CreateView Basics
A Minimal CreateView
Setting model and fields on a CreateView subclass is enough for Django to build a ModelForm automatically and save a new row when it is submitted and valid.
Example: A Minimal CreateView
BookCreateView auto-generates a form for title, author, and published_date, then redirects to book-list on success.
from django.views.generic.edit import CreateView
from django.urls import reverse_lazy
from .models import Book
class BookCreateView(CreateView):
model = Book
fields = ['title', 'author', 'published_date']
success_url = reverse_lazy('book-list')Rendering the Create Form
CreateView passes a form object into the template context, which is rendered the same way as any other Django form, including the required CSRF token.
Warning: A CreateView template must POST back to the same URL, so leave the <form> action empty or point it at itself.
Example: Rendering the Create Form
The form variable is the auto-built ModelForm; {% csrf_token %} is still required for the POST to succeed.
<form method="post">
{% csrf_token %}
{{ form.as_p }}
<button type="submit">Save Book</button>
</form>Redirecting After a Successful Save
success_url tells CreateView where to send the browser after the new object is saved. reverse_lazy is used instead of reverse because the URL is evaluated when the class is defined, before the URLconf is fully loaded.
Example: Redirecting After a Successful Save
reverse_lazy("book-list") resolves the book-list URL only when it is actually needed, avoiding import-time errors.
from django.urls import reverse_lazy
from django.views.generic.edit import CreateView
from .models import Book
class BookCreateView(CreateView):
model = Book
fields = ['title', 'author']
success_url = reverse_lazy('book-list')- Forgetting to set fields (or exclude) on a CreateView, which raises an error because Django does not know which fields to expose.
- Not setting success_url or get_absolute_url on the model, so Django cannot redirect after a successful save.
- Assuming CreateView automatically requires login — it does not, unless combined with LoginRequiredMixin.
- CreateView generates a form from a model and saves a new object when that form is valid.
- fields (or exclude) tells CreateView which model fields to expose as form inputs.
- success_url controls where the browser redirects after a successful creation.
- CreateView still requires {% csrf_token %} in its template just like a manual form.
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