URL parameters with angle brackets in Django

Introduction

URL parameters with angle brackets let you capture parts of a web address as variables. This helps your website show different content based on the URL.

You want to show a user profile page based on the user ID in the URL.

You need to display a blog post using its unique slug from the URL.

You want to filter products by category name passed in the URL.

You want to pass a date or number in the URL to show specific data.

You want to create clean, readable URLs that include dynamic parts.

Syntax

Django

path('route/<converter:name>/', view_function, name='route_name')

The angle brackets <> capture URL parts as variables.

The converter defines the type of variable (like int, str, slug).

Examples

This captures an integer from the URL as user_id.

Django

path('user/<int:user_id>/', views.user_detail, name='user_detail')

This captures a slug (letters, numbers, hyphens) as post_slug.

Django

path('post/<slug:post_slug>/', views.post_detail, name='post_detail')

This captures any string as category_name.

Django

path('category/<str:category_name>/', views.category_view, name='category_view')

Sample Program

This example shows a URL pattern that captures a username from the URL and passes it to the greet_user view. The view then returns a greeting message using that username.

Django

from django.urls import path
from django.http import HttpResponse

# View function that uses URL parameter

def greet_user(request, username):
    return HttpResponse(f"Hello, {username}!")

# URL patterns list
urlpatterns = [
    path('hello/<str:username>/', greet_user, name='greet_user'),
]

Important Notes

Use the correct converter to match the expected data type.

If you omit the converter, Django treats the parameter as a string by default.

Angle brackets must be used exactly as shown to capture parameters.

Summary

Angle brackets <> in Django URLs capture parts of the URL as variables.

Converters like int, str, and slug define the variable type.

This helps create dynamic, readable URLs that pass data to views.