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NetBox

Repository Overview

NetBox is an extensible open-source network source-of-truth application powering network automation. It manages network infrastructure data including data center infrastructure (DCIM), IP address management (IPAM), circuits, virtualization, wireless, VPNs, and more. It supports a plugin ecosystem and exposes both a REST API and GraphQL API.

NetBox is the core product maintained by NetBox Labs. The current version is 4.6 (Python 3.12+, Django 6.x).

Tech Stack

  • Python 3.12+ / Django 6.x / Django REST Framework 3.x
  • PostgreSQL (required), Redis (required for caching/queuing)
  • GraphQL via Strawberry, background jobs via django-rq
  • django-tables2 for list views, django-filter for filtering
  • drf-spectacular for OpenAPI/Swagger schema generation
  • Docs: MkDocs with mkdocs-material theme (in docs/)
  • Ruff for lint (config in pyproject.toml)

Repository Map

.
├── netbox/                    — Django project root (run manage.py from here)
│   ├── manage.py
│   ├── netbox/                — Core settings, URLs, WSGI, plugin infrastructure
│   │   ├── settings.py        — Main Django settings
│   │   ├── configuration.py   — Instance configuration (gitignored)
│   │   ├── configuration_example.py — Configuration template
│   │   ├── configuration_testing.py — Test configuration
│   │   ├── urls.py            — Root URL routing
│   │   ├── wsgi.py            — WSGI entrypoint
│   │   ├── api/               — Core REST API infrastructure
│   │   ├── graphql/           — Core GraphQL schema
│   │   ├── models/            — Core model infrastructure (features, mixins)
│   │   ├── navigation/        — Navigation menu system
│   │   ├── plugins/           — Plugin system infrastructure
│   │   ├── registry.py        — Object registry
│   │   ├── search/            — Full-text search implementation
│   │   ├── ui/                — UI utilities
│   │   └── tests/             — Core framework tests
│   ├── account/               — User account management
│   ├── circuits/              — Circuit and provider management
│   ├── core/                  — Core data management (data sources, jobs)
│   ├── dcim/                  — Data center infrastructure (devices, racks, cables, etc.)
│   ├── extras/                — Cross-cutting features (custom fields, tags, webhooks, scripts)
│   ├── ipam/                  — IP address management (prefixes, addresses, VLANs, etc.)
│   ├── tenancy/               — Tenancy and organization
│   ├── users/                 — User management and tokens
│   ├── utilities/             — Shared utilities (no models)
│   ├── virtualization/        — Virtual machines and clusters
│   ├── vpn/                   — VPN tunnels and configurations
│   ├── wireless/              — Wireless LANs and links
│   ├── templates/             — Django templates (per-app subdirectories)
│   ├── static/                — Compiled static assets
│   ├── project-static/        — Source static assets
│   ├── media/                 — User-uploaded media
│   └── translations/          — i18n translation files
├── docs/                      — MkDocs documentation source
│   ├── administration/
│   ├── configuration/
│   ├── customization/
│   ├── development/           — Contributing guide, code style
│   ├── features/
│   ├── getting-started/
│   ├── installation/
│   ├── integrations/
│   ├── models/                — Per-model documentation (by app)
│   ├── plugins/
│   ├── reference/
│   └── release-notes/
├── scripts/                   — Database management and verification scripts
├── contrib/                   — Example configs (systemd, nginx, generated schemas)
├── pyproject.toml             — Project metadata, ruff config
├── requirements.txt           — Python dependencies
└── mkdocs.yml                 — Docs site configuration

Architecture

App Structure

Each Django app (account, circuits, core, dcim, extras, ipam, tenancy, users, virtualization, vpn, wireless) follows a standard layout:

<app>/
├── __init__.py
├── models/          — Database models (or models.py for smaller apps)
├── migrations/      — Database migrations
├── api/
│   ├── serializers.py
│   ├── views.py     — DRF viewsets
│   └── urls.py      — NetBoxRouter registrations
├── forms/           — Django forms (model forms, filter forms, bulk edit, etc.)
├── tables/          — django-tables2 table definitions
├── graphql/
│   └── types.py     — Strawberry GraphQL types
├── filtersets.py    — django-filter FilterSets
├── choices.py       — ChoiceSet subclasses
├── views.py         — UI views (registered with register_model_view())
├── urls.py          — URL routing
├── search.py        — SearchIndex registrations
├── signals.py       — Django signal definitions (where applicable)
└── tests/
    ├── test_api.py
    ├── test_filtersets.py
    ├── test_models.py
    ├── test_views.py
    └── test_forms.py

Views

Use register_model_view() to register model views by action (e.g. "add", "list", etc.). List views typically don't need to add select_related() or prefetch_related() on their querysets — prefetching is handled dynamically by the table class so that only relevant fields are prefetched.

REST API

DRF serializers live in <app>/api/serializers.py; viewsets in <app>/api/views.py; URLs auto-registered in <app>/api/urls.py. NetBoxModelSerializer provides standard fields including url, display, tags, and custom_fields. drf-spectacular generates the OpenAPI schema automatically. REST API views typically don't need to add select_related() or prefetch_related() — prefetching is handled dynamically by the serializer.

GraphQL

Strawberry types live in <app>/graphql/types.py. The core GraphQL schema is assembled in netbox/netbox/graphql/. Use Strawberry's @strawberry.type and auto field resolution, following the patterns in existing apps.

Background Jobs

django-rq drives background task processing. Job classes live in core/jobs.py and app-specific jobs.py files. Use JobRunner subclasses (from netbox.jobs) for all background work. The core app exposes job status in the UI.

Plugin System

Plugin infrastructure lives in netbox/netbox/plugins/. Plugins are Django apps registered in PLUGINS (configuration.py). The plugin API exposes stable extension points: custom models, views, navigation, template extensions, search indexes, object actions, and event rules. Internal NetBox APIs are subject to change without notice.

Filtering

FilterSets live in <app>/filtersets.py, using NetBoxModelFilterSet as the base. Used for both UI filtering and API ?field= params. FK filters must declare an explicit <field>_id = ModelMultipleChoiceFilter(field_name='<field>', ...) — don't rely on Meta.fields to auto-generate _id variants.

Extras App

extras is a catch-all for cross-cutting features: custom fields, custom links, tags, webhooks/event rules, export templates, config contexts, saved filters, bookmarks, notifications, scripts, and reports. New cross-cutting features belong here. Use FeatureQuery for generic relations (config contexts, custom fields, tags, etc.).

Commands

All commands run from the netbox/ subdirectory with the venv active. There is no Makefile or Justfile; use raw commands.

Command What it does
python manage.py runserver Start development server
python manage.py test Run full test suite (set NETBOX_CONFIGURATION first — see Testing)
python manage.py test --keepdb --parallel 4 Faster test run (no DB rebuild, parallel)
python manage.py test dcim.tests.test_api Run a single test module
python manage.py makemigrations Generate migrations after model changes
python manage.py migrate Apply migrations
python manage.py nbshell NetBox-enhanced interactive shell
python manage.py collectstatic Collect static assets
ruff check Lint (run from repo root)
mkdocs serve Preview documentation
mkdocs build Build static docs site

Development Setup

python -m venv ~/.venv/netbox
source ~/.venv/netbox/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Copy and configure
cp netbox/netbox/configuration.example.py netbox/netbox/configuration.py
# Edit configuration.py: set DATABASE, REDIS, SECRET_KEY, ALLOWED_HOSTS

cd netbox/
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Requires PostgreSQL and Redis on localhost at their default ports.

Testing

Tests use django.test.TestCase (not pytest). Test modules mirror the app structure in <app>/tests/. Always set the NETBOX_CONFIGURATION environment variable before running tests:

export NETBOX_CONFIGURATION=netbox.configuration_testing
python manage.py test

# Faster runs
python manage.py test --keepdb --parallel 4

# Single module
python manage.py test dcim.tests.test_api

Standard test modules per app:

Module Coverage area
test_api.py REST API endpoints (CRUD, filtering, bulk operations)
test_filtersets.py FilterSet fields and query behavior
test_models.py Model methods, validation, constraints
test_views.py UI views (list, create, edit, delete, bulk actions)
test_forms.py Form validation
test_tables.py Table column rendering

Additional specialized test modules exist in some apps (e.g., test_cablepaths.py in dcim, test_lookups.py in ipam).

CI/CD

GitHub Actions workflows in .github/workflows/:

  • ci.yml — Main CI pipeline: runs on every PR. Executes linting (ruff) and the full test suite across the supported Python version matrix.
  • codeql.yml — CodeQL security scanning.
  • claude.yml — Claude Code automation hook; triggers on issue/PR comments mentioning @claude.
  • claude-issue-triage.yml — Automated issue triage via Claude AI.
  • close-stale-issues.yml / close-incomplete-issues.yml — Issue hygiene automation.
  • lock-threads.yml — Locks closed issue/PR threads after a period.
  • update-translation-strings.yml — Extracts and updates i18n translation strings.

Common Tasks

Add a new model

  1. Add the model to the appropriate app's models/ directory (or create a new module imported from models/__init__.py). Inherit from NetBoxModel for full feature support (custom fields, tags, etc.).
  2. Prompt the user to run python manage.py makemigrations — never write migrations manually.
  3. Wire up the full surface area: filterset (filtersets.py), forms (forms/), table (tables/), serializer (api/serializers.py), viewset (api/views.py), URL routes (api/urls.py, urls.py), UI views (views.py), navigation, and a template under templates/<app>/.
  4. Register a SearchIndex in search.py if the model should appear in global search.
  5. Add tests covering model logic, API, filtersets, forms, and views.

Add a REST API endpoint

  1. Add the serializer to api/serializers.py using NetBoxModelSerializer for NetBoxModel-based models. Include a url field.
  2. Add the viewset to api/views.py. For custom actions use @action(detail=True, methods=['post']).
  3. Register the route in api/urls.py via NetBoxRouter.
  4. Ensure a corresponding FilterSet exists in filtersets.py; add explicit <field>_id = ModelMultipleChoiceFilter(field_name='<field>', ...) for FK filters.
  5. Add an integration test in tests/test_api.py.

Add a GraphQL type

  1. Add a Strawberry type to <app>/graphql/types.py, inheriting from the appropriate base (see existing types for examples).
  2. Register any new query fields in the app's GraphQL module and ensure it is included in the root schema.
  3. Follow the patterns in existing apps — use auto fields and lazy-resolve relations.

Add a filterset field

  1. Add the field to <app>/filtersets.py. Use NetBoxModelFilterSet as the base.
  2. For FK relations, add both <field> (name/slug lookup) and <field>_id (ID lookup) as explicit ModelMultipleChoiceFilter entries.
  3. Update the filter form in forms/filtersets.py to expose the field in the UI.
  4. Add a test in tests/test_filtersets.py.

Cut a release

  1. Bump version in pyproject.toml.
  2. Update docs/release-notes/.
  3. Tag and publish a GitHub release.

Conventions and Patterns

  • Apps: Each app owns its models, views, serializers, filtersets, forms, and tests. Don't reach across app boundaries except via FK relations and public APIs.
  • Views: Use register_model_view(). List views don't need manual select_related()/prefetch_related() — the table handles it.
  • REST API: Serializers don't need manual select_related()/prefetch_related() — handled dynamically.
  • New models: Inherit from NetBoxModel; include created and last_updated fields.
  • Every UI model: Needs model, serializer, filterset, form, table, views, URL route, and tests.
  • API serializers: Must include a url field (absolute URL of the object).
  • Generic relations: Use FeatureQuery for config contexts, custom fields, tags, etc.
  • FK filters: Always add explicit <field>_id variants in FilterSets; don't rely on Meta.fields.
  • No new dependencies without strong justification.
  • No manual migrations: Prompt the user to run manage.py makemigrations.
  • No ruff format on existing files — tends to introduce unnecessary style changes.
  • Linting: Ruff config in pyproject.toml. Line length 120, single quotes. Enabled rules: E/W/F/I/RET/UP/RUF022. Ignored: F403, F405, RET504, UP032.
  • Extras: Cross-cutting features (custom fields, tags, webhooks, scripts) belong in the extras app.
  • Plugin API: Only documented public APIs are stable. Internal code may change without notice.

Branch & PR Conventions

  • Branch naming: <issue-number>-short-description (e.g., 1234-device-typerror)
  • Use the main branch for patch releases; feature tracks work for the upcoming minor/major release.
  • Every PR must reference an approved GitHub issue.
  • PRs must include tests for new functionality.

Troubleshooting

  • Wrong directory for manage.py — manage.py lives in netbox/, not the repo root. Always cd netbox/ first or use the full path.
  • Wrong configuration loaded — Set NETBOX_CONFIGURATION=netbox.configuration_testing for tests.
  • configuration.py not found — Copy configuration.example.py to configuration.py and fill in DATABASE, REDIS, SECRET_KEY, ALLOWED_HOSTS. This file is gitignored and must never be committed.
  • Migration errors — Never write migrations manually. Run python manage.py makemigrations and let Django generate them.
  • Plugin issues — Only documented public APIs are stable. Internal NetBox code may change without notice.

Gotchas

  • configuration.py is gitignored — never commit it.
  • manage.py lives in netbox/, NOT the repo root. Running from the wrong directory is a common mistake.
  • NETBOX_CONFIGURATION env var controls which settings module loads; set to netbox.configuration_testing for tests.
  • The extras app is a catch-all for cross-cutting features (custom fields, tags, webhooks, scripts).
  • Plugins API: only documented public APIs are stable. Internal NetBox code is subject to change without notice.
  • See docs/development/ for the full contributing guide and code style details.

References