How To Deploy a Django Application to Heroku with Git CLI?

Heroku is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for deploying, managing, and scaling applications. There are two ways to deploy a Django project on Heroku:

• Deploying Django project on Heroku using CLI 
• Deploying Django project on Heroku using Git CLI

This section explains how to deploy a Django project to Heroku using Git CLI, covering both project setup and Heroku configuration.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A working Django project
• Git installed and configured
• A Heroku account

Steps to Deploy Django Application to Heroku

Follow the below steps to deploy your Django project to Heroku using Git CLI:

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

Install the essential libraries needed for deployment:

• gunicorn : WSGI HTTP server for running your app
• whitenoise : Serves static files in production
• dj-database-url : Configures database via environment variables

Run:

pip install gunicorn whitenoise dj-database-url

Note: Additional dependencies may be required depending on your project.

Step 2: Create Required Files

• Procfile: Create a file named Procfile (no extension) in the root directory (same level as manage.py):

web: gunicorn <project_name>.wsgi

• requirements.txt: Generate a list of dependencies

pip freeze > requirements.txt

Step 3: Update setting.py

Disable Debug Mode

DEBUG = FALSE

Configure Allowed Hosts

ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["<your-app-name>.herokuapp.com"]

Add WhiteNoise middleware 

MIDDLEWARE = [
'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
...
]

Configure Static Files

STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')

Configure Database (PostgreSQL).

import dj_database_url
DATABASES = {
'default': dj_database_url.config(conn_max_age=600, ssl_require=True)
}

Step 4: Prepare Your Project for Deployment

Initialize Git (if not already done):

git init

git add .

git commit -m "Initial commit"

Step 5: Set Up Heroku

• Log in to your Heroku account
• Create a new app
• Add the Python buildpack (usually added automatically)

Step 6: Connect Heroku to GitHub (Optional but Recommended)

• Go to the Deploy tab in your Heroku dashboard
• Select GitHub as the deployment method
• Connect your repository

You can then choose:

• Manual Deploy : deploy on demand
• Automatic Deploys : deploy on every push

Step 7: Deploy Using Git CLI

• Login to Heroku via CLI:

heroku login

• Create an app (if not already created):

heroku create <your-app-name>

• Push your code:

git push heroku main

Step 8: Run Migrations

heroku run python manage.py migrate

Step 9: Open Your Application

heroku open

Optional: Collect Static Files

If needed, run:

heroku run python manage.py collectstatic

Final Notes

• Ensure all environment variables (like SECRET_KEY) are set using Heroku config vars
• Monitor logs using:

heroku logs --tail

• For production, consider adding proper error handling and security settings