Flask Backend

Flask Backend

Purpose

Define Flask backend application architecture: lightweight server setup, blueprint organization, extension integration, and WSGI deployment.

Agent Protocol

Trigger

User request includes: flask, flask backend, flask blueprint, flask app factory, flask sqlalchemy, flask extension, flask rest api, python flask.

Input Context

• Python version (3.10+)
• Flask version (3.x)
• Database ORM (SQLAlchemy, Peewee)
• API style (REST, Flask-RESTx)
• Template engine (Jinja2, none for SPA)
• Deployment (Gunicorn, uWSGI, serverless)

Output Artifact

A markdown document containing:

• Project structure
• Application factory pattern
• Blueprint organization
• Extension initialization pattern
• Error handling (app.errorhandler)
• Configuration management
• Testing (pytest, app.test_client)
• CLI commands (click integration)

Response Format

Produce the artifact directly. No preamble, no postamble, no explanations. No filler, no hedging. Compress output.

Completion Criteria

• Application factory creates configurable app instances
• Blueprints group related routes and templates
• Extensions initialized via init_app pattern
• Error handlers registered at app level
• Tests use app.test_client fixture

Max Response Length

4096 tokens

Workflow

Step 1: Project Setup

pip install flask flask-sqlalchemy flask-migrate pydantic
pip install pytest pytest-cov  # dev
pip install gunicorn  # production
pip install flask-cors flask-limiter redis  # optional

Step 2: Project Structure

project/
+-- app/
|   +-- __init__.py
|   +-- extensions.py
|   +-- config.py
|   +-- models/
|   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   +-- order.py
|   |   +-- user.py
|   +-- blueprints/
|   |   +-- orders/
|   |   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   |   +-- routes.py
|   |   |   +-- schemas.py
|   |   |   +-- service.py
|   |   +-- products/
|   |   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   |   +-- routes.py
|   |   |   +-- service.py
|   |   +-- auth/
|   |   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   |   +-- routes.py
|   |   |   +-- service.py
|   |   +-- health/
|   |       +-- __init__.py
|   |       +-- routes.py
|   +-- services/
|   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   +-- order_service.py
|   |   +-- payment_service.py
|   +-- utils/
|   |   +-- __init__.py
|   |   +-- errors.py
|   |   +-- pagination.py
|   |   +-- decorators.py
|   +-- templates/
|       +-- base.html
|       +-- orders/
|           +-- list.html
|           +-- detail.html
+-- migrations/
+-- tests/
|   +-- conftest.py
|   +-- test_orders.py
|   +-- test_health.py
|   +-- factories.py
+-- .env
+-- .flaskenv
+-- requirements.txt
+-- wsgi.py
+-- Dockerfile

Step 3: Application Factory

# app/__init__.py
from flask import Flask

def create_app(config_object="app.config.Config") -> Flask:
    app = Flask(__name__)
    app.config.from_object(config_object)
    app.config.from_prefixed_env()

    register_extensions(app)
    register_blueprints(app)
    register_error_handlers(app)
    register_cli_commands(app)

    return app

def register_extensions(app: Flask) -> None:
    from app.extensions import db, migrate
    db.init_app(app)
    migrate.init_app(app, db)
    if app.config.get("SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"):
        import flask_cors
        flask_cors.CORS(app)

def register_blueprints(app: Flask) -> None:
    from app.blueprints.health.routes import health_bp
    from app.blueprints.orders.routes import orders_bp
    from app.blueprints.auth.routes import auth_bp

    app.register_blueprint(health_bp)
    app.register_blueprint(orders_bp, url_prefix="/api/orders")
    app.register_blueprint(auth_bp, url_prefix="/api/auth")

def register_error_handlers(app: Flask) -> None:
    from app.utils.errors import register_error_handlers as _register
    _register(app)

def register_cli_commands(app: Flask) -> None:
    import click

    @app.cli.command("seed-db")
    def seed_db():
        """Seed database with sample data."""
        click.echo("Seeding database...")

Step 4: Configuration Classes

# app/config.py
import os
from datetime import timedelta

basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))

class Config:
    SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get("SECRET_KEY", "change-me-in-production")
    SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = False
    JSON_SORT_KEYS = False
    MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH = 16 * 1024 * 1024  # 16MB

class DevelopmentConfig(Config):
    DEBUG = True
    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = os.environ.get(
        "DATABASE_URL", "sqlite:///" + os.path.join(basedir, "..", "dev.db")
    )

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

class ProductionConfig(Config):
    DEBUG = False
    SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = os.environ.get("DATABASE_URL")
    SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
    SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
    SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE = "Lax"

config_map = {
    "development": DevelopmentConfig,
    "testing": TestingConfig,
    "production": ProductionConfig,
    "default": DevelopmentConfig,
}

Step 5: Blueprint Pattern with Service Layer

# app/blueprints/orders/routes.py
from flask import Blueprint, request, jsonify
from pydantic import ValidationError
from app.services.order_service import OrderService
from app.blueprints.orders.schemas import CreateOrderSchema, OrderResponseSchema
from app.utils.decorators import require_auth

orders_bp = Blueprint("orders", __name__)
order_service = OrderService()

@orders_bp.route("", methods=["POST"])
@require_auth
def create_order():
    data = request.get_json()
    try:
        schema = CreateOrderSchema(**data)
    except ValidationError as e:
        return jsonify(error=e.errors()), 400

    order = order_service.create(schema.model_dump())
    response = OrderResponseSchema.model_validate(order).model_dump()
    return jsonify(response), 201

@orders_bp.route("", methods=["GET"])
@require_auth
def list_orders():
    page = request.args.get("page", 1, type=int)
    per_page = request.args.get("per_page", 20, type=int)
    orders, total = order_service.list_paginated(page=page, per_page=per_page)
    items = [OrderResponseSchema.model_validate(o).model_dump() for o in orders]
    return jsonify({"items": items, "total": total, "page": page, "per_page": per_page})

@orders_bp.route("/<uuid:order_id>", methods=["GET"])
@require_auth
def get_order(order_id):
    order = order_service.get_by_id(str(order_id))
    if not order:
        return jsonify(error="Order not found"), 404
    response = OrderResponseSchema.model_validate(order).model_dump()
    return jsonify(response)

@orders_bp.route("/<uuid:order_id>", methods=["DELETE"])
@require_auth
def delete_order(order_id):
    order_service.delete(str(order_id))
    return "", 204

Step 6: Service Layer

# app/services/order_service.py
from app.extensions import db
from app.models.order import Order
from typing import Optional

class OrderService:
    def create(self, data: dict) -> Order:
        order = Order(**data)
        db.session.add(order)
        db.session.commit()
        return order

    def get_by_id(self, order_id: str) -> Optional[Order]:
        return Order.query.get(order_id)

    def list_paginated(self, page: int = 1, per_page: int = 20):
        pagination = Order.query.order_by(Order.created_at.desc()).paginate(
            page=page, per_page=per_page, error_out=False
        )
        return pagination.items, pagination.total

    def update(self, order_id: str, data: dict) -> Optional[Order]:
        order = self.get_by_id(order_id)
        if not order:
            return None
        for key, value in data.items():
            setattr(order, key, value)
        db.session.commit()
        return order

    def delete(self, order_id: str) -> bool:
        order = self.get_by_id(order_id)
        if not order:
            return False
        db.session.delete(order)
        db.session.commit()
        return True

Step 7: Pydantic Schemas

# app/blueprints/orders/schemas.py
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, UUID4
from typing import List, Optional
from datetime import datetime

class OrderItemSchema(BaseModel):
    product_id: str
    quantity: int = Field(ge=1)
    unit_price: float = Field(gt=0)

class CreateOrderSchema(BaseModel):
    customer_id: str = Field(min_length=1)
    items: List[OrderItemSchema] = Field(min_length=1)
    coupon_code: Optional[str] = None

class OrderResponseSchema(BaseModel):
    id: str
    customer_id: str
    status: str
    total_amount: float
    created_at: datetime

    model_config = {"from_attributes": True}

Step 8: Error Handling

# app/utils/errors.py
from flask import jsonify

class AppError(Exception):
    def __init__(self, message: str, status_code: int = 400, code: str = "APP_ERROR"):
        self.message = message
        self.status_code = status_code
        self.code = code

def register_error_handlers(app):
    @app.errorhandler(AppError)
    def handle_app_error(error):
        return jsonify(code=error.code, message=error.message), error.status_code

    @app.errorhandler(400)
    def bad_request(error):
        return jsonify(code="BAD_REQUEST", message="Invalid request"), 400

    @app.errorhandler(401)
    def unauthorized(error):
        return jsonify(code="UNAUTHORIZED", message="Authentication required"), 401

    @app.errorhandler(403)
    def forbidden(error):
        return jsonify(code="FORBIDDEN", message="Access denied"), 403

    @app.errorhandler(404)
    def not_found(error):
        return jsonify(code="NOT_FOUND", message="Resource not found"), 404

    @app.errorhandler(405)
    def method_not_allowed(error):
        return jsonify(code="METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED", message="Method not allowed"), 405

    @app.errorhandler(422)
    def unprocessable(error):
        return jsonify(code="UNPROCESSABLE", message="Unprocessable entity"), 422

    @app.errorhandler(429)
    def too_many_requests(error):
        return jsonify(code="RATE_LIMITED", message="Too many requests"), 429

    @app.errorhandler(500)
    def internal_error(error):
        return jsonify(code="INTERNAL", message="Unexpected error"), 500

Step 9: Testing

# tests/conftest.py
import pytest
from app import create_app
from app.config import TestingConfig

@pytest.fixture
def app():
    app = create_app(TestingConfig)
    with app.app_context():
        from app.extensions import db
        db.create_all()
        yield app
        db.drop_all()

@pytest.fixture
def client(app):
    return app.test_client()

@pytest.fixture
def auth_headers(client):
    # Create user and get token
    response = client.post("/api/auth/login", json={
        "email": "test@example.com",
        "password": "password123"
    })
    data = response.get_json()
    return {"Authorization": f"Bearer {data['access_token']}"}

# tests/test_orders.py
def test_create_order(client, auth_headers):
    response = client.post("/api/orders", json={
        "customer_id": "cust-1",
        "items": [{"product_id": "prod-1", "quantity": 2, "unit_price": 19.99}]
    }, headers=auth_headers)
    assert response.status_code == 201
    data = response.get_json()
    assert data["customer_id"] == "cust-1"
    assert data["total_amount"] == 39.98

def test_get_nonexistent_order(client, auth_headers):
    response = client.get("/api/orders/nonexistent-id", headers=auth_headers)
    assert response.status_code == 404

Architecture Decision Trees

Blueprint Organization

Domain features > 5?
  +-- Yes -> One blueprint per bounded context (orders, users, payments)
  +-- No  -> One blueprint for all routes, but still use blueprint() for testability

Database ORM

Need async performance?
  +-- Yes -> SQLAlchemy 2.0 async with asyncio. Flask async support experimental.
  +-- No  -> Need migration support?
      +-- Yes -> SQLAlchemy + Alembic (flask-migrate)
      +-- No  -> Peewee (simpler, less boilerplate)

Template vs SPA

Server-rendered HTML?
  +-- Yes -> Jinja2 templates with layout inheritance, macros
  +-- No  -> Flask as pure JSON API, SPA handles rendering

Common Pitfalls

1. Global flask app instance: Creating app = Flask(__name__) at module level prevents multiple app instances for testing. Always use application factory.

2. Circular imports with db and models: Defining db in models and importing models in extensions creates cycles. Solution: extensions.py for db, models import db.

3. Request context outside of request: Accessing request, g, current_app outside of request context raises RuntimeError. Push context explicitly for background tasks.

4. Session per request not configured correctly: Flask-SQLAlchemy session scoped to request by default. Manual session management needed for background thread work.

5. Not closing database connections: Flask-SQLAlchemy handles this, but raw connections from psycopg2 or direct engine usage must be closed.

6. Storing secrets in config files: Environment variables for secrets. Use .env with python-dotenv. Never commit secrets.

7. No CORS configuration for API: API consumed by browser-based SPA needs flask-cors with proper origin whitelist.

8. Overusing before_request: Complex logic in @app.before_request makes testing difficult. Extract into middleware or decorators.

9. Blueprint with duplicate endpoint names: Endpoint names must be unique across blueprints. Use blueprint name prefix.

10. JSON serialization errors: Custom types (UUID, datetime) not JSON serializable. Override json.JSONEncoder or use model_dump() with Pydantic.

Best Practices

1. Application factory for every project — never create Flask() at module level.
2. Blueprints for all route grouping — never free-floating @app.route.
3. Extensions initialized via init_app pattern for testability.
4. Config from class hierarchy (Config, DevConfig, ProdConfig) + env override.
5. Pydantic for request validation — never manual dict parsing.
6. pytest fixtures for app and client — never global app instance.
7. Service layer between routes and models for business logic isolation.
8. Type hints on all function signatures for IDE support and static analysis.
9. Alembic migrations for all schema changes, never Flask.create_all() in production.
10. Before/after request hooks for request-scoped concerns (DB session, auth context).

Compared With

Performance

• Flask handles ~5,000 req/s on basic hardware (single worker). Scale with Gunicorn workers (2-4 x CPU cores).
• SQLAlchemy connection pooling: configure SQLALCHEMY_ENGINE_OPTIONS with pool_size and max_overflow.
• Jinja2 template caching: app.jinja_env.auto_reload = False in production.
• Response compression: Add Flask-Compress for gzip/brotli.
• Redis caching with Flask-Caching for expensive queries.
• Database query optimization: eager loading with joinedload(), indexing on foreign keys.
• Gunicorn with gevent workers for I/O-bound workloads.

Tooling

Rules

• Application factory for every project — never create Flask() at module level.
• Blueprints for all route grouping — never free-floating @app.route.
• Extensions initialized via init_app pattern for testability.
• Config from class hierarchy (Config, DevConfig, ProdConfig) + env override.
• Pydantic for request validation — never manual dict parsing.
• pytest fixtures for app and client — never global app instance.
• Alembic migrations for schema changes — never create_all in production.
• Service layer isolates business logic from route handlers.
• Error handlers registered at app level for consistent error responses.
• Type hints required on all public function signatures.
• CORS configured explicitly per environment, never wide open.
• Rate limiting on authentication endpoints to prevent brute force.

References

• references/flask-application-factory.md — Flask Application Factory Pattern
• references/flask-restful-api-design.md — Flask RESTful API Design
• references/flask-blueprints-factories.md — Flask Blueprints and Application Factories
• references/flask-deployment.md — Flask Deployment
• references/flask-extensions.md — Flask Extensions
• references/flask-security.md — Flask Security Reference
• references/flask-setup.md — Flask Setup Guide
• references/flask-testing.md — Flask Testing Reference

Handoff

Hand off to backend/universal/api-response/SKILL.md for API response standards.