Installation¶

Requirements¶

A client that supports the Language Server Protocol (LSP) is required, along with a supported version of Python and Django. See Versioning for the full list of supported versions and the version support policy.

Try it out¶

To try the language server without installing using uvx:

uvx --from django-language-server djls serve

Note

The server will automatically detect and use your project's Python environment when you open a Django project. It needs access to your project's Django installation and other dependencies, but should be able to find these regardless of where the server itself is installed.

Package manager¶

The language server is published to PyPI with pre-built wheels for the following platforms:

Linux: x86_64, aarch64 (both glibc and musl)
macOS: x86_64, aarch64
Windows: x64
Source distribution: Available for other platforms

Installing it adds the djls command-line tool to your environment.

System-wide tool installation¶

Install it globally in an isolated environment using uv or pipx:

# Using uv
uv tool install django-language-server

# Or using pipx
pipx install django-language-server

Install with pip¶

Install from PyPI using pip:

pip install django-language-server

Or add as a development dependency with uv:

uv add --dev django-language-server

Standalone binaries¶

Standalone binaries are available for macOS, Linux, and Windows from GitHub Releases.

Linux/macOSWindows

# Download the latest release for your platform
# Example for Linux x64:
curl -LO https://github.com/joshuadavidthomas/django-language-server/releases/latest/download/django-language-server-VERSION-linux-x64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf django-language-server-VERSION-linux-x64.tar.gz

# Move the binary to a location in your PATH
sudo mv django-language-server-VERSION-linux-x64/djls /usr/local/bin/

# Download the latest release for your platform
# Example for Windows x64:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/joshuadavidthomas/django-language-server/releases/latest/download/django-language-server-VERSION-windows-x64.zip" -OutFile "django-language-server-VERSION-windows-x64.zip"

# Extract the archive
Expand-Archive -Path "django-language-server-VERSION-windows-x64.zip" -DestinationPath .

# Move the binary to a location in your PATH (requires admin)
# Or add the directory containing djls.exe to your PATH
Move-Item -Path "django-language-server-VERSION-windows-x64\djls.exe" -Destination "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\djls.exe"

Building from source¶

Build and install directly from source using Rust's cargo:

cargo install --git https://github.com/joshuadavidthomas/django-language-server djls --locked

This requires a Rust toolchain (see rust-toolchain.toml for the required version) and will compile the language server from source.