Python/Django shell won't start

Question

One of the great features of Django is that you can open a python interpreter set-up for use with your project. This can be used to analyse objects in a database and allows any python commands to be executed on your project. I find it essential for Django development. It is invoked in the project directory using this command:

$ python manage.py shell

I have just started developing a new project and for some reason the shell does not work. I have had a look online for the error and not found anything. I would greatly appreciate any help on this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "manage.py", line 11, in 
    execute_manager(settings)
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 362, in execute_manager
    utility.execute()
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/__init__.py", line 303, in execute
    self.fetch_command(subcommand).run_from_argv(self.argv)
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 195, in run_from_argv
    self.execute(*args, **options.__dict__)
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 222, in execute
    output = self.handle(*args, **options)
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 351, in handle
    return self.handle_noargs(**options)
  File "/Library/Python/2.6/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/shell.py", line 29, in handle_noargs
    shell = IPython.Shell.IPShell(argv=[])
AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'Shell'

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

It seems like IPython is installed wrongly somehow. Try starting the shell with:

./manage.py shell --plain

to start the standard Python shell, rather than IPython. If that works, then trying removing IPython completely and reinstalling it.

Answer 2

IPython 0.11 has a different API, for which a fix exists in the last Django versions.

For older Django versions, you can use IPython 0.10, which does work:

pip install ipython==0.10