Integrating django-extensions shell plus with Pycharm console

The django-extensions is a package which I install in all my Django projects, it’s a toolbox full of useful commands and utilities. One of the commands is shell_plus which is a replacement for the standard Django shell command, than provides a better DX, close the iPython, as well as automatically importing all the models as well as the most common utilities. As a Pycharm user, I often use the integrated console, which responds to the IDE shortcuts and provides other small DX improvements, similar to what shell_plus offers.

By default, Pycharm integrated console does not do the automatic imports from shell_plus, but it’s quite easy to add them, hence getting the best of both worlds. Here are the steps:

1. Open the settings

2. Go to the Build, Execution, Deployment > Console > Django Console page

3. Add the following to the end of the Starting script field:

   import sys; print('Python %s on %s' % (sys.version, sys.platform))
   import django; print('Django %s' % django.get_version())
   sys.path.extend([WORKING_DIR_AND_PYTHON_PATHS])
   if 'setup' in dir(django): django.setup()
   import django_manage_shell; django_manage_shell.run(PROJECT_ROOT)
   
   from django_extensions.management import shellsfrom django.core.management.color import color_styleimported_items = shells.import_objects({}, color_style())for k, v in imported_items.items(): globals()[k] = v

And that’s it! Now when you open the Pycharm console, all your models and utilities will be available, using the shell_plus logic.