fix(start): allow skipping collectstatic via DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC env var

[mihow]

Summary

Adds an opt-in env var (DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC=1) to skip collectstatic in compose/production/django/start. Default behaviour is unchanged.

Why

Deployments that serve static files from an external CDN (e.g. Netlify) do not need Django's collectstatic to run on container boot. When the configured STATICFILES_STORAGE backend is unreachable, collectstatic can hang indefinitely on a network call. Because /start runs collectstatic before exec gunicorn, this blocks gunicorn from ever starting and the container appears "up" but nothing listens on port 5000 — producing 502 Bad Gateway responses upstream until the container is killed and recreated.

This was observed in a production deployment after a routine container restart. The container had been running fine for weeks because the previous image had a local modification commenting out the collectstatic line; that modification was lost on the next image rebuild and collectstatic ran against an unreachable backend, hanging at boot.

Behaviour

• DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC unset or set to anything other than "1" → unchanged, collectstatic runs as before.
• DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC=1 → prints Skipping collectstatic (DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC=1) and proceeds straight to gunicorn.

Test plan

• Build the production django image, run with DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC unset → confirm collectstatic still runs (existing behaviour).
• Build the production django image, run with DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC=1 → confirm the skip message logs and gunicorn starts.
• No change to local/dev start scripts; local development behaviour unchanged.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Added ability to disable static file collection during application startup via environment configuration.

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[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 15ae61d3-2aa9-45f6-ad29-922cf6107421

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 0a87a3a and 3cbd9b1.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• compose/production/django/start

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The production Django startup script now includes conditional logic to optionally skip the collectstatic command based on the DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC environment variable. When this variable equals 1, the script logs a message and bypasses collectstatic execution; otherwise, it executes as before.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Django Startup Script compose/production/django/start	Added conditional logic to skip collectstatic when DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC environment variable is set to 1, reducing startup time in specific deployment scenarios.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~8 minutes

Poem

🐰 A script that thinks, how clever indeed!
Skip the static files when there's no need,
One variable whispers, "Take a rest,"
And the startup springs forward, now blessed! ✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main change: adding a conditional mechanism to skip collectstatic via an environment variable in the start script.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description covers the summary, motivation, behavior, and test plan, though it lacks some template sections like deployment notes and a formal checklist.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/skip-collectstatic-via-env

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds an opt-in toggle to the production Django container start script so deployments that don’t need Django static collection (or have an unreachable staticfiles backend) can avoid blocking container boot.

Changes:

• Gate python /app/manage.py collectstatic --noinput behind DISABLE_COLLECTSTATIC=1.
• Log an explicit “Skipping collectstatic …” message when the skip is enabled.

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