flask-commands 0.3.3

A set of command line tools that help you scaffold out your flask application quickly.

Flask-Commands

Flask-Commands is a local-first CLI that scaffolds Flask projects and automates the wiring between views, routes, controllers, and models so you ship faster with consistent structure.

Getting Started

Flask-Commands bundles opinionated, productivity-focused generators:

• flask new boots a ready-to-run Flask project with virtualenv, dotenv, Tailwind wiring, and SQLite + migrations by default. Use --no-db to skip DB setup.
• flask make:view generates template files and can optionally wire controllers, routes/blueprints, and SQLAlchemy models.
• flask make:controller scaffolds a controller class and can optionally add RESTful actions, routes, templates, and model generation (--model or -m, with --flat/--nest for inferred model choices).
• flask make:model scaffolds a SQLAlchemy model and can optionally wire RESTful controllers, routes, and templates (--crud, with --flat/--nest for model structure selection).

All generated code is plain Flask with no hidden runtime layers; every file is created on disk. The goal is to remove repetitive setup work while keeping everything local and transparent.

Installation

Flask-Commands is designed to be installed globally so you can create new Flask apps anywhere on your machine.

Recommended:

pipx install Flask-Commands --include-deps

Alternative:

pip install Flask-Commands

You will also want npm available because generated Flask projects include Tailwind CSS tooling. If npm is not installed, install Node.js first.

Quick Start

flask new myproject          # includes a SQLite DB scaffolding by default
cd myproject

To create a project without database support, use:

flask new myproject --no-db

Recommended (macOS):

./run.sh

Manual startup:

source venv/bin/activate
flask run --debug

run.sh opens a Flask shell, starts the dev server, rebuilds tailwind.css and tailwind.min.css, opens VS Code and Chrome, and hot-reloads changes in templates/, controllers/, forms/, models/, and routes/.

Browser reloading uses fswatch, so install it first if it is not already available:

brew install fswatch

Docs quick links

• Full guide: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs.html
• Install and first run: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install_and_first_run.html
• Starting a project: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/starting_a_project.html
• Core ideas: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/commands/core_ideas.html
• Cheat sheet: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/commands/cheat_sheet.html
• Changelog: https://flask-commands.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changelog.html

Cheat sheet

• flask new myproject — New Flask project with DB scaffolding (default).
• flask new myproject --no-db — New Flask project without DB setup.
• flask make:view about — Template only (app/templates/about.html).
• flask make:view recipes.index -rcm — Start a recipe resource with a list page, route, controller, and model.
• flask make:view recipes.show -rc — Add a detail page to the existing recipe resource.
• flask make:view recipes.create -rcm — Add a GET action that renders a recipe form template.
• flask make:view recipes.store -rcm — Add a POST action that wires behavior without creating a template.
• flask make:view recipes.comments.index -rcm — Create a nested comments resource under recipes.
• flask make:controller RecipeController --crud — Generate RESTful controller methods, routes, and templates for recipes.
• flask make:controller RecipeController --crud -m — Generate the RESTful recipe resource and matching model in one controller-first command.
• flask make:controller ShoppingListController --crud --model ShoppingList — Keep a multi-word model name together while generating RESTful scaffolding.
• flask make:controller RecipeIngredientController --crud -m --nest — Force the nested model interpretation for a controller-first --crud flow.
• flask make:model Recipe — Create and register a single model scaffold.
• flask make:model Recipe --crud — Model + RESTful controller/routes/templates.
• flask make:model ShoppingList --crud --flat — Force a flat model interpretation and RESTful structure.
• flask make:model RecipeIngredient --crud --nest — Force a nested model interpretation and RESTful structure.

Examples

Here are a few commands and what they do so you can see the speed, consistency gains, and how commands combine in practice.

1) Create a recipe index page with full wiring

flask make:view recipes.index -rcm

This scaffolds:

• the template at app/templates/recipes/index.html
• a controller with an index method
• a RESTful route for /recipes
• a Recipe model plus registration in app/models/__init__.py

2) Add a recipe detail page to the same resource

flask make:view recipes.show -rc

Because Recipe is already registered, route inference generates the RESTful show route:

• /recipes/<int:recipe_id>
• the controller method signature includes recipe_id

3) Generate a full RESTful resource from the controller first

flask make:controller RecipeController --crud -m

This scaffolds the seven RESTful actions across:

• controller methods
• routes in app/routes/recipes/
• templates for the GET actions (index, show, create, and edit)
• a Recipe model plus registration

4) Handle nested recipe/ingredient model shape intentionally

flask make:model RecipeIngredient --crud

If nested candidates are detected, you will get a prompt to choose flat vs nested. To skip the prompt explicitly:

flask make:model RecipeIngredient --crud --flat
flask make:model RecipeIngredient --crud --nest

Contributing

I’m keeping development closed for now, but feedback is welcome. Please open an issue for bugs or ideas. License: MIT.