Django "ImproperlyConfigured: settings are not configured" in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

Django reads configuration lazily from the module named by DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE. When that variable is unset (or settings.configure() was never called), the first access to any setting raises ImproperlyConfigured.

What this error means

A test or management step fails with "ImproperlyConfigured: Requested setting INSTALLED_APPS, but settings are not configured." It typically appears when running pytest without the settings wired up.

django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: Requested setting INSTALLED_APPS,
but settings are not configured. You must either define the environment
variable DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE or call settings.configure() before
accessing settings.

Common causes

DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE not set in CI

pytest runs without the env var the app expects, so Django has no settings module to import.

pytest-django not configured

Without DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE in pytest config, pytest-django cannot bootstrap Django before tests.

How to fix it

Point pytest-django at the settings module

1. Install pytest-django.
2. Set DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE in pytest config (or the env).
3. Re-run.

[pytest]
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = myproject.settings.test

Export the variable in the workflow

Set the env var for management-command style steps that run outside pytest.

- run: python manage.py migrate
  env:
    DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: myproject.settings.test

How to prevent it

• Always set DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE for the test settings in CI.
• Use pytest-django and declare the settings in pytest config.
• Keep a dedicated test settings module checked into the repo.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• Python documentation
• pip documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation