KeyError in settings.py leads to baffling 'Unknown command' error

[michael.karl.coleman@…]

In two places in core/management/init.py, there is code like this

    try:
        app_name = get_commands()[name]
    except KeyError:
        raise CommandError("Unknown command: %r" % name)

Unfortunately, KeyErrors from settings.py seem to get caught here, leading to a baffling error message. The fix would be to just do something like

    commands = get_commands()
    if name not in commands:
        raise CommandError("Unknown command: %r" % name)
    app_name = name

and let any KeyError from settings.py escape as a backtrace, so that the user can see and fix it directly.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to recreate this and verify that it still exists in HEAD, but just looking at the code, I think it probably does.

This is related to #19257, but I don't believe it's the same bug.

[Claude Paroz]

I do think that the fix for #19257 addresses your concern. Reopen if you can reproduce with master (1.7).