openwisp / openwisp/openwisp-utils

[change] Migrate autocomplete filters to a well maintained dependency

Open
#582 6 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee View on GitHub

@SAMurai-16 is already working on this.

Since May 9, 2026.

enhancement
Dominant language
Python
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93
Forks
104
Avg merge
14h 10m
Merged PRs (30d)
22

Description

Summary

Migrate away from django-admin-autocomplete-filter to a maintained and license-compatible alternative.

Context

django-admin-autocomplete-filter is currently used in openwisp-utils but:

  • The project is unmaintained.
  • Its license is incompatible with openwisp-utils licensing requirements.

Proposed Change

Replace django-admin-autocomplete-filter with a maintained alternative.

Preferred candidate:

Reasons:

  • Actively maintained.
  • MIT licensed.
  • Uses Django native admin autocomplete infrastructure.
  • Minimal scope and close functional match for current usage.

Acceptance Criteria

  • No dependency on django-admin-autocomplete-filter.
  • Feature parity for existing admin autocomplete filters.
  • Compatibility with supported Django versions.
  • No license incompatibilities introduced.
  • Test the results on main modules like openwisp-controller: we need to ensure the admin UI works and looks fine.

Notes

Other alternatives were evaluated, but django-admin-list-filter offers the best balance of maintenance status, licensing, and minimal integration effort. Feel free to propose other alternatives if you think they work better.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Assessment

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