Creating custom commands in flask needs access to the app, which is generally created in app.py like this:
import click
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
#app.cli.command("create-user")
#click.argument("name")
def create_user(name):
...
However, in order not to bloat my app.py, I want to put my custom commands in a separate file e.g. commands.py, but this doesn't work because the entrypoint to my project is app.py, so I'll have to import app in commands.pyand import my commands in app.py which results in a circular import error.
How can I create custom commands in separate files ?
One way to achieve this would be using blueprints
I have tested it using Flask 1.1.1, so be sure to check the documentation of the correct version that you have.
Here is the general idea:
Create one or more Blueprints in a different file, let's say it's called commands.py
Then import the new blueprints and register them to your app
==> app.py <==
from flask import Flask
from commands import usersbp
app = Flask(__name__)
# you MUST register the blueprint
app.register_blueprint(usersbp)
==> commands.py <==
import click
from flask import Blueprint
usersbp = Blueprint('users', __name__)
#usersbp.cli.command('create')
#click.argument('name')
def create(name):
""" Creates a user """
print("Create user: {}".format(name))
Upon executing flask users you should get a response like the following:
flask users
Usage: flask users [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
Options:
--help Show this message and exit.
Commands:
create Creates a user
just import it in your app factory
dir tree
my_app
L app.py
L commands.py
commands.py
#app.cli.command('resetdb')
def resetdb_command():
"""Here info that will be shown in flask --help"""
pass
app.py
def create_app():
app = Flask(__name__)
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = DB_URL
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
db.init_app(app)
with app.app_context():
from . import routes
from . import commands # <----- here
return app
$ export FLASK_APP=my_app/app.py
$ flask resetdb
but there have to be better way ;) of which I am unaware right now
If you're using an app factory (you have a create_app() function), then there isn't even an app variable for you to import.
The best way to keep your code organized is to define the function somewhere else, and then register it when building the application instance.
E.g.
my_app/
| main.py
| app/
| | __init__.py
| | commands.py
commands.py
def foo():
print("Running foo()")
init.py
def create_app():
app = Flask(__name__)
...
from .commands import foo
#app.cli.command('foo')
def foo_command():
foo()
...
I have this layout:
baseapp.py
from flask import Flask
app = Flask("CmdAttempt")
app.py
from .baseapp import app
def main():
app.run(
port=5522,
load_dotenv=True,
debug=True
)
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
commands.py
import click
from .baseapp import app
#app.cli.command("create-super-user")
#click.argument("name")
def create_super_user(name):
print("Now creating user", name)
if __name__ == '__main__':
from .app import main
main()
In the console where you run the commands first define the FLASK_APP to be commands.py, then run the commands that you define.
set FLASK_APP=commands.py
export FLASK_APP=commands.py
flask create-super-user me
You can either use a separate terminal for built-in commands or clear the FLASK_APP variable before issuing them. In Linux is even easier because you can do
FLASK_APP=commands.py flask create-super-user me
What worked for me in case you are not using app factory pattern, similar to #quester:
app.py
import os
from flask import Flask
from flask_migrate import Migrate
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
app = Flask(__name__)
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = os.getenv("DATABASE_URL")
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
db = SQLAlchemy(app)
migrate = Migrate(app, db)
with app.app_context():
# needed to make CLI commands work
from commands import *
commands.py
from app import app
#app.cli.command()
def do_something():
print('hello i am so nice I posted this even though I have 100 other things to do')
My flask app is based on Miguel Grinberg's mega tutorial XIV with some extra stuff and it was all working fine and could be accessed from browser on localhost:5000. I decided to switch to an application factory approach as per Grinberg's XV tutorial BUT with no blueprints. Now when I enter localhost:5000 I get a URL not found. I am guessing my routes.py is not being picked up for some reason.
I have thoroughly worked through Grinberg's XV tutorial and the associated code and aligned everything less blueprints. These are the links I have explored that I have based my current app on: -
https://blog.miguelgrinberg.com/post/the-flask-mega-tutorial-part-xv-a-better-application-structure
http://flask.pocoo.org/docs/1.0/tutorial/factory/
Dave W Smith's answer in Configure Python Flask App to use "create_app" factory and use database in model class
and others.
From what I have read implementing an application factory should be really simple. The examples work.
The flask server starts from the command prompt in a venv as always.
Here is my directory structure.
myapp
app.py
config.py
...
/app
__init__.py
routes.py
models.py
forms.py
...
Here is the code slightly simplified for clarity.
# app.py
#=============================================
from app import create_app, db
from app.models import User, Post
app = create_app()
#app.shell_context_processor
def make_shell_context():
return {'db': db, 'User': User, 'Post' :Post}
# __init__.py
#=============================================
...
import os
from flask import Flask, request, current_app
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from flask_migrate import Migrate
...
from config import Config
db = SQLAlchemy()
migrate = Migrate()
...
def create_app(config_class=Config):
app = Flask(__name__)
app.config.from_object(config_class)
db.init_app(app)
migrate.init_app(app, db)
...
# logging, email servers, etc configured
return app
from app import models
# routes.py
#=============================================
from datetime import datetime
from flask import render_template, flash, redirect, url_for, request, g, \
jsonify, current_app
...
from app import app, db
from app.forms import LoginForm, RegistrationForm, EditProfileForm,
PostForm,ResetPassword,RequestForm, ResetPasswordForm
from app.models import User, Post
...
#app.route('/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
#app.route('/index', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
#login_required
def index():
form = PostForm()
if form.validate_on_submit():
...
page = request.args.get('page', 1, type=int)
...
return render_template('index.html', title=_('Home'), form=form,
posts=posts.items, next_url=next_url,
prev_url=prev_url)
#app.route ....
# models.py
#=============================================
from datetime import datetime
from hashlib import md5
from time import time
from flask import current_app
from flask_login import UserMixin
from werkzeug.security import generate_password_hash, check_password_hash
import jwt
from app import db, login
class User(UserMixin, db.Model):
id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
username = db.Column(db.String(64), index=True, unique=True)
...
This may be irrelevant but it is one thing I tried. Note in routes.py that I have from app import app, db, if I remove app and add from flask import current_app then the #app decorators show as undefined.
Another point, because its a problem with routes. If I change the last line of __init__.py to from app import routes, models I get a different error.
flask.cli.NoAppException
flask.cli.NoAppException: While importing "metapplica", an ImportError was raised:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "c:\users\markko~1\dropbox\python\projects\metapp~1\venv\lib\site-packages\flask\cli.py", line 236, in locate_app
__import__(module_name)
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\metapplica\metapplica.py", line 1, in <module>
from app import create_app, db, cli
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\metapplica\app\__init__.py", line 75, in <module>
from app import routes, models
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\metapplica\app\routes.py", line 8, in <module>
from app import app, db
ImportError: cannot import name 'app' from 'app' (C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\metapplica\app\__init__.py)
It was this error that led me to try the current_app change mentioned above.
I start the app like this.
cd C:\Users\...\myapp
venv\Scripts\activate
set FLASK_APP=app.py
set FLASK_DEBUG=1
flask run
I know the problem is probably really basic but can anyone see why the above code would give a URL not found or not be able to find the routes?
=== NEXT PHASE ================
Following the recommendations from #silver below my new names are: -
myapp
runapp.py
...
/mapp
__init__.py
...
I went through all my code and changed from app[.xxx] import yyy to from myapp[.xxx] import yyy. This flushed out a few new errors where I was referencing app which I fixed by substituting current_app.
My new error is
RuntimeError
RuntimeError: Working outside of application context.
This typically means that you attempted to use functionality that needed
to interface with the current application object in some way. To solve
this, set up an application context with app.app_context(). See the
documentation for more information.
Traceback (most recent call last)
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\myapp\runapp.py", line 1, in <module>
from mapp import create_app, db, cli
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\myapp\mapp\__init__.py", line 75, in <module>
from mapp import routes, models
File "C:\Users\Mark Kortink\Dropbox\Python\projects\myapp\mapp\routes.py", line 16, in <module>
#current_app.before_request
Without being able to run it myself it's a little hard to be sure.
But I think this is the crux of the matter:
This may be irrelevant but it is one thing I tried. Note in routes.py that I have from app import app, db, if I remove app and add from flask import current_app then the #app decorators show as undefined.
If you want to register anything to the app that's actually running, it has to be through from flask import current_app. That's the thing about Flask application factories -- you only get access to the name of the application that's actually running in two places:
In the factory function itself: create_app, before you return the app object, and
Via from flask import current_app
It looks like Python is able to successfully import the name app in routes.py, since you say the application starts. The only place that from app import app could resolve to is from your app.py file at the top level of your myapp package. That means that each time routes.py is initialized, it's calling the create_app function, and getting a new app object. So understandably, the top-level app object that Flask is serving is not the same one that has routes registered to it.
I recommend renaming your files so that nothing has the name "app" except the object returned by create_app.
Then, in routes.py try:
from datetime import datetime
from flask import render_template, flash, redirect, url_for, request, g, \
jsonify
from flask import current_app as app_ref
...
from app_internals import db # assuming you've renamed the app package
from app_internals.forms import LoginForm, RegistrationForm, EditProfileForm,
PostForm,ResetPassword,RequestForm, ResetPasswordForm
from app_internals.models import User, Post
...
current_app = app_ref._get_current_object()
#current_app.route('/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
#current_app.route('/index', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
#login_required
def index():
form = PostForm()
if form.validate_on_submit():
...
page = request.args.get('page', 1, type=int)
...
return render_template('index.html', title=_('Home'), form=form,
posts=posts.items, next_url=next_url,
prev_url=prev_url)
#current_app.route ....
In case someone is struggling with similar issues (flask 'mysteriously' not serving routes that should be there, perhaps in conjunction with a create_app factory method):
flask routes is actually showing the routes it detects. the output looks like this (for just one 'hello' endpoint at the root url):
Endpoint Methods Rule
-------- ------- -----------------------
hello GET /
static GET /static/<path:filename>
the SERVER_NAME setting can be responsible (this was the case for me). I had changed it to 0.0.0.0 without realizing it makes a difference for the routing. There is a bug report/discussion on github on that topic.
I just ran into this issue too with Miguel Grinberg's tutorial. It's a pretty fantastic tutorial till some of the later sections which feel rushed.
Anyway.
You need to pass the context.
In the factory function you need to do.
def create_app(config_class=Config):
app = Flask(__name__)
with app.app_context():
from app import routes
Then like the person posted above.
for routes.py change all the #app to #current_app
from flask import current_app
#current_app.route('/')
#current_app.route('/index', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
#login_required
def index():
this works for me.
I'm learning Blueprints for Flask, but I am having trouble with importing the correct modules. This is my setup:
Folder structure:
- app.py
templates/
nomad/
- __init__.py
- nomad.py
app.py
from flask import Flask
from nomad.nomad import nblueprint
app = Flask(__name__)
app.register_blueprint(nblueprint)
nomad.py
from flask import render_template, Blueprint, abort
from app import app
nblueprint = Blueprint('nblueprint', __name__, template_folder='templates')
# Routes for this blueprint
#app.route ....
__init__.py is empty
The error I'm getting: ImportError: cannot import name nblueprint. I know my import statement is probably wrong, but what should it be and why?
EDIT:
If I remove from app import app, then I can successfully import nblueprint in app.py. But I need app in nomad.py because it needs to handle routes. Why is that line causing issues with importing, and how would I get around this?
Blueprints is for define application route so you don't need to use app instance and blueprint in same place for route defination.
#nomad.py
#nblueprint.route('/')
You are getting error because while you register the blueprint at the same time you use app instance. So as you said when you remove the from app ... it solve the problem.
The recommend way is define your view for that blueprint in blueprint package in your example nomad package, it should be like this:
...
nomad/
__init__.py
views.py
#nomad/__init__.py
nblueprint = Blueprint(...)
#nomad/views.py
from . import nblueprint
#nblueprint.route('/')
...
I use supervisor to run my app. It is structured as follows:
My app layout
my_app
__init__.py
my_app
__init__.py
startup
create_app.py
create_users.py
common_settings.py
core
__init__.py
models.py
views.py
Outer __init__.py
from my_app import app
Inner __init__.py
from flask import Flask
from flask_script import Manager
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
app = Flask(__name__) # The WSGI compliant web application object
db = SQLAlchemy(app) # Setup Flask-SQLAlchemy
manager = Manager(app) # Setup Flask-Script
from my_app.startup.create_app import create_app
create_app()
create_app.py
def create_app(extra_config_settings={}):
"""
Initialize Flask applicaton
"""
# ***** Initialize app config settings *****
# Read common settings from 'app/startup/common_settings.py' file
app.config.from_object('app.startup.common_settings')
# Read environment-specific settings from file defined by OS environment variable 'ENV_SETTINGS_FILE'
app.config.from_envvar('ENV_SETTINGS_FILE')
# Load all blueprints with their manager commands, models and views
# Setup Flask-User to handle user account related forms
from my_app.core.models import User
# Setup Flask-User
db_adapter = SQLAlchemyAdapter(db, User) # Setup the SQLAlchemy DB Adapter
user_manager = UserManager(db_adapter, app) # Init Flask-User and bind to app
from my_app import core
return app
my_app/core/__init__.py
from . import models
from . import views
views.py
from my_app import db, app
'''
Register a new user
'''
#app.route('/register', methods = ['POST'])
def register_user():
user_manager = app.user_manager
db_adapter = user_manager.db_adapter
I was trying to follow an example I found online.
I'm creating the variables db_adapter and user_manager in create_app(). Are these the same ones being used in my views.py?
If anyone has any suggestions or links to examples that I can follow to structure my project, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Assuming that that's how Flask-User works (sets the user_manager attribute on app), this is trivial to determine, just compare them in the create_app function when you still have a direct reference to the objects.
db_adapter = SQLAlchemyAdapter(db, User)
user_manager = UserManager(db_adapter, app)
assert db_adapter is user_manager.db_adapter
assert user_manager is app.user_manager
However, your entire project layout doesn't make much sense. You should be creating the entire app inside the create_app factory. You should not have an __init__.py file at the top level, that's the project folder not the package. You should use current_app within views to access the app, since it will only be created at runtime by the factory. You should create a manage.py file at the project level to use the factory.
my_project/
my_app/
__init__.py
models.py
views.py
defaults.py
instance/
config.py
manage.py
__init__.py:
from flask import Flask
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
db = SQLAlchemy()
def create_app():
app = Flask(__name__, instance_relative_config=True)
app.config.from_object('my_app.defaults')
app.config.from_pyfile('config.py')
db.init_app(app)
from my_app.views import bp
app.register_blueprint(bp)
return app
models.py:
from my_app import db
class User(db.Model):
...
views.py:
from flask import Blueprint, render_template
from my_app.models import User
bp = Blueprint('app', __name__)
#bp.route('/')
def index():
return render_template('index.html')
manage.py:
#!/usr/bin/env python
from flask_script import Manager
from my_app import create_app
Manager(create_app).run()
Directory Structure:
__init__:
from flask import flask
app = Flask(__name__)
if __name__ == '__main__'
app.run()
Views:
from app import app
#app.route('/')
def hello_world():
return 'Hello World!'
I hope someone can explain what I am doing wrong here -
I guess I'm not understanding how to properly import app. This results in a 404. However when views is moved back to __init__ everything works properly.
You need to explicitly import your views module in your __init__:
from flask import flask
app = Flask(__name__)
from . import views
Without importing the module, the view registrations are never made.
Do keep the script portion outside of your package. Add a separate file in Final_app (so outside the app directory) that runs your development server; say run.py:
def main():
from app import app
app.run()
if __name__ == '__main__'
main()