flask-api-development

SKILL.md

Flask API Development

Table of Contents

Overview

When to Use

Quick Start

Reference Guides

Best Practices

Overview

Create efficient Flask APIs with blueprints for modular organization, SQLAlchemy for ORM, JWT authentication, comprehensive error handling, and proper request validation following REST principles.

When to Use

Building RESTful APIs with Flask

Creating microservices with minimal overhead

Implementing lightweight authentication systems

Designing API endpoints with proper validation

Integrating with relational databases

Building request/response handling systems

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

# app.py
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
from flask_cors import CORS
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from flask_jwt_extended import JWTManager
import os

app = Flask(__name__)
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = os.getenv('DATABASE_URL', 'sqlite:///app.db')
app.config['JWT_SECRET_KEY'] = os.getenv('JWT_SECRET_KEY', 'dev-secret')
app.config['JSON_SORT_KEYS'] = False

db = SQLAlchemy(app)
jwt = JWTManager(app)
CORS(app)

# Request ID middleware
@app.before_request
def assign_request_id():
    import uuid
    request.request_id = str(uuid.uuid4())

# Error handlers
@app.errorhandler(400)
def bad_request(error):
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide
Contents

Flask Application Setup
Flask Application Setup

Database Models with SQLAlchemy
Database Models with SQLAlchemy

Authentication and JWT
Authentication and JWT

Blueprints for Modular API Design
Blueprints for Modular API Design

Request Validation
Request Validation

Application Factory and Configuration
Application Factory and Configuration

Best Practices

✅ DO

Use blueprints for modular organization

Implement proper authentication with JWT

Validate all user input

Use SQLAlchemy ORM for database operations

Implement comprehensive error handling

Use pagination for collection endpoints

Log errors and important events

Return appropriate HTTP status codes

Implement CORS properly

Use environment variables for configuration

❌ DON'T

Store secrets in code

Use global variables for shared state

Ignore database transactions

Trust user input without validation

Return stack traces in production

Use mutable default arguments

Forget to handle database connection errors

Implement authentication in route handlers

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