[Fixed]-How can I use server-side cursors with django and psycopg2?

As you mention in your question but I’ll reiterate here for future readers: it’s also possible to use explicitly named cursors without bypassing Django’s public API:

from django.db import connection, transaction

with transaction.atomic(), connection.cursor() as cur:
    cur.execute("""
        DECLARE mycursor CURSOR FOR
        SELECT *
        FROM giant_table
    """)
    while True:
        cur.execute("FETCH 1000 FROM mycursor")
        chunk = cur.fetchall()
        if not chunk:
            break
        for row in chunk:
            process_row(row)