flask_cli

Examples of different ways to make a custom cli in Flask

Flask blueprint.cli

In addition to their usefulness in breaking up large projects in to manageable chunks, Flask blueprints also provide an easy way to add Click cli commands and groups to the flask terminal command. For instance, in addition to the standard flask cli commands of

flask run
flask routes
flask shell

you might make additional commands like

flask app init_db
flask do_some_work
flask hello_world --name Bob

See the branch labeled blueprint_cli for examples.

Pros

• Easy to use built in functionality.
• Does not require the installation of a separate cli app.
• Automatic discovery of commands, so long as the containing module is imported somewhere, e.g. in the package __init__.py
• Easy to divide areas of responsibility using existing Blueprint structure.
• Automatic wrapping of commands with @with_appcontext so that current_app is available inside your custom commands.

Cons

• Beyond custom names, you are unable to customize the top level group. This means no help description for the top group, or options/arguments that can be passed to child commands.
• No bash completion.

Manually adding commands to flask

It is also possible to manually add Click commands and groups to the flask terminal command. In the function where you create your Flask app instance, use app.cli.addcommand() to add the Click command or group.

from flask import Flask
from flask_cli.blueprints import hello_world, cli_base
from flask_cli.blueprints.cli_base.cli_cmd import app_group

def create_app(testing=False, cli=False):
    """Application factory, used to create application
    """
    app = Flask(__name__)
    app.config.from_object("flask_cli.config")

    if testing is True:
        app.config["TESTING"] = True

    configure_extensions(app, cli)
    configure_apispec(app)
    register_blueprints(app)
    # this is the line that adds a Click group to the flask cli.
    app.cli.add_command(app_group)
    return app

This method requires an extra step to make sure that current_app is available inside commands. Command functions must be decorated with with_appcontext.

import click
from flask import current_app
from flask.cli import with_appcontext

.....

@click.group(
    "app", help="a top level group for app commands.",
)
@click.option("-v", "--verbose", is_flag=True, help="Enables verbose mode.")
@pass_environment
def app_group(ctx, verbose):
    ctx.verbose = verbose

@app_group.command("info", help="an example command in the flask.app group.")
@with_appcontext
@pass_environment
def info_b(ctx):
    ctx.log("App info:", current_app, f"environment: {current_app.config.get('ENV')}")

See the branch labeled manual_cli for examples.

Pros

• Only one extra statement plus one decorator per function required over the blueprint.cli method.
• Does not require the installation of a separate cli app.
• Automatic discovery of commands that are children of a registered Click group, so long as the containing module is imported somewhere, e.g. in the package __init__.py
• Easy to divide areas of responsibility using existing Blueprint structure.
• Control over the top-level cli group. Can add custom help, and options/arguments.

Cons

• You must add @with_appcontext to each function that requires the use of current_app
• No bash completion.
• Top level commands and groups must be manually registered with app.cli.addcommand

Custom Scripts

This is the route taken by most tutorials I have seen. With the exception of bash completion, manually adding commands to app.cli seems the better choice.

Pros

• Bash completion
• Control over the top-level cli group. Can add custom help, and options/arguments.

Cons

• Must create app when app context needed?
• TODO - see if this works. You must add @with_appcontext to each function that requires the use of current_app
• must define entry point in setup.py/cfg

Plugins

Might be useful if cli is developed separate from flask project? Needs its own setup.py.

References and inspirations

• cookiecutter-flask-restful - Cookiecutter template for flask restful, including blueprints, application factory, and more
• Build a SAAS App with Flask Course - A great video course on building an entire saas app. Regularly updated to cover advances and new packages.
• The Flask docs
• Click - Useful examples. esp. complex