django_dashboard — Admin Dashboard Tabs

django_dashboard adds a tabbed panel system to the Django Unfold admin overview page. Each tab is a standard Django view: a Python callback function returns a dict, and a Django template renders it. No Streamlit, no iframes, no special base classes.

How it works


DjangoConfig.dashboard: DashboardConfig
    └── tabs: List[DashboardTab]
              ├── slug        → URL segment  /cfg/admin/dashboard/<slug>/
              ├── title       → Tab label
              ├── icon        → Material icon name
              ├── callback    → dotted path  fn(request) -> dict
              ├── template    → Django template path
              └── permission  → dotted path  fn(request) -> bool

When a tab is requested, the view:

Resolves the callback dotted path and calls the function with request.
Renders template with the callback’s return dict as context (plus current_tab, all_tabs, dashboard_config).

Quick start

1. Create a dashboard app


myproject/
└── dashboard/
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── apps.py
    ├── callbacks/
    │   ├── __init__.py
    │   ├── overview.py
    │   └── system.py
    └── templates/
        └── dashboard/
            ├── overview.html
            └── system.html

2. Write a callback


# dashboard/callbacks/overview.py
from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 
def callback(request):
    User = get_user_model()
    return {
        "total_users": User.objects.count(),
        "recent_users": User.objects.order_by("-date_joined")[:5],
    }

The callback receives the real HttpRequest. You can do anything: ORM queries, aggregations, pagination (request.GET.get("page")), Redis lookups, gRPC calls — whatever you need.

3. Write a template


{# dashboard/templates/dashboard/overview.html #}
{% extends "django_dashboard/base.html" %}
 
{% block tab_content %}
<div class="p-4">
    <p>Total users: {{ total_users }}</p>
 
    {% for user in recent_users %}
        <div>{{ user.email }} — {{ user.date_joined|date:"d M Y" }}</div>
    {% endfor %}
</div>
{% endblock %}

Templates are standard Django templates. Use {% include %}, template tags, filters — anything goes.

4. Register in config


# api/config.py
from django_cfg import DjangoConfig, DashboardConfig, DashboardTab
 
class MyConfig(DjangoConfig):
    project_apps = [..., "dashboard"]   # needed so Django finds your templates
 
    dashboard = DashboardConfig(
        tabs=[
            DashboardTab(
                slug="overview",
                title="Overview",
                icon="bar_chart",
                callback="dashboard.callbacks.overview.callback",
                template="dashboard/overview.html",
            ),
            DashboardTab(
                slug="system",
                title="System",
                icon="monitor_heart",
                callback="dashboard.callbacks.system.callback",
                template="dashboard/system.html",
                permission="dashboard.permissions.is_superuser",
            ),
        ],
    )

No migrations, no URL changes, no admin registration — that’s all you need.

Configuration reference

`DashboardTab` fields

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`slug`	`str`	Yes	—	URL segment. Must be unique across all tabs.
`title`	`str`	Yes	—	Tab label shown in the UI.
`icon`	`str`	No	`"dashboard"`	Material icon name.
`template`	`str`	One of template/callback	—	Django template path.
`callback`	`str`	One of template/callback	—	Dotted path to `fn(request) -> dict`.
`permission`	`str`	No	`None`	Dotted path to `fn(request) -> bool`. Default: `request.user.is_staff`.
`superuser_only`	`bool`	No	`False`	If `True`, only superusers can view this tab. Overrides `permission`.

At least one of template or callback must be set — validated at startup by DashboardTab’s model validator.

`DashboardConfig` fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
`tabs`	`List[DashboardTab]`	`[]`	Ordered list of tabs.
`default_tab`	`str \| None`	`None`	Slug of the tab shown first. Defaults to the first tab in the list.
`tailwind_css`	`str \| None`	`None`	Static path to a compiled CSS file for custom tab styles.

Template context

Every tab template receives:

Variable	Type	Description
`current_tab`	`DashboardTab`	The active tab object.
`all_tabs`	`List[DashboardTab]`	All configured tabs (used by the tab bar).
`dashboard_config`	`DashboardConfig`	The full dashboard config object.
`title`	`str`	Same as `current_tab.title`.
`**callback_result`	`dict`	Everything your callback returned, merged into the context.

Built-in base templates

Template	Purpose
`django_dashboard/base.html`	Full page — extends Unfold `admin/base.html`, renders the tab bar and `{% block tab_content %}`.
`django_dashboard/tabs_bar.html`	Tab bar snippet only (included by `base.html`).
`django_dashboard/tab_empty.html`	Fallback rendered when no template is set (callback-only tab).

Extend django_dashboard/base.html and fill {% block tab_content %} in your templates.

URL structure

URL	Name	Description
`/cfg/admin/dashboard/`	`django_cfg_dashboard_index`	Redirects to the default tab.
`/cfg/admin/dashboard/<slug>/`	`django_cfg_dashboard_tab`	Renders a specific tab.

Both require is_staff. Per-tab permission callbacks override the default.

Custom CSS (Tailwind)

If your templates use custom Tailwind classes, point tailwind_css to your compiled output file:


DashboardConfig(
    tailwind_css="dashboard/css/dashboard.css",   # relative to STATIC_ROOT
    tabs=[...],
)

The base template injects a <link rel="stylesheet"> automatically when this is set.

Template tags


{% load django_cfg_dashboard %}
 
{# Returns DashboardConfig or None for the current staff user #}
{% get_dashboard_config as dashboard %}
{% if dashboard %}
    {% include "django_dashboard/tabs_bar.html" with
        all_tabs=dashboard.tabs
        current_tab=dashboard.tabs.0
        dashboard_config=dashboard %}
{% endif %}

Also available via {% load django_cfg %} as a backward-compatibility shim.

Permission control

Permission is checked in this order:

If superuser_only=True — only request.user.is_superuser passes.
If permission is set — the resolved function is called with request, must return a truthy value.
Otherwise — request.user.is_staff is the default.


# dashboard/permissions.py
def is_superuser(request) -> bool:
    return bool(request.user.is_superuser)
 
def is_analytics_team(request) -> bool:
    return request.user.groups.filter(name="analytics").exists()

Adding a new tab (checklist)

Create dashboard/callbacks/mypage.py with def callback(request) -> dict.
Create dashboard/templates/dashboard/mypage.html extending django_dashboard/base.html.
Add DashboardTab(slug="mypage", ...) to DashboardConfig.tabs in config.py.
Done — no migrations, no URL changes, no admin registration needed.

django_dashboard — Admin Dashboard Tabs

How it works

Quick start

1. Create a dashboard app

2. Write a callback

3. Write a template

4. Register in config

Configuration reference

`DashboardTab` fields

`DashboardConfig` fields

Template context

Built-in base templates

URL structure

Custom CSS (Tailwind)

Template tags

Permission control

Adding a new tab (checklist)

Documentation

Frontend

Resources

Company

django_dashboard — Admin Dashboard Tabs

How it works

Quick start

1. Create a dashboard app

2. Write a callback

3. Write a template

4. Register in config

Configuration reference

DashboardTab fields

DashboardConfig fields

Template context

Built-in base templates

URL structure

Custom CSS (Tailwind)

Template tags

Permission control

Adding a new tab (checklist)

Documentation

Frontend

Resources

Company

`DashboardTab` fields

`DashboardConfig` fields