# content of set_paths.py: import sys, os import path # http://www.jorendorff.com/articles/python/path/ def set_paths(f): p = path.path(f) sys.path.append(str(p.parent.joinpath("..").abspath())) sys.path.append(str(p.parent.parent.joinpath("lib/").abspath())) os.environ["DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE"] = "myproject.settings" # usage: # contents of file "some_script": #!/usr/bin/python import set_paths set_paths.set_paths(__file__) # this must be the first thing in the script. from myproject.myapp.models import MyModel print MyModel.objects.count() # whatever.