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django-database-task

CI PyPI version Python versions License: MIT

A database-backed task queue backend for Django 6.0's built-in task framework.

Features

  • No external dependencies - Uses your existing database, no Redis or message broker required
  • Priority support - Tasks can have priorities from -100 to 100
  • Delayed execution - Schedule tasks to run at a specific time with run_after
  • Exclusive locking - Prevents duplicate task execution with SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED
  • Django Admin integration - View and manage tasks from the admin interface
  • Async support - Supports async task functions
  • Google Cloud Tasks integration - Optional backend for GAE/Cloud Run with auto-detection

Architecture

sequenceDiagram
    participant App as Application
    participant Backend as DatabaseTaskBackend
    participant DB as Database
    participant Worker as Worker Process

    Note over App,Worker: Task Enqueue
    App->>Backend: task.enqueue(args, kwargs)
    Backend->>Backend: Validate & serialize args
    Backend->>DB: INSERT task (status=READY)
    DB-->>Backend: Task ID
    Backend-->>App: TaskResult (id, status=READY)

    Note over App,Worker: Task Execution
    Worker->>DB: SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED<br/>(status=READY, run_after <= now)
    DB-->>Worker: Task record (with lock)
    Worker->>DB: UPDATE status=RUNNING
    Worker->>Worker: Execute task function
    alt Success
        Worker->>DB: UPDATE status=SUCCESSFUL,<br/>return_value, finished_at
    else Failure
        Worker->>DB: UPDATE status=FAILED,<br/>errors, finished_at
    end

    Note over App,Worker: Result Retrieval (Optional)
    App->>Backend: backend.get_result(task_id)
    Backend->>DB: SELECT task
    DB-->>Backend: Task record
    Backend-->>App: TaskResult (status, return_value, errors)
Loading

Requirements

  • Python 3.12+
  • Django 6.0+

Supported Databases

Django 6.0 officially supports the following database versions:

Database Minimum Version Notes
PostgreSQL 14+ Recommended for production. Full SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED support.
MySQL 8.0.11+ Full SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED support.
MariaDB 10.6+ Full SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED support.
SQLite 3.31.0+ Works for development/testing, but no row-level locking.
Oracle 19c+ Supported but not tested with this package.

Note: SELECT FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED is used to prevent duplicate task execution in multi-worker environments. SQLite does not support row-level locking, so it is only recommended for development or single-worker deployments.

Installation

pip install django-database-task

Quick Start

1. Add to INSTALLED_APPS

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    'django_database_task',
]

2. Configure the task backend

TASKS = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django_database_task.backends.DatabaseTaskBackend',
        'QUEUES': [],  # Empty list means all queues
        'OPTIONS': {},
    },
}

3. Run migrations

python manage.py migrate django_database_task

4. Define a task

from django.tasks import task

@task
def send_welcome_email(user_id):
    user = User.objects.get(id=user_id)
    # Send email...
    return f"Email sent to {user.email}"

5. Enqueue the task

result = send_welcome_email.enqueue(user_id=123)
print(f"Task ID: {result.id}")

6. Run the worker

# Run once (exit when no tasks)
python manage.py run_database_tasks

# Run continuously (poll every 5 seconds)
python manage.py run_database_tasks --continuous --interval 5

Usage

Important: JSON-Serializable Parameters

Task arguments, keyword arguments, and return values must be JSON-serializable.

Supported types:

  • str, int, float, bool, None
  • dict (with JSON-serializable keys and values)
  • list, tuple (with JSON-serializable elements)
  • bytes (UTF-8 decodable only)

Not supported (will raise TypeError):

  • datetime, date, time - convert to ISO string: dt.isoformat()
  • UUID - convert to string: str(uuid)
  • Decimal - convert to float or string
  • Custom objects - serialize manually
from django.tasks import task

# ❌ This will raise TypeError
@task
def bad_task(user_id, created_at):
    pass
bad_task.enqueue(123, datetime.now())  # TypeError!

# âś… Convert to JSON-serializable types
@task
def good_task(user_id, created_at_iso):
    created_at = datetime.fromisoformat(created_at_iso)
    # ...
good_task.enqueue(123, datetime.now().isoformat())  # OK

Task with priority

@task(priority=10)  # Higher priority, runs first
def urgent_task():
    pass

@task(priority=-10)  # Lower priority
def background_task():
    pass

Delayed execution

from datetime import timedelta
from django.utils import timezone

# Run 1 hour from now
delayed_task = my_task.using(run_after=timezone.now() + timedelta(hours=1))
result = delayed_task.enqueue()

Task with context

@task(takes_context=True)
def task_with_context(context, message):
    task_id = context.task_result.id
    attempt = context.attempt
    return f"Task {task_id} (attempt {attempt}): {message}"

Async tasks

@task
async def fetch_data(url):
    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
        async with session.get(url) as response:
            return await response.text()

# Enqueue like normal tasks
result = fetch_data.enqueue("https://example.com/api")

Queue-specific tasks

@task(queue_name="emails")
def send_newsletter():
    pass

# Run worker for specific queue
# python manage.py run_database_tasks --queue emails

Management Commands

run_database_tasks

Execute tasks queued in the database.

python manage.py run_database_tasks [options]
Option Description
--queue Queue name to process (all queues if not specified)
--backend Backend name (default: "default")
--continuous Keep polling even when no tasks
--interval Polling interval in seconds (default: 5)
--max-tasks Maximum number of tasks to process (0=unlimited)

purge_completed_database_tasks

Delete completed task records from the database.

python manage.py purge_completed_database_tasks [options]
Option Description
--days Delete tasks completed more than N days ago (0=all)
--status Target statuses, comma-separated (default: "SUCCESSFUL,FAILED")
--batch-size Number of tasks to delete at once (default: 1000)
--dry-run Show count only without deleting

Programmatic API

You can also process tasks programmatically without management commands:

from django_database_task import (
    process_one_task,
    process_tasks,
    get_pending_task_count,
    run_task_by_id,
)

# Process a single task
result = process_one_task()
if result:
    print(f"Processed: {result.id}, status: {result.status}")

# Process multiple tasks
results = process_tasks(max_tasks=10)
print(f"Processed {len(results)} tasks")

# Process tasks from a specific queue
results = process_tasks(queue_name="emails", max_tasks=5)

# Get pending task count
count = get_pending_task_count()
print(f"Pending tasks: {count}")

# Execute a specific task by ID
result = run_task_by_id("550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000")
if result:
    print(f"Executed: {result.id}, status: {result.status}")

# Retry a failed task
result = run_task_by_id("...", allow_retry=True)

HTTP Endpoints (Optional)

For environments where cron or direct command execution is not available (e.g., serverless, PaaS), you can use HTTP endpoints to trigger task processing.

Setup

Include the URLs in your project:

# urls.py
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path("tasks/", include("django_database_task.urls")),
]

Available Endpoints

Endpoint Method Description
/tasks/run/ POST Process multiple pending tasks
/tasks/run-one/ POST Process a single pending task
/tasks/status/ GET Get pending task count
/tasks/execute/<uuid>/ POST Execute a specific task by ID
/tasks/purge/ GET, POST Delete completed tasks

Request Parameters

POST /tasks/run/

Parameter Type Default Description
max_tasks int 10 Maximum tasks to process (1-100)
queue_name string null Filter by queue name
backend_name string "default" Task backend name

Response:

{
  "processed": 3,
  "results": [
    {"id": "uuid", "status": "SUCCESSFUL", "task_path": "myapp.tasks.send_email"},
    {"id": "uuid", "status": "FAILED", "task_path": "myapp.tasks.process_data"}
  ]
}

POST /tasks/run-one/

Parameter Type Default Description
queue_name string null Filter by queue name
backend_name string "default" Task backend name

Response:

{"processed": true, "result": {"id": "uuid", "status": "SUCCESSFUL", "task_path": "..."}}

or

{"processed": false, "result": null}

GET /tasks/status/

Parameter Type Default Description
queue_name string null Filter by queue name
backend_name string "default" Task backend name

Response:

{"pending_count": 5}

POST /tasks/execute/<uuid>/

Execute a specific task by ID. This endpoint is designed for external trigger systems (e.g., Cloud Tasks, webhooks) that need to execute a specific task.

Parameter Type Default Description
fail_on_error query string "false" Return HTTP 500 on task failure
allow_retry query string "false" Allow re-execution of FAILED tasks

Response (success):

{"executed": true, "result": {"id": "uuid", "status": "SUCCESSFUL", "task_path": "..."}}

Response (task not in executable status):

{"executed": false, "reason": "Task is not in READY status"}

Response (task not found):

{"error": "Task not found"}  // HTTP 404

GET/POST /tasks/purge/

Delete completed tasks from the database. Useful for cron-based cleanup.

Note: GET method is supported for GAE cron compatibility (GAE cron only supports GET requests).

POST parameters (JSON body):

Parameter Type Default Description
days int 0 Delete tasks completed more than N days ago (0=all)
status string "SUCCESSFUL,FAILED" Target statuses, comma-separated
batch_size int 1000 Number of tasks to delete at once (max: 10000)
dry_run bool false If true, return count without deleting

GET query parameters:

Parameter Type Default Description
days int 0 Delete tasks completed more than N days ago (0=all)
status string "SUCCESSFUL,FAILED" Target statuses, comma-separated
batch_size int 1000 Number of tasks to delete at once (max: 10000)
dry_run string "false" If "true", return count without deleting

Response:

{"deleted": 150, "dry_run": false}

Response (dry run):

{"count": 150, "dry_run": true}

Example Usage

# Process up to 10 tasks
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/tasks/run/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"max_tasks": 10}'

# Process tasks from a specific queue
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/tasks/run/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queue_name": "emails", "max_tasks": 5}'

# Get pending task count
curl http://localhost:8000/tasks/status/

# Delete tasks completed more than 7 days ago (POST)
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/tasks/purge/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"days": 7}'

# Delete tasks completed more than 7 days ago (GET - for GAE cron)
curl "http://localhost:8000/tasks/purge/?days=7"

# Dry run to check how many tasks would be deleted
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/tasks/purge/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"days": 30, "dry_run": true}'

# Dry run via GET
curl "http://localhost:8000/tasks/purge/?days=30&dry_run=true"

Use Cases

Cloud Scheduler / Cron Job

Call the endpoint periodically to process tasks:

# Every minute via cron or Cloud Scheduler
curl -X POST https://your-app.com/tasks/run/ \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"max_tasks": 50}'

Webhook Trigger

Trigger task processing after an event:

# In your webhook handler
import requests

def handle_webhook(request):
    # ... process webhook ...

    # Trigger background task processing
    requests.post(
        "http://localhost:8000/tasks/run/",
        json={"max_tasks": 10}
    )

Health Check with Task Status

Monitor pending task count:

# Alert if too many pending tasks
count=$(curl -s http://localhost:8000/tasks/status/ | jq '.pending_count')
if [ "$count" -gt 100 ]; then
  echo "Warning: $count pending tasks"
fi

Scheduled Cleanup

Use cron or Cloud Scheduler to delete old completed tasks:

# Daily cleanup via cron or Cloud Scheduler
# Delete tasks completed more than 30 days ago
curl -X POST https://your-app.com/tasks/purge/ \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"days": 30}'

Security

The endpoints are CSRF-exempt for API/webhook use. Always add authentication in production:

from django.contrib.admin.views.decorators import staff_member_required
from django_database_task.views import (
    RunTasksView,
    RunOneTaskView,
    TaskStatusView,
    PurgeCompletedTasksView,
)

urlpatterns = [
    path(
        "tasks/run/",
        staff_member_required(RunTasksView.as_view()),
        name="run_tasks",
    ),
    path(
        "tasks/run-one/",
        staff_member_required(RunOneTaskView.as_view()),
        name="run_one_task",
    ),
    path(
        "tasks/status/",
        staff_member_required(TaskStatusView.as_view()),
        name="task_status",
    ),
    path(
        "tasks/purge/",
        staff_member_required(PurgeCompletedTasksView.as_view()),
        name="purge_completed_tasks",
    ),
]

Or use token-based authentication:

from django.http import HttpResponseForbidden
from django.conf import settings

def require_api_token(view_func):
    def wrapper(request, *args, **kwargs):
        token = request.headers.get("Authorization", "").replace("Bearer ", "")
        if token != settings.TASK_API_TOKEN:
            return HttpResponseForbidden("Invalid token")
        return view_func(request, *args, **kwargs)
    return wrapper

urlpatterns = [
    path("tasks/run/", require_api_token(RunTasksView.as_view())),
]

Google Cloud Tasks Integration

For serverless environments like Google App Engine or Cloud Run, you can use the Cloud Tasks backend to automatically create Cloud Tasks when tasks are enqueued.

Installation

pip install django-database-task[cloudtasks]

Quick Setup

# settings.py
TASKS = {
    "default": {
        "BACKEND": "django_database_task.cloudtasks.CloudTasksDatabaseBackend",
        "QUEUES": [],  # Allow all queue names
    },
}

Project ID, location, and handler URL are auto-detected from GAE/Cloud Run environment.

Important: Set QUEUES: [] to allow any queue name, or list the queues you use:

"QUEUES": ["default", "emails", "batch"],  # Only these queues allowed

The Cloud Tasks queue name is determined by the task's queue_name attribute:

@task  # Uses "default" queue
def normal_task():
    pass

@task(queue="batch")  # Uses "batch" queue
def batch_task():
    pass

@task(queue="high-priority")  # Uses "high-priority" queue
def urgent_task():
    pass

This allows you to configure different rate limits and concurrency settings per queue in Cloud Tasks.

How It Works

sequenceDiagram
    participant App as Application
    participant Backend as CloudTasksDatabaseBackend
    participant DB as Database
    participant CT as Cloud Tasks
    participant Handler as /tasks/execute/

    Note over App,Handler: Task Enqueue
    App->>Backend: task.enqueue(args, kwargs)
    Backend->>DB: INSERT task (status=READY)
    DB-->>Backend: Task ID
    Backend->>CT: Create Cloud Task (task_id only)
    CT-->>Backend: OK
    Backend-->>App: TaskResult (id, status=READY)

    Note over App,Handler: Task Execution (triggered by Cloud Tasks)
    CT->>Handler: POST /tasks/execute/<task_id>/<br/>(with OIDC token if configured)
    Handler->>Handler: Verify OIDC token (optional)
    Handler->>DB: SELECT task by ID
    DB-->>Handler: Task record
    Handler->>DB: UPDATE status=RUNNING
    Handler->>Handler: Execute task function
    alt Success
        Handler->>DB: UPDATE status=SUCCESSFUL
        Handler-->>CT: HTTP 200
    else Failure
        Handler->>DB: UPDATE status=FAILED
        Handler-->>CT: HTTP 500 (triggers retry)
    end
Loading

The Cloud Task only contains the task ID. All task parameters are stored in the database, ensuring:

  • Blue/Green deployment support: Tasks execute on the same version that enqueued them
  • Database as source of truth: Task parameters are never lost
  • Automatic retry: Cloud Tasks handles retry with the task ID

Configuration Options

TASKS = {
    "default": {
        "BACKEND": "django_database_task.cloudtasks.CloudTasksDatabaseBackend",
        "OPTIONS": {
            # All settings are optional - auto-detected from environment

            # Override auto-detection if needed
            # "CLOUD_TASKS_PROJECT": "my-project",
            # "CLOUD_TASKS_LOCATION": "asia-northeast1",
            # "TASK_HANDLER_URL": "https://myapp.example.com/tasks/execute/{task_id}/",
            # "TASK_HANDLER_PATH": "/tasks/execute/{task_id}/",

            # OIDC authentication (optional)
            # "OIDC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL": "...",
            # "OIDC_AUDIENCE": "https://...",
        },
    },
}

Auto-Detection

Setting Detection Method Description
Project GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT env var GCP project ID
Location CLOUD_RUN_REGION env var, or metadata server Cloud Tasks region
Handler URL Built from K_SERVICE, GAE_SERVICE, GAE_VERSION Task execution endpoint
Queue name Task's queue_name attribute Defaults to "default"

OIDC Authentication

When OIDC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL is configured, Cloud Tasks will send OIDC tokens with each request. The backend automatically verifies these tokens on the /tasks/execute/ and /tasks/purge/ endpoints.

Required IAM Roles

To use OIDC authentication, the following IAM roles are required:

Role Description
roles/cloudtasks.enqueuer Required to create tasks in Cloud Tasks queues
roles/iam.serviceAccountUser Required to specify the OIDC service account when creating tasks

Setup:

  1. Create a service account for OIDC token generation:

    gcloud iam service-accounts create cloud-tasks-invoker \
        --display-name="Cloud Tasks Invoker"
  2. Grant the Cloud Tasks Enqueuer role to the service account running your application (e.g., App Engine default service account):

    gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
        --member="serviceAccount:PROJECT_ID@appspot.gserviceaccount.com" \
        --role="roles/cloudtasks.enqueuer"
  3. Grant the Service Account User role to allow impersonation of the OIDC service account:

    gcloud iam service-accounts add-iam-policy-binding \
        cloud-tasks-invoker@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
        --member="serviceAccount:PROJECT_ID@appspot.gserviceaccount.com" \
        --role="roles/iam.serviceAccountUser"

Note: The OIDC service account specified in OIDC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL does not need any additional roles. It is only used to generate the OIDC token that is included in the HTTP request to your task handler.

# settings.py - Automatic OIDC verification
TASKS = {
    "default": {
        "BACKEND": "django_database_task.cloudtasks.CloudTasksDatabaseBackend",
        "QUEUES": [],  # Allow all queue names
        "OPTIONS": {
            "OIDC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL": "cloud-tasks-invoker@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com",
            # OIDC_AUDIENCE is auto-detected from handler URL if not set
        },
    },
}

Alternatively, you can use the decorator directly on your URL configuration:

# urls.py
from django.urls import path
from django_database_task.views import ExecuteTaskView
from django_database_task.cloudtasks import verify_cloud_tasks_oidc

urlpatterns = [
    path(
        "tasks/execute/<uuid:task_id>/",
        verify_cloud_tasks_oidc(
            ExecuteTaskView.as_view(),
            audience="https://myapp.example.com"
        ),
        name="execute_task",
    ),
]

Detection Utilities

You can use the detection functions directly:

from django_database_task.cloudtasks import (
    detect_gcp_project,
    detect_gcp_location,
    detect_task_handler_host,
    is_cloud_run,
    is_app_engine,
)

if is_cloud_run():
    print(f"Running on Cloud Run in {detect_gcp_location()}")
elif is_app_engine():
    print(f"Running on App Engine in project {detect_gcp_project()}")

Django Admin

The package includes a Django Admin integration to view and manage tasks:

  • Task list with status badges
  • Filter by status, queue, backend
  • Search by task ID or path
  • View task arguments and results

Admin Actions

The admin interface provides the following bulk actions:

Action Description
Run selected tasks Execute selected tasks that are in READY status
Retry failed tasks Reset FAILED tasks to READY status and re-execute them

These actions are useful for:

  • Manually triggering task execution from the admin
  • Retrying failed tasks after fixing issues
  • Testing task execution during development

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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A database-backed task queue backend for Django 6.0's built-in task framework

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