first startup /admin broken: "'super' object has no attribute 'dicts' and no __dict__ for setting new attributes"

[anthonybaxter]

Python 3.14, Django 6.0.2, current wagtail new starter kit

commands used:

% wagtail start --template=https://github.com/wagtail/news-template/archive/refs/heads/main.zip mynewssite .
% pip install cat requirements.txt
% python manage.py migrate
% python manage.py runserver

visiting localhost:8080/ works fine, localhost:8080/admin coughs up an error (see traceback). Will debug further in a couple of hours, just thought someone more familiar with the codebase might spot it more quickly.

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/core/handlers/exception.py", line 55, in inner
response = get_response(request)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py", line 220, in _get_response
response = response.render()
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/response.py", line 114, in render
self.content = self.rendered_content
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/response.py", line 92, in rendered_content
return template.render(context, self._request)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/backends/django.py", line 107, in render
return self.template.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 171, in render
return self._render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 163, in _render
return self.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py", line 159, in render
return compiled_parent._render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 163, in _render
return self.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py", line 159, in render
return compiled_parent._render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 163, in _render
return self.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py", line 65, in render
result = block.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py", line 65, in render
result = block.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py", line 65, in render
result = block.nodelist.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 1008, in render
return SafeString("".join([node.render_annotated(context) for node in self]))
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/base.py", line 969, in render_annotated
return self.render(context)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/library.py", line 273, in render
new_context = context.new(_dict)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/context.py", line 275, in new
new_context = super().new(values)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/context.py", line 112, in new
new_context = copy(self)
^^^^^^^^^^
File "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/python@3.14/3.14.2/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.14/lib/python3.14/copy.py", line 82, in copy
return copier(x)
^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/context.py", line 160, in copy
duplicate = super().copy()
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/Users/anthonybaxter/src/wt/lib/python3.14/site-packages/django/template/context.py", line 41, in copy
duplicate.dicts = self.dicts[:]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Exception Type: AttributeError at /admin/login/
Exception Value: 'super' object has no attribute 'dicts' and no dict for setting new attributes

[anthonybaxter]

wait, oops, actually was django 5.1.15. Hm. Upgrading to 5.2.10 seems to have made this error go away.

[Manny2706]

Hi @anthonybaxter,

Thanks for the update and for confirming the root cause.

Yes, this appears to be a compatibility issue with Django 5.1.15. Since upgrading to Django 5.2.10 resolves the error, this suggests it was likely related to changes in Django’s template Context handling that were fixed in later versions.

Given that the issue is resolved after upgrading, we can go ahead and close this.

Thanks again for reporting and testing this 👍