Orange County Lettings - Getting Started

This page explains how to set up the project locally: cloning, virtual environment, installation and dependencies.

Prerequisites

  • Git CLI

  • Python 3.13 (recommended)

  • SQLite3 CLI

  • Access to this repository

Clone the repository

git clone <your-fork-or-repo-url>
cd oc_lettings

Create and activate a virtual environment

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
# On Windows PowerShell
# .\\venv\\Scripts\\Activate.ps1

Note

Always ensure the virtual environment is active before running commands.

Confirm environment is active

which python
python --version
which pip

Install dependencies

The project uses a lockfile. Prefer installing from uv.lock when using uv; otherwise use requirements.txt.

  • Using uv (recommended):

    pip install uv
uv sync

  • Using pip:

    pip install --requirement requirements.txt

Environment configuration

Copy and adjust a .env file if needed (see variables used in oc_lettings_site/settings.py). A starter template is available as .env.example at the repo root.

  • ENV_MODE: dev or prod

  • DJANGO_SECRET_KEY: secret key for production

  • SENTRY_DSN: optional Sentry DSN

Generate strong secrets with Clinkey (optional)

  • Web UI: see Orange County Lettings - Clinkey

  • CLI example to export a strong Django secret key:

    pip install clinkey-cli
DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=$(clinkey -t super_strong -l 64 -s - --lower)

Run database migrations

python manage.py migrate

Run the development server

python manage.py runserver

Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

Static files

Static assets are served from static/ in development. In production, files are collected to staticfiles/ and served by WhiteNoise.

Common issues

  • If the venv module is missing on Linux: sudo apt-get install python3-venv

  • Ensure the virtual environment is activated before running commands.