RComments

A minimal, secure, and feature-rich commenting system for Flask + PostgreSQL applications.

Features

• Hierarchical Threading: Support for nested replies with unlimited depth
• Flexible Identity: Registered usernames or anonymous commenting
• Metadata Tracking: Automatic UTC timestamps and IP logging for moderation
• XSS Protection: HTML sanitization to prevent injection attacks
• Rate Limiting: Configurable limits to prevent spam
• Soft Deletion: Comments can be marked as deleted without permanent removal
• Automatic Cleanup: Permanently removes old comments (30 days or 150 comments limit)
• Easy Integration: Simple Flask blueprint registration

Installation

pip install rcomments

Quick Start

1. Configuration

Create a .env file in your project root:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@localhost/yourdb
SECRET_KEY=your-flask-secret-key
RATE_LIMIT=10 per minute
MAX_COMMENT_AGE_DAYS=30
MAX_TOTAL_COMMENTS=150
ALLOW_ANONYMOUS=true

2. Flask Application Setup

from flask import Flask
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from flask_limiter import Limiter
from rcomments import init_config, init_routes, db as rcomments_db

app = Flask(__name__)
app.config.from_prefixed_env()  # Loads from .env

# Initialize RComments
init_config()

# Setup database - rcomments uses its own db instance
# Configure your database via DATABASE_URL in .env
rcomments_db.init_app(app)

# Setup rate limiter
limiter = Limiter(
    app,
    key_func=lambda: request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For", request.remote_addr)
)

# Initialize routes
init_routes(app, limiter)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)

3. Database Migration

Initialize the database:

# Using Flask-Migrate (recommended)
flask db init
flask db migrate -m "Initial RComments tables"
flask db upgrade

# Or using the CLI
rcomments-cli init-db

API Endpoints

All endpoints are prefixed with /api/comments.

GET /api/comments

Fetch all top-level comments with nested replies.

Query Parameters:

• sort (optional): asc or desc (default: desc)
• limit (optional): Maximum number of top-level comments

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "content": "This is a comment",
      "author_name": "John",
      "is_anonymous": false,
      "status": "ACTIVE",
      "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "parent_id": null,
      "replies": []
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

POST /api/comments

Create a new comment.

Request Body:

{
  "content": "Your comment text",
  "author_name": "Your Name",
  "author_email": "email@example.com",  // optional
  "parent_id": 1,  // optional, for replies
  "is_anonymous": false  // optional, default: false
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": 2,
    "content": "Your comment text",
    "author_name": "Your Name",
    "is_anonymous": false,
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:35:00Z",
    "parent_id": 1
  },
  "message": "Comment created successfully"
}

GET /api/comments/<id>

Fetch a single comment with its replies.

DELETE /api/comments/<id>

Soft delete a comment (marks as [Comment removed]).

GET /api/comments/<id>/replies

Fetch direct replies for a comment.

GET /api/comments/stats

Get comment statistics.

POST /api/comments/cleanup

Trigger cleanup of old comments (admin only - secure this in production!).

Query Parameters:

• dry_run=true - Preview what would be deleted

Security Features

XSS Protection

All comment content is automatically sanitized using bleach. Only basic formatting tags are allowed:

• <b>, <i>, <u>, <em>, <strong>, <br>, <p>

Rate Limiting

Configurable rate limits prevent automated spamming. Default: 10 comments per minute per IP.

IP Logging

IP addresses are hashed (SHA-256) for privacy while maintaining moderation capabilities.

Soft Deletion

Comments can be soft-deleted via the DELETE endpoint, which marks them with status DELETED and replaces content with [Comment removed]. This preserves thread structure while hiding content.

Automatic Cleanup

The cleanup process permanently removes comments from the database based on two limits:

1. Age: Comments older than 30 days (configurable) are permanently deleted
2. Count: If total active comments exceed 150 (configurable), oldest comments are permanently deleted

Note: Cleanup removes both top-level comments and replies. The dry_run mode allows previewing what would be deleted without making changes.

Integration with React/TypeScript

Example React component:

import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

interface Comment {
  id: number;
  content: string;
  author_name: string;
  is_anonymous: boolean;
  created_at: string;
  parent_id: number | null;
  replies: Comment[];
}

const CommentSection: React.FC = () => {
  const [comments, setComments] = useState<Comment[]>([]);
  const [newComment, setNewComment] = useState({
    content: '',
    author_name: '',
    author_email: '',
    is_anonymous: false,
    parent_id: null as number | null
  });

  useEffect(() => {
    fetchComments();
  }, []);

  const fetchComments = async () => {
    const response = await axios.get('/api/comments');
    setComments(response.data.data);
  };

  const submitComment = async (e: React.FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    await axios.post('/api/comments', newComment);
    setNewComment({ content: '', author_name: '', author_email: '', is_anonymous: false, parent_id: null });
    fetchComments();
  };

  const deleteComment = async (id: number) => {
    await axios.delete(`/api/comments/${id}`);
    fetchComments();
  };

  return (
    <div className="comment-section">
      <h2>Comments</h2>

      <form onSubmit={submitComment}>
        <textarea
          value={newComment.content}
          onChange={(e) => setNewComment({...newComment, content: e.target.value})}
          placeholder="Your comment..."
          required
        />
        <input
          type="text"
          value={newComment.author_name}
          onChange={(e) => setNewComment({...newComment, author_name: e.target.value})}
          placeholder="Your name"
          required
        />
        <input
          type="email"
          value={newComment.author_email}
          onChange={(e) => setNewComment({...newComment, author_email: e.target.value})}
          placeholder="Email (optional)"
        />
        <label>
          <input
            type="checkbox"
            checked={newComment.is_anonymous}
            onChange={(e) => setNewComment({...newComment, is_anonymous: e.target.checked})}
          />
          Post anonymously
        </label>
        <button type="submit">Post Comment</button>
      </form>

      <div className="comments-list">
        {comments.map(comment => (
          <CommentItem
            key={comment.id}
            comment={comment}
            onReply={(parentId) => setNewComment({
              ...newComment,
              parent_id: parentId,
              content: '',
            })}
            onDelete={deleteComment}
          />
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

const CommentItem: React.FC<{ comment: Comment; onReply: (id: number) => void; onDelete: (id: number) => void }> = ({
  comment,
  onReply,
  onDelete
}) => {
  const [showReplyForm, setShowReplyForm] = useState(false);

  return (
    <div className="comment" style={{ marginLeft: comment.parent_id ? '20px' : '0' }}>
      <div className="comment-header">
        <strong>{comment.author_name}</strong>
        {comment.is_anonymous && <span> (Anonymous)</span>}
        <small>{new Date(comment.created_at).toLocaleString()}</small>
      </div>
      <div className="comment-content" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: comment.content }} />
      <div className="comment-actions">
        <button onClick={() => setShowReplyForm(!showReplyForm)}>Reply</button>
        <button onClick={() => onDelete(comment.id)}>Delete</button>
      </div>

      {showReplyForm && (
        <form onSubmit={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); onReply(comment.id); }}>
          <textarea placeholder="Your reply..." required />
          <button type="submit">Post Reply</button>
        </form>
      )}

      {comment.replies && comment.replies.length > 0 && (
        <div className="replies">
          {comment.replies.map(reply => (
            <CommentItem
              key={reply.id}
              comment={reply}
              onReply={onReply}
              onDelete={onDelete}
            />
          ))}
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

export default CommentSection;

Command Line Interface

RComments includes a CLI for database management:

# Initialize database and migrations
rcomments-cli init-db

# Create and apply migrations
rcomments-cli migrate-db

# Clean up old comments
rcomments-cli cleanup [--dry-run]

# Show statistics
rcomments-cli stats

Configuration Options

Variable	Default	Description
DATABASE_URL	postgresql://localhost/rcomments	PostgreSQL connection string
SECRET_KEY	dev-secret-key-change-in-production	Flask secret key
RATE_LIMIT	10 per minute	Rate limit format
MAX_COMMENT_AGE_DAYS	30	Maximum age of comments in days
MAX_TOTAL_COMMENTS	150	Maximum total active comments
ALLOW_ANONYMOUS	true	Allow anonymous comments
REQUIRE_EMAIL_ANONYMOUS	false	Require email for anonymous users

Development

Setup

cd rcomments
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

pytest tests/ -v

Code Formatting

black rcomments/
flake8 rcomments/
mypy rcomments/

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.