Show HN: Self-hosted CRM for manufacturing (Django and Htmx)

A self-hosted CRM for manufacturing, built with Django 6.1 and HTMX, was released on Hacker News by developer Oleg Ushakov. The platform targets small manufacturing shops and engineering teams, offering project and task management, material tracking, file support for DXF/STEP/STL, and an AI assistant that integrates with providers like Ollama, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. It features automatic folder organization and a knowledge base, with deployment via a one-click install script.

Django 6.1 + Tailwind CSS 4 + Alpine.js + HTMX + AI Assistant A lightweight CRM/ERP platform designed for engineering and manufacturing teams. It brings projects, tasks, materials, technical drawings, documents, and internal knowledge together in one unified workspace. Ideal for small manufacturing shops, CNC workshops, engineering bureaus, and teams that need structure without heavy corporate systems. Key Features: Project and task management Material and BOM tracking Support for engineering files DXF, STEP, STL Centralized document storage Built‑in knowledge library AI assistant for automation and team support Fast HTMX‑based interface without a heavy frontend Purpose: To give small industrial companies a simple, fast, and local ERP‑level tool that can be deployed without complex infrastructure. Every project gets its own dedicated space. As soon as a project is created, you can start adding everything related to it: - Photos - Drawings and technical documents - Notes - Any other supporting files Once the project is saved to a chosen location, the system automatically generates a numbered project folder. All documents belonging to that project are neatly organized inside, each type kept in its own subfolder — no manual sorting required. When a project is finished, it can be archived and moved out of the active workspace, keeping the working area clean while preserving a complete, organized record for future reference. Beyond individual projects, the CRM also serves as a knowledge base for general documentation the business collects over time: - Documents - Videos - Articles Articles can be saved directly from the internet via a link, making it easy to build a personal reference library without manual copy-pasting. As with projects, all saved materials are automatically organized into clearly structured folders. One place for everything — no more hunting across folders, drives, and inboxes Automatic organization — numbered project folders and categorized subfolders are created without manual effort Clean lifecycle management — active projects stay easy to find; finished projects can be archived without losing structure Built-in knowledge base — a growing library of reference material, saved and organized alongside project work A project management, contractor and task tracking system featuring 14 custom apps, an AI assistant with a command mode, and a modular HTMX-driven UI. python -m venv venv venv\Scripts\activate pip install -r requirements.txt npm install npm run build python manage.py migrate python manage.py seed ai providers seed AI provider list python manage.py collectstatic python manage.py createsuperuser python manage.py runserver Or run install.bat https://github.com/OlegUshakov-pl/CRM/blob/main/install.bat for one-click setup creates venv, installs Python + Node dependencies, builds Tailwind, runs migrations, seeds AI providers, collects static files, and creates a superuser . Default credentials: admin / admin . Run update.bat after pulling new code to refresh dependencies and rebuild the frontend. Start the server anytime with runserver.bat . | Layer | Technology | |---|---| | Backend | Django 6.1, Python 3.14+, SQLite | | Frontend | Tailwind CSS 4 CLI + CDN , Alpine.js 3.x, HTMX 2.0.4, Lucide Icons, Montserrat | | AI | Ollama, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral, Groq, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, OpenCode | | Build | Tailwind CLI v4 npm run dev / npm run build | | Module | Description | |---|---| Dashboard | Key metrics, recent projects/tasks/notes, global search, settings panel | Accounts | Login/logout, profile, password reset console email | Calendar | Three-month rolling calendar with task due dates | | Module | Description | |---|---| Companies | Company directory with contact info, logo, notes | Contacts | People directory linked to companies | Projects | Full lifecycle: statuses, budget, dates, gallery, ZIP export/import | Tasks | Prioritized tasks with statuses, due dates, per-project filtering | Notes | Universal notes linkable to projects, companies, or contacts | | Module | Description | |---|---| Materials / BOM | Bill of Materials per project with categories, pricing, file attachments | Documents | File upload/preview images, PDF, text per project | Parts | Engineering drawings DXF and 3D models STEP, Inventor, SolidWorks, STL | | Module | Description | |---|---| Library | Knowledge base with rich-text editor Quill.js , articles auto-saved as .md files on disk with images, nested categories, tags, favorites, file attachments | AI Assistant | Multi-provider AI chat with CHAT/COMMANDS modes, browser agent, web search, file management | | Module | Description | |---|---| Generator | Module scaffolding template with 12-step docs for rapid prototyping | CHAT — free conversation with any configured AI model COMMANDS — natural-language CRM operations via regex-based intent detection Ollama local , Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Mistral, Groq, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, OpenCode — configurable via Settings panel. API keys encrypted with AES-GCM. Create project 001, Office Building on 2026-06-15 Add task Call client on 2026-06-10 Find contact Ivan Add material Bolt 50 to project Test Upload file drawing.pdf to project Test Show all drawings of project Test Create note Meeting for project Test Open bbc.com Download file from https://example.com/image.png Create file hello.py with content print "Hello, World " Search for latest Python 3.14 features Find pdf on site https://example.com - Install Ollama https://ollama.com - Pull a model: ollama pull llama3.2 - Start Ollama port 11434 - Select model in CRM chat interface Browser agent SSRF protection , web search DuckDuckGo , file management 50 MB/file, 1 GB quota , 10-second undo, audit logging, two-step confirmation for write operations. CRM/ config/ Settings, URLs, WSGI, ASGI core/ Dashboard, base models, activity log, search, AI config accounts/ Authentication companies/ Company directory contacts/ Contact directory projects/ Full project lifecycle + ZIP export/import materials/ Bill of Materials tasks/ Task management notes/ Universal notes documents/ File upload/preview library/ Knowledge base articles saved as .md on disk, categories, tags, files parts/ Drawings & 3D models assistant/ AI chat, LLM, browser agent, command handlers calendar app/ Calendar view generator/ Module scaffolding templates/ Base layout, includes sidebar, topbar, chat, pagination static/ Tailwind CSS source src/ and dist/ media/ User-uploaded files ai files/ AI-downloaded files | Prefix | App | Purpose | |---|---|---| / | core | Dashboard, search, settings, AI API | /accounts/ | accounts | Authentication | /admin/ | admin | Django Admin | /companies/ | companies | Company CRUD | /contacts/ | contacts | Contact CRUD | /projects/ | projects | Project lifecycle | /tasks/ | tasks | Task management | /notes/ | notes | Universal notes | /materials/ | materials | BOM management | /deals/ | generator | Deal CRUD example scaffold | /documents/ | documents | File management | /library/ | library | Knowledge base | /parts/ | parts | Engineering drawings | /assistant/ | assistant | AI chat | /calendar/ | calendar app | Calendar view | All business models extend TimeStampedModel created at , updated at , created by , is active . | Model | Key Fields | Relationships | |---|---|---| Company | name, slug, email, phone, website, address, logo, notes | FK→Project, Contact, Note, Deal | Contact | first name, last name, slug, email, phone, position, avatar, notes | FK→Company | Project | name, slug, number, description, status, dates, budget, image | FK→Company; M2M→Contact | ProjectImage | image, uploaded at | FK→Project | Material | name, slug, quantity, unit, unit price, notes | FK→Project, Category | Task | title, slug, description, status, priority, due date | FK→Project | Note | title, slug, content, date | FK→Project / Company / Contact | Document | number, size, file, file type | FK→Project, Category | LibraryItem | title, slug, content HTML , is favorite, source url, summary | FK→Category; M2M→Tag; auto-saved as {slug} {date}.md on disk | Part | number, size, rev, file | FK→Project, Category | Deal example | name, slug, status, priority, value, due date | FK→Company; M2M→Contact; FK→User | Category | name, slug, color, icon, parent self-referential | Materials, Documents, Parts, Library | ChatSession | title, is active, last message at | FK→User | ChatMessage | role, kind, content, payload JSON | FK→Session | AIFile | original name, source url, size, category | FK→User | AILog | action, status, description, duration ms | FK→User, Session | Activity | action, description, content type, object id | GenericForeignKey | AIProvider | name, type, encrypted API key, base url, model | n/a | AIModel | model id, name, tags JSON | FK→Provider | Slide-over forms — CRUD via HTMX without page navigation Soft delete — is active flag on all business entities Global search — single page across all entity types Activity logging — all CRUD tracked via GenericForeignKey Project export/import — ZIP archives with JSON manifest Dark mode — localStorage-persisted, user-toggleable Collapsible sidebar — expandable/collapsible navigation Settings panel — configurable storage paths, naming, AI providers AI undo — 10-second undo window for write operations Versioning — 0.7.{git commit count} via core/version.py Security — path traversal, SSRF, and open redirect protection npm run dev Watch Tailwind npm run build Production build python manage.py collectstatic python manage.py runserver python manage.py test core accounts assistant Covers unit tests, navigation, and security path traversal, SSRF, open redirects . Projects store files in organized directories: {number} {name} Project/ documents/ drawings/ models/ Subfolder naming is configurable via AppSetting . Storage backend uses custom ProjectFileSystemStorage . Articles are auto-saved as Markdown .md files on disk for portability: {library root}/ {slug} {YYYY-MM-DD}/ {slug} {YYYY-MM-DD}.md Full article content in Markdown images/ Downloaded/copied article images attachments/ Uploaded file attachments - Content is stored both in the database HTML and as .md on disk - Storage root is configurable via AppSetting falls back to MEDIA ROOT/library/ - Article folders are created on create/edit/import and recursively deleted on delete - Images are served via a dedicated /library/{slug}/image/{path} view with path traversal protection License: MIT