Backend · Cursor
Django 6 & Ninja / DRF .cursorignore
A .cursorignore for Django 6 & Ninja / DRF that keeps build output, large files and secrets out of Cursor's index (best effort).
- Path
- .cursorignore
- Loads
- Indexing and AI features
- Format
- gitignore syntax
- Used by
- Cursor
What this file tells the agent
This .cursorignore keeps Django 6 & Ninja / DRF build output, large data files and environment secrets out of Cursor's index and AI features, so context goes to your source code. It is best effort: commands the agent runs in the terminal can still read ignored files, so keep real secrets out of the repo too.
- Use asynchronous ORM operations (aget(), acreate(), afirst()) inside async def view handlers.
- Prevent N+1 query catastrophes: always apply select_related() for ForeignKey/OneToOne and prefetch_related() for ManyToMany/reverse relationships.
- Enforce Django Ninja schemas or DRF serializers with explicit field typing; never return raw unvalidated model instances.
- Never alter existing committed migration files; generate new sequential migrations via python manage.py makemigrations.
- Use GeneratedField for computed database columns rather than redundant model save() recalculations.
Code to avoid, and what to write instead
The rule steers the agent away from the left and toward the right.
# Discouraged: Synchronous blocking query inside async context & N+1 queries
@router.get("/articles/{article_id}")
async def get_article(request, article_id: int):
article = Article.objects.get(id=article_id) # Synchronous blocking call!
return {"id": article.id, "title": article.title, "author": article.author.username} # N+1 DB hit!from ninja import Router, Schema
from django.shortcuts import aget_object_or_404
from .models import Article
router = Router()
class ArticleOut(Schema):
id: int
title: str
author_name: str
@router.get("/articles/{article_id}", response=ArticleOut)
async def get_article(request, article_id: int):
# Asynchronous fetch with joined relationship preventing N+1
article = await Article.objects.select_related("author").aget(id=article_id)
return {
"id": article.id,
"title": article.title,
"author_name": article.author.username,
}Install it in one command
- 01
Go to your project root
The file goes at .cursorignore, relative to the root.
- 02
Download the file
Run the command on the right. It downloads this preset and writes the file.
- 03
Make sure it gets used
Cursor applies .cursorignore automatically. Matching files leave the index and AI features, but commands the agent runs in the terminal can still read them.
$ curl -fsSL "https://www.devscratchpad.tech/api/raw/cursorignore/python-django" -o ".cursorignore"
writes .cursorignore
.cursorignore
To write the file from your own code instead, use Read your code or Convert Legacy Rules in the editor above.
More for Django 6 & Ninja / DRF
Questions
- How is .cursorignore different from .gitignore?
- .gitignore decides what git tracks. .cursorignore keeps files out of Cursor's codebase index and AI features; Cursor already skips files in .gitignore when it indexes.
- Does .cursorignore reduce wasted context?
- Yes. Ignored files are not indexed or pulled into requests, so build output and large data files do not crowd out your source code.