ClimWeb Dataset Helper

Wizards for ingesting reference datasets — WMS, raster (COG/tile), vector (tile/PMTiles) and OCHA/HDX admin boundaries — into ClimWeb via GeoManager.

Previously distributed as a ClimWeb plugin (installed with install_plugin.sh into CLIMWEB_PLUGIN_DIR). It is now an ordinary pip-installable Django/Wagtail app, packaged the same way as forecastmanager.

Installation

ClimWeb ships dataset_helper in INSTALLED_APPS (next to geomanager), so on a ClimWeb instance you only need the package present in the same Python environment:

pip install climweb-dataset-helper

Do not also set CLIMWEB_ADDITIONAL_APPS=dataset_helper — that would register the app twice.

For any other Wagtail project, add it yourself:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    "geomanager",
    "dataset_helper",
    ...
]

Then run migrations. Note the app label is dataset_helper_plugin, not the module name — see App label below:

python manage.py migrate dataset_helper_plugin

The tool appears in the Wagtail admin under GeoManager → Dataset helper (/admin/geomanager/dataset_helper/).

Requirements

• Python >= 3.8 (ClimWeb runs 3.11)
• PostgreSQL/PostGIS — migrations 0006 and 0023 contain raw PostgreSQL
• geomanager >= 0.6, wagtail >= 6.0, django >= 4.2
• Optional, for the Admin Boundaries tab: pip install "climweb-dataset-helper[boundaries]" (geopandas + adm-boundary-manager). Both are imported lazily; without them the app still loads and the boundary endpoints return a clear error. ClimWeb already ships both.

App label

The Python module is dataset_helper, but the Django app label is pinned to dataset_helper_plugin in apps.py:

class DatasetHelperConfig(AppConfig):
    name = 'dataset_helper'
    label = 'dataset_helper_plugin'

Django derives table names and the app column of django_migrations from the label, so pinning it keeps the existing dataset_helper_plugin_* tables and migration history intact. Sites upgrading from the plugin need no data migration — uninstall the plugin, pip install this package, and carry on.

The practical consequence: management commands take the label.

python manage.py migrate dataset_helper_plugin
python manage.py sqlmigrate dataset_helper_plugin 0024

Upgrading from the plugin

1. Back up the database (recommended, though no schema rewrite is involved).
2. Remove the old plugin: delete it from CLIMWEB_PLUGIN_DIR (or run its uninstall.sh), and drop dataset_helper_plugin from any plugin config.
3. pip install climweb-dataset-helper. On ClimWeb that is all — the app is already in INSTALLED_APPS. Remove dataset_helper from CLIMWEB_ADDITIONAL_APPS if it is set there.
4. python manage.py migrate dataset_helper_plugin — this applies only 0024_reconcile_model_state, which closes pre-existing drift between models.py and the recorded migration state (four CharField definitions, plus the implicit id fields on catalogstate/pluginsettings which were still AutoField).

Two client-side names changed:

• Admin URL: /admin/geomanager/dataset_helper_plugin/ → /admin/geomanager/dataset_helper/
• URL namespace / template directory: dataset_helper_plugin → dataset_helper

What changed from the plugin

Plugin	Package
install_plugin.sh into CLIMWEB_PLUGIN_DIR	pip install climweb-dataset-helper
Discovered via climweb_plugin_info.json	Listed in INSTALLED_APPS / CLIMWEB_ADDITIONAL_APPS
apps.py registered with climweb.base.registries.plugin_registry	Plain AppConfig — the registration was a no-op
plugins.py (Plugin subclass, returned no urls)	Removed; admin URLs come from wagtail_hooks.py, as before
config/settings/plugin_settings.py appended to STATICFILES_DIRS	Removed; the UI is self-contained HTML + CDN MapLibre, there are no bundled static files
Required a ClimWeb checkout on sys.path to import	Imports standalone; ClimWeb is reached only through geomanager

build.sh, uninstall.sh, Makefile and climweb_plugin_info.json are gone — pip handles all of it.

Sandbox

sandbox/ is a minimal Wagtail project running GeoManager and Dataset Helper on their own, so you can exercise the app without standing up a full ClimWeb instance.

cd sandbox
docker compose up --build

Then open http://localhost:8000/admin/geomanager/dataset_helper/ and log in with admin / admin (created on first start; change it in sandbox/.env).

The compose file builds from the repo root and installs the package with -e .., and bind-mounts dataset_helper/ into the container — edits to the app are picked up by the dev server without a rebuild. Postgres is exposed on 5433 so it won't collide with a local ClimWeb database.

Unlike forecastmanager's sandbox this one cannot use SQLite: GeoManager stores geometry, and migrations 0006/0023 contain raw PostgreSQL. The compose file provides postgis/postgis:15-3.3, and the image is built from the same GDAL base ClimWeb uses.

To run it without Docker, point DATABASE_URL at your own PostGIS database:

cd sandbox
pip install -r requirements.txt
export DATABASE_URL=postgis://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/dataset_helper
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

Development

pip install -e ".[boundaries]"

boot_django.py configures a minimal Django for the helper scripts (point it at a PostGIS database with the DB_NAME/DB_USER/DB_PASSWORD/DB_HOST/DB_PORT env vars):

python makemigrations.py
python migrate.py
python -m build          # builds dist/*.whl and dist/*.tar.gz

Translations live in dataset_helper/locale/ (ar, es, fr, pt):

django-admin makemessages -l fr
django-admin compilemessages

Releases are published to PyPI by .github/workflows/publish.yml when a GitHub release is created (trusted publishing — no token needed).

License

MIT — see LICENSE.