zed-django

A Django extension for Zed.

• Tree-sitter: tree-sitter-htmldjango
• Language Servers:
  • Django Language Server
  • Django Template LSP

Installation

Install the extension from the Zed extensions directory:

1. Open the Extensions panel (zed: extensions in the command palette or ctrl-shift-x/cmd-shift-x)
2. Search for "Django"
3. Click "Install"

Django Template Language Syntax

By default, this extension automatically detects and enables syntax support for the Django Template Language via Tree-sitter in:

• Files with .dj.html, .dj.md, or .dj.txt extensions
• Files starting with {% extends or {% load

Using Django syntax in .html files

Since .html files conflict with the built-in HTML extension, you'll need to manually configure file associations for your Django templates.

Per-file

Right-click on an .html file in Zed and select Select Language → Django, or click the language indicator in the status bar at the bottom right of the editor.

Note

This only applies to the current session. The file will revert to HTML next time you open it.

Django templates directory (Recommended)

Add to your .zed/settings.json in your Django project:

{
  "file_types": {
    "Django": ["**/templates/**/*.html"]
  }
}

This matches all .html files in any templates directory, following Django's standard project structure.

All HTML files

To treat all .html files as Django templates:

{
  "file_types": {
    "Django": ["html"]
  }
}

Note

This will override the built-in HTML language for all .html files and may affect non-Django HTML files.

Global settings

Add to your global Zed settings (zed: open settings):

{
  "file_types": {
    "Django": ["**/templates/**/*.html"]
  }
}

Global settings affect all projects. Project-specific settings are recommended for now.

Using Django syntax in other file types

Of course, Django templates aren't limited to HTML. You can use glob patterns to match templates of any file type.

Directory-based matching

Match multiple file types within your templates directory:

{
  "file_types": {
    "Django": [
      "**/templates/**/*.html",
      "**/templates/**/*.md",
      "**/templates/**/*.txt"
    ]
  }
}

Extension-based matching

Use a .dj.* naming convention to mark Django templates:

{
  "file_types": {
    "Django": ["*.dj.*"]
  }
}

This matches any file with .dj. in the name (e.g., .dj.html, .dj.xml, .dj.md), allowing you to use Django templates with any file extension anywhere in your project.

Language Servers

There are two language servers available for Django templates:

• Django Language Server
• Django Template LSP

Feature Comparison

Feature	Django Language Server	Django Template LSP
Diagnostics	✅	❌
Completions	✅ (template tags)	✅ (tags, filters, templates, load, static, URLs)
Go to definition	✅ (extend/include tags)	✅ (templates, URLs, tags/filters, context)
Find references	✅ (extend/include tags)	❌
Hover documentation	❌	✅ (tags, filters, URLs)

Installation and Activation

The Django extension provides two language servers for Django templates. Both language servers will start by default and run simultaneously. You can choose to use only one by configuring which to disable in your settings (see the Using a Language Server section below).

Both language servers follow the same installation and activation sequence:

1. The Django extension checks if the language server binary (djls or djlsp) is available on your PATH.
2. If not found on PATH:
   • Django Language Server automatically downloads and installs from GitHub releases
   • Django Template LSP runs via uvx --from django-template-lsp djlsp if uv is available

For manual installation of Django Template LSP, see the fourdigits/django-template-lsp repository.

Using a Language Server

Using Django Language Server

Django Language Server provides diagnostics, autocompletion for template tags, and navigation features for template inheritance.

To use only Django Language Server (disabling Django Template LSP), add the following to your settings.json:

{
  "languages": {
    "Django": {
      "language_servers": ["django-language-server", "!django-template-lsp", "..."]
    }
  }
}

For detailed documentation and advanced configuration options, see the joshuadavidthomas/django-language-server repository.

Using Django Template LSP

Django Template LSP provides comprehensive autocompletion for tags, filters, templates, URLs, and more, along with hover documentation.

To use only Django Template LSP (disabling Django Language Server), add the following to your settings.json:

{
  "languages": {
    "Django": {
      "language_servers": ["django-template-lsp", "!django-language-server", "..."]
    }
  }
}

For project-specific configuration, create .zed/settings.json in your Django project root.

For detailed documentation and advanced configuration options, see the fourdigits/django-template-lsp repository.

Disabling Language Servers

If you prefer to use only the tree-sitter syntax highlighting without any language server features, you can disable both language servers:

{
  "languages": {
    "Django": {
      "language_servers": ["!django-language-server", "!django-template-lsp", "..."]
    }
  }
}

This gives you Django template syntax support, highlighting, and indentation through tree-sitter-htmldjango, without the additional language server features like diagnostics, autocompletion, or navigation.

Development

To develop this extension, see the Developing Extensions section of the Zed docs.

License

zed-django is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See the LICENSE file for more information.

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zed-django is not associated with the Django Software Foundation.

Django is a registered trademark of the Django Software Foundation.