Django-automations

A lightweight framework to collect all processes of your django app in one place.

Use cases:

• Marketing automations, customer journeys
• Simple business processes which require user interactions
• Running regular tasks

Django-automations works with plain Django but also integrates with Django-CMS.

Key features

• Describe automations as python classes

• Bind automations to models from other Django apps

• Use Django forms for user interaction

• Create transparency through extendable dashboard

• Declare automations as unique or unique for a certain data set

• Start automations on signals or when, e.g., user visits a page

• Send messages between automations

Requirements

• Python: 3.7, 3.8, 3.9
• Django: 3.0, 3.1, 3.2

Roadmap

• End of June 2021, core functionality
• August 2021, first release

Feedback

This project is in a very early stage. All feedback is welcome! Please mail me at fsbraun(at)gmx.de

Installation

This project will be available on pypi after the first release. In the meantime, please install the master branch from git using

pip install https://github.com/fsbraun/django-automations/archive/master.zip

After installation add the automations to your installed apps in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = (
    ...,
    'automations',
    'automations.cms_automations',   # ONLY IF YOU USE DJANGO-CMS!
)

Only include the "sub app" automations.cms_automations if you are using Django CMS.

The last step is to create and run the necessary migrations using the manage.py command:

pathon manage.py makemigrations automations
python manage.py migrate automations

Usage

The basic idea is to add an automation layer to Django's model, view, template structure. The automation layer collects in one place all business processes which in a Django app often are distributed across models, views and any glue code.

Automations consist of tasks which are carried out one after another. Modifiers affect, e.g. when a task is carried out.

from automations import flow
from automations.flow import this  
# "this" can be used in a class definition as a replacement for "self"

from . import forms

class ProcessInput(Automation):
    """The process steps are defiend by sequentially adding the corresponding nodes"""
    start =     flow.Execute(this.get_user_input)                  # Collect input a user has supplied
    check =     flow.If(
                    this.does_not_need_approval                    # Need approval?
                ).Then(this.process)                               # No? Continue later
    approval =      flow.Form(forms.ApprovalForm).Group(name="admins")  # Let admins approve
    process =   flow.Execute(this.process_input)                   # Generate output
    end =       flow.End()

    critical = 10_000

    def get_user_input(task_instance):
        ...

    def does_not_need_approval(task_instance):
        return not (task_instance.data['amount'] > self.critical)

    def process_input(task_instance):
        ...

Documentation

See the documentation on readthedocs.io.