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Instead of creating a cookie manually, you can save 4 lines and use the .set_cookie()[1] method on the response object.

Also, take a look at the render()[2] shortcut function to collapse the template loading, context settings, and rendering steps into one.

Further line saving: The << methods >> dictionary isn't needed, it's just mapping lower case strings to upper. Replace:

return methods[request.method](request, item_id)

with:

return request.method.lower(request, item_id)

Also, setting the cookie 'todos' to todolist.id will allow anyone to manipulate the value of that cookie in order to read anyone's cookies.

With Django 1.4 (or the dev version) it will be possible to cryptographically sign a cookie:

You can use this to store the session data with the user without having to consult a database and without fear that they will tamper with the id: