Django error: render_to_response() got an unexpected keyword argument 'context_instance'

Question

After upgrading to Django 1.10, I get the error render_to_response() got an unexpected keyword argument 'context_instance'.

My view is as follows:

from django.shortcuts import render_to_response
from django.template import RequestContext

def my_view(request):
    context = {'foo': 'bar'}
    return render_to_response('my_template.html', context, context_instance=RequestContext(request))

Here is the full traceback:

Traceback:

File "/Users/alasdair/.virtualenvs/django110/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/exception.py" in inner
  39.             response = get_response(request)

File "/Users/alasdair/.virtualenvs/django110/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py" in _get_response
  187.                 response = self.process_exception_by_middleware(e, request)

File "/Users/alasdair/.virtualenvs/django110/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py" in _get_response
  185.                 response = wrapped_callback(request, *callback_args, **callback_kwargs)

File "/Users/alasdair/dev/rtr/rtr/urls.py" in my_view
  26.     return render_to_response('my_template.html', context,  context_instance=RequestContext(request))

 Exception Type: TypeError at /
Exception Value: render_to_response() got an unexpected keyword argument 'context_instance'

Overgrowth

Answer 1

The context_instance parameter in render_to_response was deprecated in Django 1.8, and removed in Django 1.10.

The solution is to switch to the render shortcut, which automatically uses a RequestContext.

Update your imports and view as follows. Note that render takes the request object as its first argument.

from django.shortcuts import render

def my_view(request):
    context = {'foo': 'bar'}
    return render(request, 'my_template.html', context)

The render shortcut was introduced in Django 1.3, so this change is compatible with older versions of Django.

Overgrowth

Answer 2

in Django 1.8 is compatible:

from django.shortcuts import render_to_response
from django.template import RequestContext

def my_view(request):
    context = {'foo': 'bar'}
    return render_to_response('my_template.html', {'context':context}, context_instance=RequestContext(request))

in Django 1.11

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.template import RequestContext

def my_view(request):
    context = {'foo': 'bar'}
    return render(request, 'my_template.html', context)

Cordwain

You don’t have to use render_to_response in Django 1.8. As I say in my answer, the render version works in Django 1.3+. – Overgrowth

In django 1.8 also is compatible with: render_to_response, checked for me in a virtualenv. Nevertheless in last versions of django is with render. – Cordwain

Yes, render_to_response works in 1.8, but there's no good reason to use it - render is simpler. – Overgrowth

There's a mistake in your render_to_response example. Just use context, not {'context': context}. – Overgrowth

Answer 3

Django 2.0.7 python 3.5

in project/urls.py

handler404 = 'project.views.not_found'
handler500 = 'project.views.server_error'

in project/views.py

def not_found(request, exception=None):
response = render(request, '404.html', {})
response.status_code = 404
return response

def server_error(request, exception=None):
response = render(request, '500.html', {})
response.status_code = 500
return response

exception=None is passed because otherwise it throws TypeError: server_error() missing 1 required positional argument: 'exception'

Bleareyed

I'm not sure why you added this as an answer to this question, it doesn't appear to have anything to do with render_to_response. – Overgrowth