# GSoC 2025 Proposal Draft: Advanced JSONField Operations – Feedback Needed

**URL:** <https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/gsoc-2025-proposal-draft-advanced-jsonfield-operations-feedback-needed/39857>\
**Category:** Google Season of Code\
**Created:** [March 24, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/gsoc-2025-proposal-draft-advanced-jsonfield-operations-feedback-needed/39857 "2025-03-24T22:36:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gnoubis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/gnoubis/32/27713_2.png) [@gnoubis](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/gnoubis)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/gsoc-2025-proposal-draft-advanced-jsonfield-operations-feedback-needed/39857/1 "2025-03-24T22:36:18Z")

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**Hello Django community!**

My name is Geordan, and I’m an aspiring contributor hoping to apply for **Google Summer of Code 2025** with Django. While I haven’t contributed to Django’s codebase yet, I’ve been studying it closely and would love feedback on a potential project idea before submitting my proposal.

**Project Idea: Enhancing JSONField**

**Goal** : Improve `JSONField` to support:

1. **Cross-database queries** (SQLite/MySQL/PostgreSQL):

- Basic operations like `contains()` or nested key lookups (e.g. `filter(data __user__ name="John")`).

1. **PostgreSQL optimizations** :

- Advanced aggregations (`JSONBAgg`) and path queries (if deemed feasible).

**Why?**

- Many developers rely on `RawSQL` for these tasks ([ticket #12990](https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/12990)).
- PostgreSQL’s JSONB support is underutilized in Django’s ORM ([ticket #32525](https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/32525)).

#### **Help Needed**

As a first-time contributor, I’d appreciate advice on:

1. **Project Scope** : Is this too ambitious for GSoC? Should I focus only on cross-DB _or_ PostgreSQL?
2. **Contribution Path** : What small tickets could I tackle first to learn the codebase?
3. **Proposal Tips** : How to structure my application to align with Django’s priorities?

#### **My Next Steps**

- Study Django’s `JSONField` and `contrib.postgres` code.
- Attempt to fix a beginner-friendly ticket related to JSON/PostgreSQL.

**Thank you** for your patience and guidance! I’m eager to contribute meaningfully and will actively incorporate feedback.

**Geordan.**

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**Author:** ![CodenameTim](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/codenametim/32/31507_2.png) [@CodenameTim](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/CodenameTim)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/gsoc-2025-proposal-draft-advanced-jsonfield-operations-feedback-needed/39857/2 "2025-03-25T02:11:40Z")

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Hi @gnoubis! That appears to be a project from a few years ago that was largely implemented. Please checkout the project ideas that have mentors identified here: [SummerOfCode2025 – Django](https://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/SummerOfCode2025)

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**Author:** ![gnoubis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/gnoubis/32/27713_2.png) [@gnoubis](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/gnoubis)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/gsoc-2025-proposal-draft-advanced-jsonfield-operations-feedback-needed/39857/3 "2025-03-25T09:17:36Z")

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Hi @codename Tim,

Thank you for pointing me to the mentored projects list! After reviewing the current needs, I’d like to propose a project addressing long-standing limitations in `ManifestStaticFilesStorage` (tickets #34563, #34497, #35371) that affect modern JavaScript/CSS workflows.

### **Project Focus**

**“Bringing Static Files Handling into the ES6+ Era”**

1. **Core Issues to Solve** :

- False positives in JS module regex ([#35371](https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/35371))
- Absolute path imports breaking ([#34497](https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/34497))
- CSS-in-JS support gap ([#34563](https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/34563))

1. **Innovation Approach** :

- Replace regex-based parsing with proper AST analysis (using [esprima](https://esprima.org/))
- Add plugin support for PostCSS/SASS preprocessing
- Maintain backward compatibility

### **Why This Matters**

- **Mentor Alignment** : Builds on work by @CalvinVu and @HielkeWalinga

Would you:

1. Consider this a valuable GSoC project?
2. Suggest which ticket to tackle first?

I’m ready to submit a formal proposal once we align on scope.

Best,