Django FSM RX Documentation

Django FSM RX - Remanufactured Finite State Machine

Django-fsm-rx adds simple declarative state management for Django models.

Full Documentation | PyPI | GitHub

What does RX mean?

RX = Remanufactured

In the automotive and mechanic shop world, “RX” commonly denotes a remanufactured part - rebuilt to meet or exceed original specifications, often with improvements. This project follows that philosophy: taking the battle-tested django-fsm codebase and remanufacturing it with modern enhancements.

About This Project

Django FSM RX is an independent fork that combines the best features from the django-fsm ecosystem:

• Core FSM functionality from the original django-fsm by Mikhail Podgurskiy

• Admin integration inspired by django-fsm-admin and django-fsm-2-admin

• Transition logging inspired by django-fsm-log

• Full type hints for modern Python development

This is a new independent branch, separate from both Django Commons and Jazzband. The goal is to provide a unified, actively maintained package that combines all essential FSM features in one place.

Why a new fork?

The original django-fsm was archived after 2 years without releases. While django-fsm-2 under Django Commons continued maintenance, this project takes a different approach by:

1. Combining features - Admin, logging, and core FSM in one package

2. Independent governance - Not tied to any organization’s processes

3. Opinionated defaults - Built for mechanic shop / automotive industry workflows

Installation

pip install django-fsm-rx

Add to your Django settings:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...,
    'django_fsm_rx',
    ...,
]

Then run migrations to create the audit log table:

python manage.py migrate django_fsm_rx

Configuration

Django FSM RX works out of the box with sensible defaults. All settings are optional:

# settings.py
DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'ATOMIC': True,                    # Wrap transitions in database transactions
    'AUDIT_LOG': True,                 # Enable automatic audit logging
    'AUDIT_LOG_MODE': 'transaction',   # 'transaction' or 'signal'
    'AUDIT_LOG_MODEL': None,           # Custom audit log model (dotted path)
    'PROTECTED_FIELDS': False,         # Default for FSMField protected parameter
}

Settings Reference

Setting	Default	Description
ATOMIC	True	Wrap transitions in transaction.atomic(). Ensures state changes and related DB operations roll back together on failure.
AUDIT_LOG	True	Automatically log all state transitions to FSMTransitionLog.
AUDIT_LOG_MODE	'transaction'	'transaction': Log inside atomic block (rolls back with transition). 'signal': Log via post_transition signal (persists even if later code fails).
AUDIT_LOG_MODEL	None	Use a custom model for audit logs (e.g., 'myapp.TransitionLog'). Must have compatible fields.
PROTECTED_FIELDS	False	Default value for protected parameter on FSMField. When True, direct field assignment raises an exception.

Audit Log Modes

Transaction mode (default, recommended):

DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'AUDIT_LOG_MODE': 'transaction',  # Audit log rolls back if transition fails
}

The audit log is created inside the atomic transaction. If anything fails after the transition, both the state change and the audit log roll back together.

Signal mode:

DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'AUDIT_LOG_MODE': 'signal',  # Audit log persists even if later code fails
}

The audit log is created via the post_transition signal, after the transition completes. Use this if you want audit logs even when subsequent operations fail.

Disabling Features

# Disable audit logging entirely
DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'AUDIT_LOG': False,
}

# Disable atomic transactions (not recommended)
DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'ATOMIC': False,
}

Custom Audit Log Model

To use your own audit log model:

# settings.py
DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'AUDIT_LOG_MODEL': 'myapp.TransitionLog',
}

# myapp/models.py
from django.db import models
from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType

class TransitionLog(models.Model):
    # Required fields
    content_type = models.ForeignKey(ContentType, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    object_id = models.TextField()
    transition_name = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    source_state = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    target_state = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    timestamp = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    # Add your custom fields
    user = models.ForeignKey('auth.User', null=True, on_delete=models.SET_NULL)
    notes = models.TextField(blank=True)

Quick Start

Option 1: Method on Model

Define transitions as methods on your model:

from django.db import models
from django_fsm_rx import FSMField, transition

class RepairOrder(models.Model):
    state = FSMField(default='intake')

    @transition(field=state, source='intake', target='diagnosis')
    def begin_diagnosis(self):
        """Vehicle moved to diagnostic bay."""
        pass

    @transition(field=state, source='diagnosis', target='awaiting_approval')
    def submit_estimate(self):
        """Estimate ready for customer approval."""
        pass

    @transition(field=state, source='awaiting_approval', target='in_progress')
    def approve_repair(self):
        """Customer approved the repair."""
        pass

    @transition(field=state, source='in_progress', target='complete')
    def complete_repair(self):
        """Repair finished, ready for pickup."""
        pass

order = RepairOrder()
order.begin_diagnosis()
order.save()  # State change is not persisted until save()

Option 2: Decorator with Callbacks

Use optional callbacks for side effects like audit logging and notifications:

from django.db import models
from django_fsm_rx import FSMField, transition

def example_log_transition(instance, source, target, **kwargs):
    """Runs immediately - part of the atomic transaction."""
    AuditLog.objects.create(
        order=instance,
        from_state=source,
        to_state=target,
    )

def example_notify_customer(instance, source, target, **kwargs):
    """Runs after commit - safe for external side effects."""
    from django.core.mail import send_mail
    send_mail(
        subject=f"Your repair order status: {target}",
        message=f"Order #{instance.id} is now {target}.",
        from_email="shop@example.com",
        recipient_list=[instance.customer_email],
    )

class RepairOrder(models.Model):
    state = FSMField(default='intake')
    customer_email = models.EmailField()

    @transition(
        field=state,
        source='in_progress',
        target='complete',
        on_success=example_log_transition,  # default: None
        on_commit=example_notify_customer,   # default: None
        # atomic=True is the default
    )
    def complete_repair(self):
        """Repair finished, ready for pickup."""
        self.completed_at = timezone.now()
        self.save()

order = RepairOrder.objects.get(id=1)
order.complete_repair()  # Logs audit, then emails customer after commit

All callback parameters are optional - use only what you need:

# Just on_success (for DB operations that should roll back together)
@transition(field=state, source='new', target='done', on_success=example_log_transition)

# Just on_commit (for external notifications after commit)
@transition(field=state, source='new', target='done', on_commit=example_notify_customer)

# Neither (simple state change, still atomic by default)
@transition(field=state, source='new', target='done')

Migration Guide

django-fsm-rx provides full backwards compatibility with django-fsm, django-fsm-2, django-fsm-admin, and django-fsm-log. Your existing code will work with deprecation warnings guiding you to update imports.

Quick Migration Check

Run the built-in migration check command to find deprecated imports in your project:

python manage.py check_fsm_migration

This scans your codebase and shows exactly what imports need updating:

Files affected: 3
Deprecated imports found: 5

myapp/models.py:
  Line 1:
    - from django_fsm import FSMField, transition
    + from django_fsm_rx import FSMField, transition

myapp/admin.py:
  Line 2:
    - from django_fsm_admin.mixins import FSMTransitionMixin
    + from django_fsm_rx.admin import FSMAdminMixin

Additional options:

• --path /path/to/scan - Scan a specific directory

• --exclude migrations,tests - Exclude directories

• --verbose - Show migration notes

• --json - Output as JSON

From django-fsm-2 or django-fsm

Step 1: Install the new package

# Uninstall old package
# django-fsm
pip uninstall django-fsm
# or django-fsm-2
pip uninstall django-fsm-2
# Install new package
pip install django-fsm-rx

Step 2: Update INSTALLED_APPS

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...,
    'django_fsm_rx',
    ...,
]

Step 3: Run migrations

python manage.py migrate django_fsm_rx

This creates the FSMTransitionLog table for audit logging.

Step 4: Update imports (recommended)

Your existing imports will continue to work with a deprecation warning:

# Old (still works, shows deprecation warning)
from django_fsm_2 import FSMField, transition

# New (recommended)
from django_fsm_rx import FSMField, transition

API Compatibility

All core APIs from django-fsm-2 are fully compatible:

Feature	Status	Notes
FSMField, FSMIntegerField, FSMKeyField	Identical
@transition decorator	Compatible	New optional params: on_success, on_commit, atomic
can_proceed(), has_transition_perm()	Identical
ConcurrentTransitionMixin, FSMModelMixin	Identical
RETURN_VALUE, GET_STATE	Identical
pre_transition, post_transition signals	Identical
Wildcard sources (*, +)	Identical
Prefix wildcards (WRK-*)	New	Matches WRK-REP-PRG, WRK-INS-PRG, etc.

New Features

django-fsm-rx adds these optional features:

• Automatic audit logging - All transitions logged to FSMTransitionLog

• on_success callback - Runs inside transaction, rolls back together

• on_commit callback - Runs after commit (for emails, external APIs)

• atomic=True default - Transitions wrapped in transaction.atomic()

Opting out of new defaults

To get behavior identical to django-fsm-2:

# settings.py
DJANGO_FSM_RX = {
    'AUDIT_LOG': False,  # Disable audit logging (skip Step 3)
    'ATOMIC': False,     # Disable transaction wrapping (not recommended)
}

From django-fsm

pip uninstall django-fsm
pip install django-fsm-rx

Follow the same steps as “From django-fsm-2” above. Your from django_fsm import ... imports will also continue to work with a deprecation warning.

From django-fsm-log

django-fsm-rx includes built-in audit logging that replaces django-fsm-log. Your existing data is automatically migrated when you run migrations.

Step 1: Install django-fsm-rx

pip uninstall django-fsm-log
pip install django-fsm-rx

Step 2: Update INSTALLED_APPS

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...,
    'django_fsm_rx',  # This is all you need
    # 'django_fsm_log',  # Remove - no longer needed
    ...,
]

Note: You do NOT need to add django_fsm_log to INSTALLED_APPS. The compatibility shim is built into django-fsm-rx.

Step 3: Run migrations

python manage.py migrate django_fsm_rx

This:

1. Creates the new FSMTransitionLog table

2. Automatically copies all data from django_fsm_log_statelog to the new table

3. Does NOT delete the old table - your original data remains safe

Step 4: Update imports (recommended)

Your existing imports will continue to work:

# Old (still works via compatibility shim)
from django_fsm_log.models import StateLog

# New (recommended)
from django_fsm_rx import FSMTransitionLog

StateLog is an alias to FSMTransitionLog - they are the same model.

Step 5: Clean up (optional)

After verifying migration, you can delete the old table:

-- Only after verifying data migrated correctly!
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS django_fsm_log_statelog;

Decorators

The @fsm_log_by and @fsm_log_description decorators are available:

from django_fsm_rx.log import fsm_log_by, fsm_log_description

@fsm_log_by
@fsm_log_description
@transition(field=state, source='draft', target='published')
def publish(self, by=None, description=None):
    pass

However, with audit logging enabled (default), you may not need these decorators - transitions are automatically logged.

From django-fsm-admin

Step 1: Install django-fsm-rx

pip uninstall django-fsm-admin
pip install django-fsm-rx

Step 2: Update imports

# Old (still works via compatibility shim with deprecation warning)
from django_fsm_admin.mixins import FSMTransitionMixin

# New (recommended)
from django_fsm_rx.admin import FSMAdminMixin

Note: FSMTransitionMixin is aliased to FSMAdminMixin for backwards compatibility.

Programmatic Migration Utilities

For automated migration or CI integration, use the migration utilities programmatically:

from django_fsm_rx.migration import (
    scan_imports_in_directory,
    validate_model_fsm_compatibility,
    get_import_replacements,
)

# Scan a directory for deprecated imports
report = scan_imports_in_directory('/path/to/project')
print(f"Files to update: {len(report.files_affected)}")
for item in report.deprecated_imports:
    print(f"{item['file']}:{item['line']}: {item['old']} -> {item['new']}")

# Validate a model's FSM configuration
from myapp.models import Order
warnings = validate_model_fsm_compatibility(Order)
for warning in warnings:
    print(f"Warning: {warning}")

# Get all import replacements as a dict
replacements = get_import_replacements()
# {'from django_fsm import FSMField': 'from django_fsm_rx import FSMField', ...}

Documentation

For complete documentation, visit django-fsm-rx.readthedocs.io

Topics covered in the full documentation:

• Configuration - Settings for ATOMIC, AUDIT_LOG, AUDIT_LOG_MODE, custom models

• Basic Usage - Transitions, conditions, protected fields

• Source State Options - Wildcards (*, +), multiple sources

• Dynamic Targets - RETURN_VALUE and GET_STATE

• Permissions - String-based and callable permissions

• Signals - pre_transition and post_transition

• Optimistic Locking - ConcurrentTransitionMixin

• Field Types - FSMField, FSMIntegerField, FSMKeyField

• Admin Integration - FSMAdminMixin, FSMTransitionLogInline, FSMCascadeWidget

• Contributing - Development setup, testing, code style

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed instructions on:

• Development setup with uv or pip

• Code style and linting

• Type checking with mypy

• Pre-commit hooks

• Pull request guidelines

Credits

• Mikhail Podgurskiy - Original django-fsm creator

• Django Commons - django-fsm-2 maintenance

• Jazzband - Original community support

• All contributors to the django-fsm ecosystem

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contents:

• Configuration
  • Settings Overview
  • Settings Reference
  • Audit Logging
  • Atomic Transactions
  • Protected Fields
  • Accessing Settings Programmatically
  • Environment-Specific Configuration
• Usage Guide
  • Basic Transitions
  • Checking if Transition is Allowed
  • Conditions
  • Protected Fields
  • Source State Options
  • Dynamic Target State
  • Permissions
  • Error Handling
  • Signals
  • Optimistic Locking
  • Integer States
  • Foreign Key States
  • Model Methods
  • Database Migrations for FSM Fields
• Advanced Features
  • Hierarchical Status Codes
  • Transition Callbacks
  • Graph Visualization
• Admin Integration
  • Basic Setup
  • Transition History Inline
  • Migration from django-fsm-admin
  • Custom Transition Labels
  • Transition Forms
  • FSMCascadeWidget
• Migration Guide
  • Quick Migration Check
  • From django-fsm-2
  • From django-fsm
  • From django-fsm-log
  • From django-fsm-admin / django-fsm-2-admin
  • Compatibility Shims
  • Programmatic Migration Utilities
  • Complete Import Reference
• Releasing New Versions
  • Quick Release
  • Usage
  • Alternative: Django Management Command
  • Manual Release Process
  • Version Numbering
  • Publishing to PyPI
  • Checklist
• Contributing
  • Quick Start
  • Prerequisites
  • Development Setup
  • Running Tests
  • Code Style
  • Type Checking
  • Pre-commit Hooks
  • Project Structure
  • Making Changes
  • Pull Request Checklist
  • Getting Help
  • License
• Changelog
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.8 2026-01-18
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.7 2026-01-18
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.3 2026-01-18
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.2 2026-01-18
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.1 2025-01-15
  • django-fsm-rx 5.1.0 2025-01-14
  • django-fsm-rx 5.0.2 2025-01-13
  • django-fsm-rx 5.0.1 2025-01-12
  • django-fsm-rx 5.0.0 2025-01-12

Indices and tables

• Index

• Search Page