Configuration

Django Cache Panel works out of the box with your existing Django CACHES configuration. Advanced configuration is optional.

Basic Configuration

The only required configuration is your Django CACHES setting:

# settings.py
CACHES = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache',
    },
    'redis': {
        'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache',
        'LOCATION': 'redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1',
    },
}

Advanced Configuration

For advanced use cases, you can customize behavior with DJ_CACHE_PANEL_SETTINGS. A full annotated example:

DJ_CACHE_PANEL_SETTINGS = {
    # CSS: load built-in styles and/or inject your own
    "LOAD_DEFAULT_CSS": True,
    # Static paths are relative to app's static/ dir (e.g. 'myapp/css/overrides.css'
    # for a file at myapp/static/myapp/css/overrides.css). Full URLs also accepted.
    "EXTRA_CSS": [],

    # Optional: completely replace the default backend-to-panel mapping
    # "BACKEND_PANEL_MAP": {}
    #
    # Optional: extend or override specific backend-to-panel mappings
    # Panel classes can be specified as:
    #   - Simple class name (e.g., "RedisCachePanel") - for built-in panels
    #   - Full module path (e.g., "myapp.panels.CustomCachePanel") - for custom panels
    "BACKEND_PANEL_EXTENSIONS": {
        # Example: Map a custom backend to a custom panel class
        # "myapp.backends.CustomCache": "myapp.panels.CustomCachePanel",
        # Example: Override a built-in backend mapping
        # "django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache": "myapp.panels.MyRedisCachePanel",
    },
    # Optional: per-cache settings overrides
    # Typically used to lock down a cache instance to only certain abilities
    "CACHES": {
        "redis": {
            "abilities": {  # Optional: override the abilities for this cache instance
                # "query": True,
                # "get_key": True,
                # "delete_key": True,
                # "edit_key": True,
                # "add_key": True,
                # "flush_cache": True,
            },
        }
    },
}

The sections below cover each option in more detail.

Custom Panel Mappings

Map custom cache backends to panel classes:

DJ_CACHE_PANEL_SETTINGS = {
    "BACKEND_PANEL_EXTENSIONS": {
        # Map custom backend to custom panel
        "myapp.backends.CustomCache": "myapp.panels.CustomCachePanel",

        # Override built-in backend
        "django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache": "myapp.panels.MyRedisPanel",
    },
}

Panel classes can be specified as:

• Simple name: "RedisCachePanel" (looked up in dj_cache_panel.cache_panel)
• Full path: "myapp.panels.CustomCachePanel" (imported dynamically)

Per-Cache Ability Overrides

Restrict operations for specific caches:

DJ_CACHE_PANEL_SETTINGS = {
    "CACHES": {
        "production_cache": {
            "abilities": {
                "query": True,
                "get_key": True,
                "delete_key": False,  # Disable deletes
                "edit_key": False,    # Disable edits
                "add_key": False,     # Disable adds
                "flush_cache": False, # Disable flush
            },
        },
    },
}

Available abilities:

• query: List/search keys with patterns
• get_key: View individual key values
• delete_key: Delete keys
• edit_key: Modify key values
• add_key: Create new keys
• flush_cache: Clear all cache entries

URLs Configuration

By default, the panel is accessible at /admin/dj-cache-panel/. You can change this:

# urls.py
urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/cache/', include('dj_cache_panel.urls')),  # Custom path
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
]

Security

Django Cache Panel uses Django's built-in admin authentication:

• Only staff users (is_staff=True) can access the panel
• All views require authentication via @staff_member_required
• No additional security configuration needed

To restrict access further, use per-cache ability overrides or implement custom panel classes.

CSS Customization

LOAD_DEFAULT_CSS

Type: bool
Default: True
Description: Whether to load the built-in Cache Panel stylesheet. Set to False to use your own styles from scratch.

EXTRA_CSS

Type: list[str]
Default: []
Description: Additional stylesheets to load after the default CSS. Accepts static file paths or full URLs.

Static file paths are relative to your app's static/ subdirectory (same convention as Django's {% static %} tag). A file at myapp/static/myapp/css/overrides.css is referenced as myapp/css/overrides.css.

DJ_CACHE_PANEL_SETTINGS = {
    'LOAD_DEFAULT_CSS': True,
    'EXTRA_CSS': [
        # File lives at: myapp/static/myapp/css/overrides.css
        'myapp/css/overrides.css',
        # Full URLs are also supported
        'https://cdn.example.com/theme.css',
    ],
}