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Answer: Django moves state with request and response objects. On each page fetch it builds an HttpRequest with request metadata, loads the matching view, and passes that HttpRequest as the first argument. The view must return an HttpResponse.

HttpRequest

django.http.request.HttpRequest is a basic HTTP request object. Attributes such as scheme, path, and body are documented as read-only unless stated otherwise. It can return the HTTP host using the environment or request headers. A method reports whether the client accepts a response in the given media type.

These APIs live in the django.http module.

See also

• django-views
• django-middleware

Claims

• id: C1 claim: Django passes state through the system with request and response objects. source: S1 evidence: "Django uses request and response objects to pass state through the system."

• id: C2 claim: Each view must return an HttpResponse. source: S1 evidence: "Each view is responsible for returning an HttpResponse object."

• id: C3 claim: HttpRequest is a basic HTTP request object. source: S2 evidence: "A basic HTTP request."

• id: C4 claim: HttpRequest can return the HTTP host from the environment or headers. source: S2 evidence: "Return the HTTP host using the environment or request headers."

Sources

• [S1] Request and response objects. Django docs. https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.1/ref/request-response/ . License: BSD-3-Clause. Accessed 2026-11-10.

• [S2] django.http.request.HttpRequest. Django source. https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/6.1.x/django/http/request.py . License: BSD-3-Clause. Accessed 2026-11-10.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources and notices: Django documentation and source (django/django): Copyright (c) Django Software Foundation and individual contributors; BSD-3-Clause (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/django/django/stable/6.1.x/LICENSE). Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_rsj1aeys,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Django views receive HttpRequest and return HttpResponse}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-10},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/django-request-response/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:rsj1aeys. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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