Add request_factory as a readable alias for rf

docs/changelog.rst

@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ Compatibility
 
 * Official Django 6.1 support.
 
+Improvements
+^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+* Added :fixture:`request_factory` as a readable alias for :fixture:`rf`
+  (`#1252 <https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-django/issues/1252>`__).
+
 v4.14.0 (2026-08-10)
 --------------------
 

docs/helpers.rst

@@ -187,6 +187,8 @@ More information on fixtures is available in the :ref:`pytest documentation
 
 An instance of a :class:`django.test.RequestFactory`.
 
+Also available as :fixture:`request_factory`.
+
 Example
 """""""
 
@@ -204,6 +206,22 @@ Example
         response = my_view(request)
         assert response.status_code == 200
 
+.. fixture:: request_factory
+
+``request_factory`` - ``RequestFactory``
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+A readable alias for :fixture:`rf`. Both fixtures return the same
+:class:`django.test.RequestFactory` instance within a test, including when
+``rf`` is overridden by a custom fixture.
+
+Example::
+
+    def test_request(request_factory):
+        request = request_factory.get('/example/', {'name': 'pytest-django'})
+        assert request.path == '/example/'
+        assert request.GET['name'] == 'pytest-django'
+
 .. fixture:: async_rf
 
 ``async_rf`` - ``AsyncRequestFactory``

pytest_django/fixtures.py

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     "django_user_model",
     "django_username_field",
     "live_server",
+    "request_factory",
     "rf",
     "settings",
     "transactional_db",
@@ -538,6 +539,12 @@ def rf() -> django.test.RequestFactory:
     return RequestFactory()
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def request_factory(rf: django.test.RequestFactory) -> django.test.RequestFactory:
+    """Alias for the rf fixture."""
+    return rf
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def async_rf() -> django.test.AsyncRequestFactory:
     """AsyncRequestFactory instance"""

pytest_django/plugin.py

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
     django_user_model,  # noqa: F401
     django_username_field,  # noqa: F401
     live_server,  # noqa: F401
+    request_factory,  # noqa: F401
     rf,  # noqa: F401
     settings,  # noqa: F401
     transactional_db,  # noqa: F401

tests/test_fixtures.py

@@ -102,6 +102,18 @@ def test_rf(rf: RequestFactory) -> None:
     assert isinstance(rf, RequestFactory)
 
 
+def test_request_factory(request_factory: RequestFactory) -> None:
+    assert isinstance(request_factory, RequestFactory)
+    request = request_factory.get("/example/", {"name": "pytest-django"})
+    assert request.method == "GET"
+    assert request.path == "/example/"
+    assert request.GET["name"] == "pytest-django"
+
+
+def test_request_factory_alias(rf: RequestFactory, request_factory: RequestFactory) -> None:
+    assert request_factory is rf
+
+
 def test_async_rf(async_rf: AsyncRequestFactory) -> None:
     assert isinstance(async_rf, AsyncRequestFactory)