Flask-Postgres Template

The basic template of a flask application with postgres database integration.

Frequently desired for a Heroku deployment.

Quickstart

0. Clone the repo.

$ git clone git@github.com:sharonzhou/flask-postgres.git

1. Enter the glorious directory!

$ cd flask-postgres/

2. Install libraries.

   Ideally, into a virtual environment, e.g. with virtualenv or conda, but that is not required.

$ pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Create a postgres database. We will link it to the flask app in the subsequent steps.

   Here's how to do it on a Mac with Homebrew, with a database named my_practical_db_name, which you can replace with a more practical database name.

$ brew services restart postgresql
$ createdb my_practical_db_name

4. Get your database username. Below, it's my_cool_username.

$ psql my_practical_db_name

my_practical_db_name=# select current_user;

 current_user 
--------------
 my_cool_username

my_practical_db_name=# \q

5. Link the postgres database to the Flask app.

   The link to your database includes the database type (postgres), your username (my_cool_username), the host (localhost, aka. 127.0.0.1), and your database name (my_practical_db_name).

$ export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://my_cool_username@localhost/my_practical_db_name"

6. Start the server.

$ python run.py

7. Open http://0.0.0.0:5000 in your browser.

8. Check if your postgres database is integrated correctly by clicking: Add a "Thing" to your database.

9. Modify this template to your project.

   You can begin by adding styles to the placeholder CSS file living at app/static/css/app.css, and adding scripts to the placeholder Javascript file living at app/static/js/app.js.