Django Multi-Tenant Implementation Plan

A comprehensive, production-ready prompt for implementing row-level tenant isolation in Django projects. Think of this as pip install multi-tenant for your architecture - copy the implementation prompt, paste it into your AI assistant, and get guided step-by-step through the entire implementation customized to your project.

🚀 Quick Start - Get Implementing in 2 Minutes

This is like pip install but fully configured for architecture patterns - copy and go!

• Step 1: Copy contents of this repository to your Django project folder
• Step 2: Open implementation-prompt.md and copy its contents
• Step 3: Paste into your AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot Chat, etc.)

The AI will guide you through the complete implementation, step-by-step, customized to your project.

🤔 What is Row-Level Tenancy?

Row-level tenancy (also called single-database multi-tenancy) is an architecture pattern where multiple organizations (tenants) share the same database and tables, but each row is tagged with a tenant identifier. This means:

• One database, many tenants - All organizations share the same PostgreSQL database
• Data isolation per row - Every record has a tenant_id foreign key that isolates data
• Automatic filtering - Queries automatically filter by tenant, preventing data leaks
• Shared infrastructure - More cost-effective than separate databases per tenant

Why Row-Level vs. Other Approaches?

Approach	Best For	Pros	Cons
Row-Level (This Guide)	SaaS with 100s-1000s of tenants	Cost-effective, easy scaling, shared resources	Requires careful query filtering
Schema-per-Tenant	10-50 tenants with compliance needs	Strong isolation, easier migrations	Complex management, higher costs
Database-per-Tenant	<10 large enterprise clients	Maximum isolation, custom configurations	Expensive, difficult to scale

Row-level tenancy is the industry standard for modern SaaS applications like Slack, GitHub, Shopify, and most B2B platforms.

💡 Why Use This Prompt Module?

Traditional implementation takes 2-4 weeks and requires deep Django expertise. This prompt-based approach:

⚡ Speed Benefits

• 30-120 minutes instead of 2-4 weeks - Pre-planned architecture and battle-tested patterns
• AI-guided implementation - Get unstuck instantly with context-aware guidance
• Copy-paste code examples - Working code blocks, not just concepts

🛡️ Safety Benefits

• Proven patterns - Based on production implementations serving thousands of tenants
• Built-in testing strategy - Comprehensive test coverage prevents data leaks
• Migration safety - Step-by-step data migration with rollback procedures

💰 Cost Benefits

• Free and open-source - No consultant fees ($10k-50k savings)
• Reduced debugging time - Common pitfalls already documented
• Reusable across projects - Use this pattern for every Django SaaS you build

🎯 Quality Benefits

• Production-ready - Includes security, performance, and compliance considerations
• Role-based access control - Four-tier permission system included
• Performance optimized - Database indexing strategy included

Bottom line: What normally requires hiring a consultant or spending weeks researching is condensed into a simple prompt you paste into ChatGPT/Claude.

🌟 Features

• 🔒 Complete Data Isolation: Row-level tenant separation with automatic query filtering
• 👥 Role-Based Access Control: Four-tier permission system (Owner/Admin/Member/Viewer)
• 🔄 Backward Compatible: Add to existing projects without breaking functionality
• 📊 Production Ready: Based on proven patterns with comprehensive testing strategies
• 🚀 Easy Integration: Clear phase-by-phase implementation guide
• 📖 Extensive Documentation: 9 detailed guides covering every aspect

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Alternative: Use the Quick Reference if you prefer to implement manually with a cheat sheet.

📚 What's Included

This repository contains a complete implementation plan with:

📋 Planning Documents

1. Overview & Architecture - High-level design and scope
2. Architecture & Design - Detailed system architecture
3. Requirements - Functional and non-functional requirements

🛠️ Implementation Phases

4. Phase 1: Foundation - Core models and managers
5. Phase 2: Middleware & Access - Middleware and decorators
6. Phase 3: Management & Utilities - Admin and utilities

🧪 Quality Assurance

7. Testing Strategy - Unit, integration, and performance tests
8. Risks & Success Criteria - Risk management and metrics

💻 Implementation Details

9. Code Examples & Configuration - Complete working examples

⏱️ Implementation Timeline

Phase	Duration	Complexity	Dependencies
Phase 1: Foundation	2-3 minutes	Medium	Database migration planning
Phase 2: Middleware & Access	3-4 minutes	High	Phase 1 complete
Phase 3: Management & Utilities	2-3 minutes	Low	Phase 2 complete
Testing & Validation	2-3 minutes	Medium	All phases complete

📅 Total Estimated Duration: 9-13 days

✅ Prerequisites

• ✔️ Django 4.0+ project with custom User model
• ✔️ PostgreSQL database (required for advanced indexing)
• ✔️ Existing authentication system (django-allauth recommended)
• ✔️ Python 3.9+ environment

� How to Use This Guide

For AI-Assisted Implementation (Recommended - Fastest)

1. Copy implementation-prompt.md
2. Paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or GitHub Copilot Chat
3. Follow the AI's step-by-step guidance customized to your project

For Manual Implementation

1. Understand the architecture - Read Overview & Architecture
2. Plan your approach - Review Requirements and Risks & Success Criteria
3. Implement phase by phase - Follow phases 1-3 in order
4. Test thoroughly - Use Testing Strategy
5. Copy code examples - Reference Code Examples & Configuration

For Quick Reference

Use Quick Reference as a cheat sheet while implementing.

⚠️ Critical Success Factors

1. 💾 Database Backup - Always backup before migration
2. 🧪 Staging Testing - Test all migrations on staging first
3. 📈 Gradual Rollout - Use feature flags for controlled deployment
4. ⚡ Performance Monitoring - Monitor query performance impact
5. 🔐 Security Validation - Test cross-tenant isolation thoroughly

🏗️ Architecture Overview

Request → Authentication → TenantMiddleware → View Decorator → Tenant-Scoped Query
                              ↓
                        Set request.tenant
                        Set request.user_role

Key Components:

• Tenant Model: Organization/company data with settings
• UserTenantMembership: Many-to-many relationship with roles
• TenantMiddleware: Automatic tenant context detection
• Decorators: @require_tenant_access, @require_role
• Managers: .for_tenant() query filtering

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guidelines for details on:

• Reporting bugs
• Suggesting enhancements
• Submitting pull requests
• Code style guidelines

Please note that this project is released with a Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

💬 Support & Questions

• 📖 Documentation: Check the implementation phase documents
• 🐛 Bug Reports: Open an issue with the bug template
• 💡 Feature Requests: Open an issue with the feature request template
• ❓ Questions: Open an issue with the question label

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built on proven Django multi-tenancy patterns
• Inspired by real-world production implementations
• Community contributions and feedback

⭐ Show Your Support

If you find this project helpful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub!

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Made with ❤️ for the Django community