Design safe Django and PostgreSQL indexes from measured query plans, including B-tree, composite, covering, partial, expression, GIN/JSONB, BRIN, and concurrent migration patterns. Use when a Django query plan suggests missing or mismatched indexes, a production table needs an index without write downtime, or existing indexes need review.
Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.
Are you the author of Django Index Design?
Add the live security badge to your README. It updates with every re-scan.
[](https://www.skillsdirectory.com/skills/thedixitjain-django-index-design)
---
name: django-index-design
description: "Design safe Django and PostgreSQL indexes from measured query plans, including B-tree, composite, covering, partial, expression, GIN/JSONB, BRIN, and concurrent migration patterns. Use when a Django query plan suggests missing or mismatched indexes, a production table needs an index without write downtime, or existing indexes need review."
category: frontend-and-design
source_repo: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins
source_path: "plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/django-index-design/SKILL.md"
source_url: https://github.com/hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins/blob/HEAD/plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/django-index-design/SKILL.md
---
# Django Index Design
Use this skill to add or change indexes only after profiling shows a specific query can benefit. Indexes speed selected reads and constraints, but they add write cost, migration risk, and maintenance overhead.
## Workflow
1. Start from a query plan.
- Capture the SQL, filters, joins, ordering, selected columns, table sizes, and current indexes.
- Confirm that the query is important enough to optimize.
2. Choose the index shape.
- Equality filters first, then range/order fields when useful.
- Match `ORDER BY` for `LIMIT` queries when possible.
- Use partial indexes for highly queried subsets.
- Use covering indexes only when selected columns are stable and index-only scans are plausible.
- Use GIN for JSONB containment, arrays, and full-text patterns; do not expect a B-tree to solve those.
3. Express the index in Django models or migrations.
- Prefer `Meta.indexes` for normal model-owned indexes.
- Prefer `AddIndexConcurrently` and `RemoveIndexConcurrently` for live PostgreSQL tables.
- Use raw SQL only when Django cannot express the index.
4. Validate on production-like data.
- Re-run `QuerySet.explain()` or `EXPLAIN ANALYZE`.
- Verify the planner uses the index for the target query.
- Check write-path impact when the indexed table is hot.
See [index-patterns.md](references/index-patterns.md) for index examples and migration templates.
## Production Rules
- For PostgreSQL live tables, use concurrent index operations and set the migration `atomic = False`.
- Keep names short, stable, and explicit.
- Do not add duplicate indexes that are already covered by a unique constraint or a left-prefix composite index.
- Remove unused indexes only after checking production usage and deployment rollback needs.
## Verification
Finish with before/after plan evidence, the exact migration operation, and the operational risk assessment for locks, writes, and rollback.
---
**Source:** [`hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins`](https://github.com/hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins) → `plugins/LVTD-LLC/skills/skills/django-index-design/SKILL.md`
