The python manage.py shell opens an interactive python shell with the project's environment loaded. This will be useful for interacting with your code, running some custom scripts or interacting with your models directly.
You can know more about the command by typing,
python manage.py help shell
or by typing,
python manage.py shell --help
It would give an output like this,
usage: manage.py shell [-h] [--no-startup] [-i {ipython,bpython,python}] [-c COMMAND] [--version] [-v {0,1,2,3}]
[--settings SETTINGS] [--pythonpath PYTHONPATH] [--traceback] [--no-color] [--force-color]
Runs a Python interactive interpreter. Tries to use IPython or bpython, if one of them is available. Any standard
input is executed as code.
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--no-startup When using plain Python, ignore the PYTHONSTARTUP environment variable and ~/.pythonrc.py
script.
-i {ipython,bpython,python}, --interface {ipython,bpython,python}
Specify an interactive interpreter interface. Available options: "ipython", "bpython", and
"python"
-c COMMAND, --command COMMAND
Instead of opening an interactive shell, run a command as Django and exit.
--version Show program's version number and exit.
-v {0,1,2,3}, --verbosity {0,1,2,3}
Verbosity level; 0=minimal output, 1=normal output, 2=verbose output, 3=very verbose output
--settings SETTINGS The Python path to a settings module, e.g. "myproject.settings.main". If this isn't provided,
the DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE environment variable will be used.
--pythonpath PYTHONPATH
A directory to add to the Python path, e.g. "/home/djangoprojects/myproject".
--traceback Raise on CommandError exceptions.
--no-color Don't colorize the command output.
--force-color Force colorization of the command output.
Giving python manage.py shell
will open an interactive console like this:
python manage.py shell
The interactive console can be used to execute python scripts or interact with the models. After completing the work, you can quit from the interactive console by typing,
exit()
or by typing,
quit()
or Ctrl-Z
plus Return
to exit on Windows and Ctrl-D
to exit on Unix-based systems.