class Foo(db.Model): linked = db.ReferenceProperty() someFoo = Foo.get_by_id(1) # Assume we've got an entity with id = 1 # Get key of linked Foo without loading linked entity linkedFooKey = Foo.linked.get_value_for_datastore(someFoo) See discussion here: http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine/msg/c970bb3636acfa51 Note a suggestion in the above discussion to use a metaclass for automa