About SmallStack

A minimal Django stack for building and deploying admin-style apps. Production-ready with SQLite, Docker, and zero-downtime Kamal deployment.

What's Included

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Philosophy¶

Use what Django gives you — before adding a package, check if Django already has it
Keep it simple — add complexity only when needed
Stay close to Django — conventions over invention
Production-ready defaults — secure settings, proper static files, Docker support

dependencies = [
    "django>=6.0",
    "python-decouple>=3.8",
    "pillow>=10.0",
    "gunicorn>=21.0",
    "whitenoise>=6.6",
    "django-extensions>=3.2",
    "django-debug-toolbar>=4.2",
    "markdown>=3.5",
    "pyyaml>=6.0",
    "django-tasks-db>=0.2",
    "django-htmx>=1.19",
]

Tech Stack¶

Component	Choice
Framework	Django 6
Frontend	Django admin theme & CSS with custom enhancements
Database	SQLite for dev and production; Postgres config included but optional
Tasks	django-tasks-db — no Redis or Celery
Package Manager	UV
Deployment	Docker with compose file or Kamal with Let's Encrypt. Your choice.

Profile App¶

Complete user profile management, auto-created on signup.

Photo & cover image uploads with Pillow
Bio, location, website and display name
Color palette preference saved per user
Extend with your own fields — standard Django model

Activity Tracking¶

Zero-config request logging with a staff dashboard.

Middleware-based — captures every request automatically
Staff dashboard with stat cards and filterable log table
Live refresh via htmx polling — no WebSockets
Auto-pruning — configurable retention, background task cleanup

Theming¶

Light and dark modes with selectable color palettes.

Dark mode toggle — user preference saved in localStorage
5 built-in palettes — Django, Contrast, Blue, Orange, Purple
CSS custom properties for colors, spacing, shadows
Built on Django admin's responsive CSS foundation

Authentication¶

Built on Django's battle-tested contrib.auth — no third-party packages.

Custom User model ready for email login
Signup control — enable/disable registration with a setting
Password reset via Django's built-in views and email
Feature flags to toggle app sections on and off

Help System¶

File-based documentation viewer — the system you're looking at right now.

YAML-driven navigation with sections, icons, and ordering
Markdown rendering with code blocks, tables, and TOC
Full-text search with client-side indexing
Slide viewer for focused presentations and walkthroughs

Background Tasks¶

Django 6's Tasks framework, pre-configured with a database backend.

No Redis or Celery — uses django-tasks-db
Background worker via manage.py db_worker
Handles email, data processing, scheduled cleanup
Docker & Kamal run the worker automatically; only local dev needs manage.py db_worker

@task
def send_notification_email(user_email, message):
    return send_mail(
        subject="Notification",
        message=message,
        from_email=None,
        recipient_list=[user_email],
    )

# In your view — returns instantly
send_notification_email.enqueue(
    user_email="user@example.com",
    message="Hello!",
)

Docker & Deployment¶

Production-ready containers with zero-downtime deployment.

Docker Compose with web, worker, and health checks
Kamal — deploy to any VPS with kamal deploy
Automatic HTTPS — Kamal provisions TLS via Let's Encrypt
Typical deploy under 60 seconds including build, push, and health check

$ kamal deploy

Building image...
Pushing to registry...
Starting container...
Container is healthy!
Releasing the deploy lock...
  Finished all in 38.4 seconds

GitHub → Documentation → Activity Tracking Demo →