#29556: remove_stale_contenttypes --noinput should non-interactively delete 
stale
content types
------------------------------------------------+------------------------
               Reporter:  Jon Dufresne          |          Owner:  nobody
                   Type:  New feature           |         Status:  new
              Component:  contrib.contenttypes  |        Version:  master
               Severity:  Normal                |       Keywords:
           Triage Stage:  Unreviewed            |      Has patch:  0
    Needs documentation:  0                     |    Needs tests:  0
Patch needs improvement:  0                     |  Easy pickings:  0
                  UI/UX:  0                     |
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 I recently noticed that `remove_stale_contenttypes --noinput` does not
 delete stale content types. It simply does nothing and returns,
 effectively making the command a noop. I had been absentmindedly using
 this command for months not realizing it wasn't useful. To use this
 command to delete content types, one must run the command in interactive
 mode and answer "yes" at the prompt. This makes it difficult to use when
 managing a large number of Django sites where it is impractical to run
 interactive commands.

 The previous post_migrate signal, when combined with -`-noinput`, did not
 delete content types due to data loss concerns. However, now that
 `remove_stale_contenttypes` is a standalone management command, I think
 the data ramifications are much more clear and less likely to cause
 unwanted data loss.

 I suggest one the following:

 - (My preferred) Change `remove_stale_contenttypes --noinput` to remove
 stale content types instead of doing nothing. I think this is a more
 intuitive behavior given the arguments. The combination of arguments would
 stop being a noop and provide useful behavior to projects managing a large
 number of Django sites. However, I recognize this has some backwards
 compatibility concerns. The argument would change from doing nothing to
 deleting database records.

 - Add a new argument `--force` that would assume the answer "yes" for all
 prompts. I think this is less optimal as it introduces an argument that
 doesn't need to exist if we could modify the behavior of `--noinput`.

 If the backward compatibility concerns are too much, perhaps it could be
 introduced in stages:

 Next release:

 - Issue a deprecation warning when using `remove_stale_contenttypes
 --noinput`, state that it will delete content types in a future version.

 - Add `--force` arguments so project admins can delete stale content types
 in a non-interactive fashion.

 After a deprecation period:

 - Change `remove_stale_contenttypes --noinput` to delete content types.

 - Deprecate, and eventually remove, `--force`.

 Prior tickets to consider:

 - #24865 -- Add a management command to remove stale content types
 - #25036 -- `manage.py migrate --noinput` does not delete stale content
 types (refers to old post_migrate signal)

 Code of `remove_stale_contenttypes` showing that it is a noop:

 
https://github.com/django/django/blob/338f741c5eb6b91118f6a6b7c34b5e9b47a5661d/django/contrib/contenttypes/management/commands/remove_stale_contenttypes.py#L36-L72

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/29556>
Django <https://code.djangoproject.com/>
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