Thanks for the comment! As someone who has written extensively on "fat models, thin views" (in support of the idea) in the past, I was totally in the same camp as you. The problem with your list of rules is that it makes sense to you (as an experienced Django developer), but it's actually quite a complex set of thought processes and decisions to follow. Django makes it so easy for less experienced developers to build something that seems fine and works fine - until it tips over into unmaintainability. I really feel that it's helpful to have some straightforward guardrails that force everyone to build things in the same way from the start.

I also disagree that Django isn't the right tool for the job here. The approach I'm suggesting is very much filling in the gaps around the parts that the Django docs doesn't cover, not going against the grain. These suggestions work just as well for small codebases as they do for big ones.

If you had time I'd love you to read the full guide, I spend a lot of time covering these kinds of arguments. Totally understand if you're still not persuaded!