Question

I want to structure my Flask app something like:

./site.py
./apps/members/__init__.py
./apps/members/models.py

apps.members is a Flask Blueprint.

Now, in order to create the model classes I need to have a hold of the app, something like:

# apps.members.models
from flask import current_app
from flaskext.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

db = SQLAlchemy(current_app)

class Member(db.Model):
    # fields here
    pass

But if I try and import that model into my Blueprint app, I get the dreaded RuntimeError: working outside of request context. How can I get a hold of my app correctly here? Relative imports might work but they’re pretty ugly and have their own context issues, e.g:

from ...site import app

# ValueError: Attempted relative import beyond toplevel package

Answer 1

The flask_sqlalchemy module does not have to be initialized with the app right away – you can do this instead:

# apps.members.models
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

db = SQLAlchemy()

class Member(db.Model):
    # fields here
    pass

And then in your application setup you can call init_app:

# apps.application.py
from flask import Flask
from apps.members.models import db

app = Flask(__name__)
# later on
db.init_app(app)

This way you can avoid cyclical imports.

This pattern does not necessitate the you place all of your models in one file. Simply import the db variable into each of your model modules.

Example

# apps.shared.models
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

db = SQLAlchemy()

# apps.members.models
from apps.shared.models import db

class Member(db.Model):
    # TODO: Implement this.
    pass

# apps.reporting.members
from flask import render_template
from apps.members.models import Member

def report_on_members():
    # TODO: Actually use arguments
    members = Member.filter(1==1).all()
    return render_template("report.html", members=members)

# apps.reporting.routes
from flask import Blueprint
from apps.reporting.members import report_on_members

reporting = Blueprint("reporting", __name__)

reporting.route("/member-report", methods=["GET","POST"])(report_on_members)

# apps.application
from flask import Flask
from apps.shared import db
from apps.reporting.routes import reporting

app = Flask(__name__)
db.init_app(app)
app.register_blueprint(reporting)

_{Note: this is a sketch of some of the power this gives you – there is obviously quite a bit more that you can do to make development even easier (using a create_app pattern, auto-registering blueprints in certain folders, etc.)}