What is a Nested App in Django?

What is a Nested App in Django?#

A nested app is a Django app placed inside another folder for better organization, while still functioning as a normal Django app through proper Python imports and INSTALLED_APPS registration.

Simple definition

A nested app means:

An app placed inside another folder (not directly at project root)

but still treated as a normal Django app.

📁 Normal (flat) Django apps

Default structure:

project_root/
├── manage.py
├── mysite/
│   ├── settings.py
│   └── urls.py
├── blog/
├── accounts/
Here:

  • blog and accounts are top-level apps

📁 Nested apps

Example:

project_root/
├── manage.py
├── src/
│   ├── apps/
│   │   ├── blog/
│   │   │   ├── models.py
│   │   │   └── apps.py
│   │   ├── accounts/
│   │   └── payments/
│   └── config/
│       ├── settings.py
│       └── urls.py
Here:

  • blog is nested inside src/apps/

  • But Django still treats it as a normal app

This is a nested app structure

Why do people use nested apps?#

1️⃣ Clean architecture (very important)

apps/        → business logic
config/     → settings, URLs, WSGI/ASGI

This separation is enterprise-grade.

2️⃣ Avoid root clutter

Instead of:

blog/
users/
orders/
payments/

You get:

apps/
   blog/
   users/
   orders/

Cleaner. Scalable. Professional.

3️⃣ Monorepo support

Nested apps are perfect when:

  • You have many domains

  • You build large systems

  • You share code between projects

(Exactly like your Kaftarya / enterprise plans)

How Django finds nested apps#

Django doesn’t care about folders.

It cares about:

  • Python imports

  • INSTALLED_APPS

Example

Folder:

apps/blog/

apps/blog/apps.py:

class BlogConfig(AppConfig):
    name = 'apps.blog'

settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'apps.blog.apps.BlogConfig',
]

Django works perfectly.

❌ Common misconception

“Nested apps are not supported by Django”

❌ False.

Django fully supports nested apps as long as:

  • Python can import them

  • They are in INSTALLED_APPS

Django command with nested apps

If you want to create one:

mkdir apps
python manage.py startapp blog apps/blog

Result:

apps/blog/

Mental model

Think of Django apps as:

📦 Python packages, not folders

As long as Python can import:

import apps.blog

Django is happy.

lat vs Nested

Feature

Flat apps

Nested apps

Beginner-friendly

✅

❌

Scales well

❌

✅

Enterprise-ready

❌

✅

Clean separation

❌

✅
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