Closes #21890: Deprecate the 'models' registry key

netbox/netbox/models/features.py

@@ -722,10 +722,10 @@ def register_models(*models):
     for model in models:
         app_label, model_name = model._meta.label_lower.split('.')
 
-        # TODO: Remove in NetBox v4.5
+        # TODO: Remove in NetBox v4.7
-        # Register public models
+        # Register public models (access the underlying dict directly to avoid triggering the deprecation warning)
         if not getattr(model, '_netbox_private', False):
-            registry['models'][app_label].add(model_name)
+            dict.__getitem__(registry, 'models')[app_label].add(model_name)
 
         # Register applicable feature views for the model
         if issubclass(model, ContactsMixin):

netbox/netbox/registry.py

@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ class Registry(dict):
     removed (though the value of each key is mutable).
     """
     def __getitem__(self, key):
+        # TODO: Remove in NetBox v4.7
+        if key == 'models':
+            import warnings
+            warnings.warn(
+                'The "models" registry key is deprecated and will be removed in NetBox v4.7. Registered models can be '
+                'obtained by calling ObjectType.objects.public().',
+                DeprecationWarning,
+                stacklevel=2,
+            )
         try:
             return super().__getitem__(key)
         except KeyError:
@@ -29,6 +38,7 @@ registry = Registry({
     'event_types': dict(),
     'filtersets': dict(),
     'model_features': dict(),
+    # TODO: Remove in NetBox v4.7
     'models': collections.defaultdict(set),
     'plugins': dict(),
     'request_processors': list(),