Getting started with Django 5.2 LTS using uv

Tested with: uv 0.13.1, Python 3.14.8 and Django 5.2.18 LTS, October 2026. Django 5.2 is the current long-term-support release, with security fixes until April 2028.

Looking for my 2021 version with Django 3.2 and pipenv, which matches the CM3035 course videos? It's here: Getting started with Django 3.2 (2021, pipenv).

Back in 2021 I set up Django with pipenv. These days I use uv, a fast Python package and project manager. One tool now does what used to take three: it installs Python itself, creates an isolated environment for your project, and records the exact version of every package so anyone can rebuild the same set-up.

Step 1: Install uv

On macOS or Linux:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

On Windows (PowerShell):

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

If you use Homebrew, brew install uv also works. Open a new terminal, then check:

uv --version

Step 2: Create a project

uv init --app --no-package mysite --python 3.14
cd mysite

This creates a mysite folder with:

• pyproject.toml: your project's settings and its list of dependencies (like package.json in JavaScript, or the Pipfile in my old post);

• .python-version: the Python version for this project (3.14);

• README.md, a starter main.py (you can delete it) and a git repository.

If Python 3.14 isn't on your computer yet, uv downloads it for you. You don't need to install Python separately.

Why --no-package? Since version 0.12, uv init sets projects up to be built as installable Python packages, in a src/ folder. A Django site isn't a package, so --no-package keeps the simple layout Django expects.

Step 3: Add Django

uv add "django>=5.2,<5.3"

The version range keeps you on the 5.2 LTS series, so you get its security fixes but never jump to a new major version by accident. uv creates a .venv environment, installs Django into it, adds Django to pyproject.toml, and writes uv.lock, which records the exact version of every package (Django 5.2.18, asgiref, sqlparse).

Step 4: Start the Django project

uv run django-admin startproject config .

The . at the end creates the project in the current folder instead of a new subfolder. You now have manage.py and a config folder holding settings.py, urls.py, asgi.py and wsgi.py.

uv run runs a command inside the project's environment. You don't need to activate the environment first, and it works the same on macOS, Linux and Windows.

Step 5: Run it

uv run python manage.py migrate
uv run python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ and you should see Django's welcome page with the rocket. Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

Sharing your project (or rebuilding it on another computer)

Commit pyproject.toml, uv.lock and .python-version to git, but not .venv, which uv's .gitignore already leaves out. On another computer, after cloning:

uv sync

uv sync installs the right Python and the exact package versions from uv.lock. This is what pipenv's Pipfile.lock did, only much faster.

Other everyday commands:

Following the course instead?

The CM3035 course guide uses Python's built-in venv and pip. That works too. The equivalent of the steps above is:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate        # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
python -m pip install "django>=5.2,<5.3"
django-admin startproject config .
python manage.py runserver

uv simply does the same with fewer steps and a lockfile.

Resources

• uv documentation

• Django 5.2 documentation

• Django supported versions

• My older post: Getting started with Django 3.2 (2021, pipenv)