Django

Environment

.env

DATABASE_URL="postgres://user:password@host:6432/db?sslmode=require"
DATABASE_DIRECT_URL="postgres://user:password@host:5432/db?sslmode=require"

Settings

With dj-database-url (or django-environ):

settings.py

import os
import dj_database_url

DATABASES = {
    "default": dj_database_url.config(
        env="DATABASE_URL",
        conn_max_age=0,        # let the server-side pooler do the pooling
        ssl_require=True,
    )
}

Or spelled out:

DATABASES = {
    "default": {
        "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql",
        "NAME": "db",
        "USER": "user",
        "PASSWORD": "password",
        "HOST": "host",
        "PORT": "6432",
        "OPTIONS": {"sslmode": "require"},
    }
}

Migrations

Run manage.py migrate with the direct URL — easiest is an env override:

DATABASE_URL="$DATABASE_DIRECT_URL" python manage.py migrate

Pitfalls

conn_max_age + transaction pooling: persistent Django connections on the pooled port add little and can pin pooler slots; conn_max_age=0 is the safe default. If you prefer Django-side persistent connections, use the direct URL and mind the plan's connection budget.
CONN_HEALTH_CHECKS: enable it if you see stale-connection errors after idle periods.
Server-side cursors (QuerySet.iterator()) need session state; if you rely on them heavily, run those code paths against the direct URL or set DISABLE_SERVER_SIDE_CURSORS = True.

Django

Environment

Settings

Migrations

Pitfalls

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