "developer"
[production]
name = "admin"

ℹ️ You can define custom environment using the name you want [default] and [global] are the only environments that are special. You can for example name it [testing] or [anything]

program.py

Then in your program you can use environment variables to switch environments.

export ENV_FOR_DYNACONF=development

settings.name == "developer"

export ENV_FOR_DYNACONF=production

settings.name == "admin"

Warning

On Flask and Django extensions the default behaviour is already the layered environments. Also to switch the environment you use export FLASK_ENV=production or export DJANGO_ENV=production respectively.

Tip

It is also possible to switch environments programmatically passing env="development" to Dynaconf class on instantiation.

Reading settings variables¶

An instance of Dynaconf settings is a dict like object that provides multiple ways to access variables.

from path.to.project.config import settings
# or
from django.conf import settings
# or
settings = app.config  # flask

# reading settings variables

settings.username == "admin"                  # dot notation
settings.PORT == settings.port == 9900        # case insensitive
isinstance(settings.port, int)                # automatic type casting
settings.databases.name == "mydb"             # Nested keys traversing
settings['password'] == "secret123"           # dict like item access
settings['databases.schema'] == "main"        # Nested items traversing
settings.get("nonexisting", "default value")  # Default values just like a dict
settings("number", cast=int)                  # customizable forcing of casting

for key, value in settings.items():           # dict like iteration
    print(key, value)

Validating your settings¶

Dynaconf offers the Validator object for you to define rules for your settings schema, this works in a declarative way and you can validate your settings in 2 ways.

Writing Validators as Python objects

On your config.py

from dynaconf import Dynaconf, Validator

settings = Dynaconf(
    validators=[
        Validator("name", eq="Bruno") & Validator("username", ne="admin"),
        Validator("port", gte=5000, lte=8000),
        Validator("host", must_exist=True) | Validator("bind", must_exist=True)
    ]
)

Once passed in on validators argument, Dynaconf will evaluate each of the rules before your settings are first read.

Alternative way is registering validators using.

settings.validators.register(Validator("field", **rules))

You can also force the earlier validation placing a call to validate after your settings instantiation.

settings.validators.validate()

In case of errors it will raise ValidationError and exit with status 1 (useful for CI)

Writing Validators as a toml file

You can also alternativelly place a dynaconf_validators.toml file in the root of your project.

[development]
name = {must_exist=true}
port = {gte=5000, lte=9000}

Following the same rules used in the Validator class, then you can trigger the validation via command line using.

dynaconf -i config.settings validate

Dependencies¶

Vendored¶

Dynaconf core has no dependency. It uses vendored copies of external libraries such as python-box, click, python-dotenv, ruamel-yaml, python-toml

Optional dependencies¶

To use external services such as Redis and Hashicorp Vault it is necessary to install additional dependencies using pip [extra] argument.

Vault

pip install dynaconf[vault]

Redis

pip install dynaconf[redis]

License¶

This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.

More¶

If you are looking for something similar to Dynaconf to use in your Rust projects: https://github.com/rubik/hydroconf

Last update: 2022-09-05

Dynaconf Quick Start¶

Features¶

Installation¶

Install from pypi¶

Initialize Dynaconf on your project¶

Using Python only¶

Using Flask¶

Using Django¶

Defining your settings variables¶

On env vars¶

On files¶

Supported formats¶

Reading settings from files¶

Layered environments on files¶

Reading settings variables¶

Validating your settings¶

Dependencies¶

Vendored¶

Optional dependencies¶

License¶

More¶

Install from pypi ¶