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FlaskR Installation

Use this page to get the app and documentation running locally.

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.13 or newer
  • A virtual environment tool such as venv
  • Optional: uv if you want a faster install workflow

Install dependencies

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -e .
python -m pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material "mkdocstrings[python]"

uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .
uv pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material "mkdocstrings[python]"

Initialize the local database

python -m flaskr.db

This command resets the schema

flaskr.db.init_db() drops existing tables before recreating them. That is convenient for demos and tests, but it is not something you would run against important data.

Run the app

flask --app flaskr run --debug

Open http://127.0.0.1:5000/ to see the blog.

Run the docs site

mkdocs serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ to preview the Material for MkDocs site.

Useful commands

pytest
mkdocs build --strict

Configuration overrides

create_app() reads the FLASKR_SETTINGS environment variable if it is set. That makes it easy to swap in a different database URL or secret key for a demo, a test, or a classroom exercise.[^settings]

[^settings]: In other words, the checked-in defaults are only the starting point, not the only way to run the app.