Flask Cheatsheet
Importing Flask
from flask import Flask
Most Common Imports
Frequently used imports for building Flask applications:
from flask import Flask, render_template, redirect, url_for, request, flash,
session, jsonify
Basic Boilerplate Code
A minimal Flask app structure:
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route("/")
def hello_world():
return "<p>Hello, World!</p>"
if __name__ == "__main__":
app.run(debug=True)
Tip: Always wrap app.run() inside if __name__ == "__main__": for best
practice.
Creating Routes
Create endpoints in your Flask app:
@app.route("/") # Home page
@app.route("/about") # About page
Setting Allowed Methods
Specify allowed HTTP methods:
@app.route("/submit", methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def submit():
if request.method == "POST":
return "Form submitted!"
return "Send a POST request!"
Auto Reload During Development
Enable auto-reloading and debugging:
app.run(debug=True)
Changing Host & Port
Change the default host/port:
app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=5001)
Flask Templates
Render HTML files from templates/ folder:
@app.route("/")
def home():
return render_template("index.html", name="Harry")
Pass variables to template:
<!-- index.html -->
<h1>Hello, {{ name }}!</h1>
Redirect & URL Building
return redirect(url_for("home")) # Redirects to home route
Request Data
Access form and query parameters:
request.method
request.form["username"] # POST form data
request.args.get("page") # GET query param
Flash Messages
Show temporary messages to users:
app.secret_key = "your-secret-key"
flash("Data saved successfully!", "success")
Use in template:
{% with messages = get_flashed_messages(with_categories=true) %}
{% for category, message in messages %}
<div class="{{ category }}">{{ message }}</div>
{% endfor %}
{% endwith %}
Sessions (Store Data Between Requests)
session["user"] = "Harry"
print(session.get("user"))
session.pop("user", None)
Returning JSON
@app.route("/api")
def api():
return jsonify({"status": "ok", "data": [1, 2, 3]})
SQLAlchemy Integration
Import & Setup
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'sqlite:///test.db'
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS'] = False
db = SQLAlchemy(app)
Creating a Model
class TableName(db.Model):
id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
column_1 = db.Column(db.String(80), nullable=False)
column_2 = db.Column(db.String(12), nullable=False)
def __repr__(self):
return f"<TableName {self.column_1}>"
Creating Database
with app.app_context():
db.create_all()
CRUD Operations
Create / Add Data:
entry = TableName(column_1="Hello", column_2="World")
db.session.add(entry)
db.session.commit()
Read Data:
data = TableName.query.all() # Get all rows
data = TableName.query.first() # Get first row
data = TableName.query.filter_by(column_1="Hello").all() # Filter
Update Data:
entry = TableName.query.first()
entry.column_1 = "Updated Value"
db.session.commit()
Delete Data:
db.session.delete(entry)
db.session.commit()
Error Handling
@app.errorhandler(404)
def page_not_found(e):
return render_template("404.html"), 404
Flask Docs
• Flask Official Documentation
• Flask SQLAlchemy Documentation
