Question: Can Django use DynamoDB?

Answer

Yes. Django applications can use DynamoDB through boto3, but DynamoDB is not a built-in Django ORM backend. Put DynamoDB access in application services or repository functions rather than assuming Django models and migrations work unchanged.

For example, keep Django's relational database for authentication, admin and other ORM-backed features, while storing an application's event or session data in DynamoDB. Your view calls a service that uses boto3 to read or write the relevant item.

import boto3

def load_order(order_id):
    table = boto3.resource("dynamodb", region_name="us-east-1").Table("Orders")
    return table.get_item(Key={"pk": f"ORDER#{order_id}"}).get("Item")

This assumes a String partition key named pk and credentials supplied through the normal AWS credential chain. The resource is local to the function; do not assume boto3 resource instances are safe to share across worker threads.

Django's transaction.atomic() does not wrap DynamoDB operations, and relational migrations do not create DynamoDB indexes. Manage the table separately and use DynamoDB transactions where needed. Third-party session packages are not proof of full ORM support.

See boto3 examples and DynamoDB transactions for implementation patterns.

Source: Django database backends.