Django models - how to filter number of ForeignKey objects

I have a models A and B, that are like this:

class A(models.Model):
  title = models.CharField(max_length=20)
  (...)

class B(models.Model):
  date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
  (...)
  a = models.ForeignKey(A)

Now I have some A and B objects, and I'd like to get a query that selects all A objects that have less then 2 B pointing at them.

A is something like a pool thing, and users (the B) join pool. if there's only 1 or 0 joined, the pool shouldn't be displayed at all.

Is it possible with such model design? Or should I modify that a bit?

The question and selected answer are from 2008 and since then this functionality has been integrated into the django framework. Since this is a top google hit for "django filter foreign key count" I'd like to add an easier solution with a recent django version using Aggregation.

from django.db.models import Count
cats = A.objects.annotate(num_b=Count('b')).filter(num_b__lt=2)

In my case I had to take this concept a step further. My "B" object had a boolean field called is_available, and I only wanted to return A objects who had more than 0 B objects with is_available set to True.

A.objects.filter(B__is_available=True).annotate(num_b=Count('b')).filter(num_b__gt=0).order_by('-num_items')

Sounds like a job for extra.

A.objects.extra(
    select={
        'b_count': 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM yourapp_b WHERE yourapp_b.a_id = yourapp_a.id',
    },
    where=['b_count < 2']
)

If the B count is something you often need as a filtering or ordering criterion, or needs to be displayed on list views, you could consider denormalisation by adding a b_count field to your A model and using signals to update it when a B is added or deleted:

from django.db import connection, transaction
from django.db.models.signals import post_delete, post_save

def update_b_count(instance, **kwargs):
    """
    Updates the B count for the A related to the given B.
    """
    if not kwargs.get('created', True) or kwargs.get('raw', False):
        return
    cursor = connection.cursor()
    cursor.execute(
        'UPDATE yourapp_a SET b_count = ('
            'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM yourapp_b '
            'WHERE yourapp_b.a_id = yourapp_a.id'
        ') '
        'WHERE id = %s', [instance.a_id])
    transaction.commit_unless_managed()

post_save.connect(update_b_count, sender=B)
post_delete.connect(update_b_count, sender=B)

Another solution would be to manage a status flag on the A object when you're adding or removing a related B.

B.objects.create(a=some_a)
if some_a.hidden and some_a.b_set.count() > 1:
    A.objects.filter(id=some_a.id).update(hidden=False)

...

some_a = b.a
some_b.delete()
if not some_a.hidden and some_a.b_set.count() < 2:
    A.objects.filter(id=some_a.id).update(hidden=True)

Django models - how to filter number of ForeignKey objects

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