After you buy, the boilerplate page shows a Repo Access panel. This page takes you from that panel to your own copy on your computer, with updates connected.
1. Connect GitHub and accept the invite
- On the boilerplate page, click Connect GitHub in the Repo Access panel.
- Approve the GitHub authorization. We send an invite to your GitHub account automatically.
- Open github.com/notifications (or your email) and accept the invitation to
django-boilerplate.
You now have read access to the private repository, including every future update.
Invite not showing?
Invites can take a minute. Refresh the boilerplate page: the panel shows the invite status and a direct link. If it still says pending after a few minutes, disconnect and reconnect GitHub on the same panel.
2. Start your own repository from it
The boilerplate is a GitHub template. You do not fork it. You make your own repository from it, with a clean history:
- Open https://github.com/learnwithhasan/django-boilerplate.
- Click Use this template, then Create a new repository.
- Pick your account as the owner, name it (for example
myapp), choose Private, and click Create repository.
GitHub copies the files into your new repository. Your product lives there.
3. Clone it to your computer
On Windows, clone to a short path like C:\code\myapp. Some Python packages nest about 160 characters deep inside the project's virtual environment, and Windows has a 260-character limit unless long paths are turned on. The setup script warns you if your path is too long.
git clone https://github.com/YOUR-NAME/myapp.git C:\code\myapp
cd C:\code\myappOn macOS or Linux:
git clone https://github.com/YOUR-NAME/myapp.git ~/code/myapp
cd ~/code/myapp\"repository is empty\"?
GitHub takes a few seconds to copy a template. If the clone says the repository is empty, wait ten seconds and run it again. In our test the whole thing, create plus clone, took 17 seconds.
No command line? Install GitHub Desktop, sign in, use File, Clone repository, pick your new repository and clone it into C:\code\myapp.
4. Connect updates (do this before you change anything)
Your repository was made from the template, so it does not share history with it. To pull our updates, add the boilerplate as a second remote, called upstream, and merge it once:
git remote add upstream https://github.com/learnwithhasan/django-boilerplate.git
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main --allow-unrelated-histories -X theirs
git pushDo this first, before your own changes. The first merge needs --allow-unrelated-histories, and -X theirs settles the 16 files that would otherwise conflict because they were "added on both sides". With nothing of yours in the way, that is safe. We measured it: 6 seconds, and the files matched the boilerplate exactly.
After that, every update is a normal merge:
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/mainRead the repo's CHANGELOG.md first: it says what changed and anything you must do.
A conflict in the translation files is normal
Once you have built features, an update that adds new text can conflict in locale/ar/LC_MESSAGES/django.po and django.mo, because both of you added strings. Keep your version, then let the project rebuild the catalogue:
bash
git checkout --ours locale/ar/LC_MESSAGES/django.po locale/ar/LC_MESSAGES/django.mo
uv run poe messages
uv run poe translations
translations lists the new strings; fill them in (or ask Claude Code to), apply with uv run poe translations --apply translations.json, run uv run poe check, then commit the merge. On our demo it took one minute.
Not using the template button?
You can clone the boilerplate itself (git clone https://github.com/learnwithhasan/django-boilerplate.git myapp) and update with git pull. Your repository then carries our whole history, and you add your own remote to push. Both work; the docs use the template way.
Do not download the ZIP
The green Code, Download ZIP button gives you files that can never be updated. Use the template or clone.
What you are allowed to do
One purchase covers one commercial product, plus unlimited learning projects and prototypes. Modify anything, keep your copy private, deploy anywhere. Do not republish or resell the template itself. What you build on it is yours. The full terms are in the repo's LICENSE file.
Next: Run It on Your Computer.