Django Push Notifications for Private Networks

Based on the information from Django 5.1 documentation, I can provide some guidance on implementing push notifications in a private network environment without relying on external services.

Understanding the Deployment Options

For real-time push notifications in Django, you'll need to use ASGI rather than WSGI, as WSGI only supports synchronous code while ASGI is designed for asynchronous operations which are essential for push notifications.

Implementation Options

Since you're looking to avoid external services and keep everything within your private network, here are your main options:

Using Django Channels

Django Channels is the recommended approach for implementing WebSocket-based push notifications:

1. Install Django Channels:

BASHCopied
pip install channels

2. Configure your project to use ASGI instead of WSGI for deployment:
   • You'll need to set up an ASGI application in your project
   • This requires deploying with an ASGI server like Daphne, Uvicorn, or Hypercorn

Deployment Considerations

The Django documentation specifically mentions that the development server (runserver) is not suitable for production:

DO NOT USE THIS SERVER IN A PRODUCTION SETTING.

This lightweight development server has not gone through security audits or performance tests, hence is unsuitable for production.

For a production environment, you'll need to:

1. Deploy your Django application with an ASGI server such as:

   • Daphne: pip install daphne
   • Uvicorn: pip install uvicorn
   • Hypercorn: pip install hypercorn

2. Configure your ASGI application properly in your Django settings

Recommendation

Based on the Django documentation, the most appropriate solution would be:

1. Use Django Channels for WebSocket communication
2. Deploy with an ASGI server like Daphne or Uvicorn
3. Configure your application to handle WebSocket connections for push notifications

This approach keeps all communication within your private network while providing the real-time capabilities you need for push notifications.