Flask

Flask

Flask is a micro web framework for Python. It's minimal by design — you choose your ORM, auth system, and structure. Extensions fill in the gaps.

Installation

# Install Flask
pip install flask

Project Structure

# Recommended Flask project layout with blueprints
app/
├── __init__.py        # Application factory
├── config.py          # Configuration classes
├── models.py          # SQLAlchemy models
├── extensions.py      # Extension instances
├── auth/
│   ├── __init__.py    # Auth blueprint
│   ├── routes.py
│   └── forms.py
├── main/
│   ├── __init__.py    # Main blueprint
│   └── routes.py
├── templates/
│   ├── base.html
│   └── auth/
└── static/

Application Factory

# app/__init__.py — application factory pattern
from flask import Flask
from .extensions import db, migrate, login_manager
from .config import Config

def create_app(config_class=Config):
    app = Flask(__name__)
    app.config.from_object(config_class)

    db.init_app(app)
    migrate.init_app(app, db)
    login_manager.init_app(app)

    from .auth import bp as auth_bp
    from .main import bp as main_bp
    app.register_blueprint(auth_bp, url_prefix="/auth")
    app.register_blueprint(main_bp)

    return app

# app/extensions.py — extension instances
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from flask_migrate import Migrate
from flask_login import LoginManager

db = SQLAlchemy()
migrate = Migrate()
login_manager = LoginManager()
login_manager.login_view = "auth.login"

Configuration

# app/config.py — configuration classes
import os

class Config:
    SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get("SECRET_KEY", "dev-key")
    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = os.environ.get("DATABASE_URL", "sqlite:///app.db")
    SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = False

class TestConfig(Config):
    TESTING = True
    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = "sqlite:///:memory:"

Routes and Blueprints

# app/main/routes.py — main blueprint routes
from flask import render_template, request, redirect, url_for, flash, jsonify
from flask_login import login_required, current_user
from . import bp
from ..models import Post
from ..extensions import db

@bp.route("/")
def index():
    page = request.args.get("page", 1, type=int)
    posts = Post.query.order_by(Post.created_at.desc()).paginate(page=page, per_page=20)
    return render_template("main/index.html", posts=posts)

@bp.route("/post", methods=["POST"])
@login_required
def create_post():
    post = Post(body=request.form["body"], author=current_user)
    db.session.add(post)
    db.session.commit()
    flash("Post created!")
    return redirect(url_for("main.index"))

# app/main/__init__.py — blueprint definition
from flask import Blueprint
bp = Blueprint("main", __name__)
from . import routes

Models

# app/models.py — SQLAlchemy models
from datetime import datetime, UTC
from flask_login import UserMixin
from .extensions import db, login_manager

class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    username = db.Column(db.String(80), unique=True, nullable=False)
    email = db.Column(db.String(120), unique=True, nullable=False)
    password_hash = db.Column(db.String(256))
    posts = db.relationship("Post", backref="author", lazy="dynamic")

@login_manager.user_loader
def load_user(id):
    return db.session.get(User, int(id))

class Post(db.Model):
    id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
    body = db.Column(db.Text, nullable=False)
    created_at = db.Column(db.DateTime, default=lambda: datetime.now(UTC))
    user_id = db.Column(db.Integer, db.ForeignKey("user.id"))

API Routes

# app/api/routes.py — JSON API endpoints
from flask import jsonify, request, abort
from . import bp
from ..models import Post
from ..extensions import db

@bp.route("/posts")
def get_posts():
    posts = Post.query.order_by(Post.created_at.desc()).limit(50).all()
    return jsonify([{"id": p.id, "body": p.body, "author": p.author.username} for p in posts])

@bp.route("/posts", methods=["POST"])
def create_post():
    data = request.get_json()
    if not data or "body" not in data:
        abort(400)
    post = Post(body=data["body"], user_id=data["user_id"])
    db.session.add(post)
    db.session.commit()
    return jsonify({"id": post.id}), 201

@bp.errorhandler(404)
def not_found(e):
    return jsonify(error="Not found"), 404

Templates

<!-- templates/base.html — base template with Jinja2 -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>{% block title %}App{% endblock %}</title></head>
<body>
  <nav>
    <a href="{{ url_for('main.index') }}">Home</a>
    {% if current_user.is_authenticated %}
      <a href="{{ url_for('auth.logout') }}">Logout</a>
    {% else %}
      <a href="{{ url_for('auth.login') }}">Login</a>
    {% endif %}
  </nav>
  {% with messages = get_flashed_messages() %}
    {% for msg in messages %}<div class="flash">{{ msg }}</div>{% endfor %}
  {% endwith %}
  {% block content %}{% endblock %}
</body>
</html>

Error Handling

# app/__init__.py — custom error handlers (add inside create_app)
@app.errorhandler(404)
def not_found(e):
    return render_template("errors/404.html"), 404

@app.errorhandler(500)
def server_error(e):
    db.session.rollback()
    return render_template("errors/500.html"), 500

Testing

# tests/test_main.py — testing Flask app
import pytest
from app import create_app
from app.config import TestConfig
from app.extensions import db

@pytest.fixture
def client():
    app = create_app(TestConfig)
    with app.test_client() as client:
        with app.app_context():
            db.create_all()
        yield client

def test_index(client):
    resp = client.get("/")
    assert resp.status_code == 200

Running

# Run development server
flask --app app run --debug --port 5000

# Database migrations
flask --app app db init
flask --app app db migrate -m "Initial"
flask --app app db upgrade

Key Patterns

• Always use the application factory pattern for testability
• Use blueprints to organize code by feature
• Initialize extensions separately from create_app to avoid circular imports
• Use flask db (Flask-Migrate) for schema changes — never db.create_all() in production
• Access config via current_app.config inside request context
• Use @login_required from Flask-Login for protected routes