django-wiki

django‑wiki is a lightweight, fully self‑hosted wiki engine built on the Django web framework. From a developer’s standpoint it offers a clean, extensible architecture that lets you embed rich‑text editing, version control, and permission handling directly into any Django project. The core of the application is a set of reusable Django apps that expose a REST‑like API for programmatic access, while still providing the classic Wiki URL scheme (/wiki/<page>) that users recognize.

Technical Stack & Architecture

• Framework: Django 3.x/4.x – the application follows Django’s “app” pattern, making it trivial to drop into an existing project or run as a standalone service.
• Language: Python 3.9+; all business logic is written in idiomatic Django, leveraging the ORM for database interactions.
• Database: Supports any relational backend supported by Django (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite). The schema is minimal: a Page model with fields for title, slug, content (Markdown), and revision history.
• Front‑end: Uses Django templates with optional Bootstrap integration for styling. Markdown rendering is handled by django‑markdownify or similar libraries, allowing server‑side conversion to HTML.
• Search: Optional integration with PostgreSQL’s full‑text search or external tools like ElasticSearch for larger deployments.

The application is split into three logical layers:

1. Models – represent pages, revisions, and permissions.
2. Views/Controllers – class‑based views that handle CRUD operations, authentication checks, and rendering.
3. Templates/Serializers – provide both HTML pages for end‑users and JSON endpoints for developers.

Core Capabilities & APIs

• Revision Tracking – each edit creates a new Revision object; the API exposes endpoints to list, diff, and revert revisions.
• Permission System – built on Django’s auth framework; supports per‑page read/write permissions, group overrides, and anonymous access settings.
• Markdown Support – all content is stored as Markdown; the API returns both raw and rendered HTML.
• RESTful Endpoints – /api/pages/ and /api/revisions/ allow CRUD operations; authentication can be token‑based (DRF) or session‑based.
• Webhooks – developers can register callbacks that fire on page creation, update, or deletion, enabling integrations with CI/CD pipelines or chatops.
• Plugin Hooks – the signals framework allows custom plugins to inject behavior (e.g., automatic tagging, external storage).

Deployment & Infrastructure

• Self‑Hosting – the app can run under any WSGI server (Gunicorn, uWSGI) behind Nginx or Apache.
• Containerization – a Dockerfile is included; images can be built from the source or pulled from a registry.
• Scalability – stateless Django processes can be scaled horizontally; the database layer is the primary bottleneck, so a robust RDBMS (PostgreSQL) with proper indexing is recommended.
• Data Persistence – all revisions are stored in the database; for backup, standard DB dumps or logical replication can be used.

Integration & Extensibility

• Extensible via Django Apps – developers can write their own apps that import the wiki models and register new URLs or admin panels.
• Custom Rendering – replace the Markdown renderer with a custom parser (e.g., mistune, markdown-it-py) by overriding the template tag.
• API Clients – several community clients exist (Python, JavaScript) that consume the REST endpoints; developers can also build their own.
• Webhooks & Events – the app emits signals for post_save and pre_delete, which can be captured to trigger external processes.

Developer Experience

• Configuration – settings are minimal; most behavior is controlled via Django’s settings.py.
• Documentation – the README and inline docstrings provide clear guidance on models, API usage, and deployment.
• Community – the project hosts a Google Group for support; issue tracking on GitHub allows quick bug reporting and feature requests.
• Testing – a comprehensive test suite (unit + integration) ensures that new contributors can safely modify the codebase.

Use Cases

• Internal Knowledge Bases – teams can embed a wiki within their Django‑based intranet, leveraging existing auth and permission systems.
• Documentation for Open‑Source Projects – the Markdown workflow makes it easy to sync with Git repositories or publish static snapshots.
• Learning Platforms – educators can provide a collaborative editing environment for course materials without external SaaS dependencies.
• Compliance & Auditing – the revision history and permission controls satisfy audit requirements for regulated industries.

Advantages Over Alternatives

• Full Control – unlike SaaS wikis, the source code is fully accessible; developers can modify rendering logic or add custom fields.
• Python Ecosystem – tight integration with Django means you can reuse existing models, middleware, and admin interfaces.
• Open‑Source Licensing – permissive MIT license allows commercial use without licensing fees.
• Lightweight Footprint – the minimal database schema and optional dependency set keep resource usage low, ideal for small servers or Kubernetes deployments.

In summary, django‑wiki offers a robust, Pythonic platform for building and