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Answer: A Django settings file holds all configuration for a Django installation. It is an ordinary Python module of module-level variables, so it can use normal Python syntax and can assign values dynamically.

Using settings

Because the file is a Python module, syntax errors are not allowed. If you set DEBUG to False, you also need to set ALLOWED_HOSTS properly.

Lazy loading

django.conf.settings is a lazy proxy for either the global Django settings or a custom settings object. You can configure settings manually before they are used. The user can configure settings manually. Otherwise, Django uses the settings module pointed to by DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE.

See also

• django-applications

Claims

• id: C1 claim: A settings file holds all configuration for a Django installation. source: S1 evidence: "A Django settings file contains all the configuration of your Django installation."

• id: C2 claim: A settings file is a Python module of module-level variables. source: S1 evidence: "A settings file is just a Python module with module-level variables."

• id: C3 claim: django.conf.settings is a lazy proxy around the configured settings object. source: S2 evidence: "A lazy proxy for either global Django settings or a custom settings object."

• id: C4 claim: The default load uses the module named by an environment variable. source: S2 evidence: "Load the settings module pointed to by the environment variable."

Sources

• [S1] Settings. Django docs. https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.1/topics/settings/ . License: BSD-3-Clause. Accessed 2026-11-10.

• [S2] django.conf.LazySettings. Django source. https://github.com/django/django/blob/stable/6.1.x/django/conf/__init__.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_7z7na7ex,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Django settings are a Python module of configuration values}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-10},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/django-settings/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:7z7na7ex. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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