Add STATIC_ROOT and MEDIA_ROOT to .env.example - #612
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bpepple merged 2 commits intoSep 3, 2026
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settings.py reads both through `config()` with no default, in the branch that runs when DEBUG is on, and the example sets DEBUG=True. So copying the file as its own first line instructs raises UndefinedValueError on `manage.py` before anything else happens. Of the 19 variables settings.py requires without a default, these were the only two the example did not declare.
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Looks good, only change I made was updating the .gitignore for those directories. Thx!
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What happens
.env.exampleopens with# Copy this file to .env and fill in all values.Doing exactly that and runningmanage.pyfails before anything else:The example sets
DEBUG=True,settings.py:354branches onif not DEBUG, and the local-storage branch readsconfig("STATIC_ROOT")andconfig("MEDIA_ROOT")with no default. Neither name is in the example.Why declaring them rather than defaulting them
Of the 19 variables
settings.pyrequires without a default, these two were the only ones the example did not declare. The project keeps the example complete, so this follows that rather than adding defaults tosettings.py.The values are the conventional Django ones and match how the S3 branch names things.
Alternative
If you would rather the development path work with no
.envediting at all,config("STATIC_ROOT", default=BASE_DIR / "staticfiles")does that instead, and I can send it that way.