Flask Database Migrations with SQLAlchemy & Flask-Migrate

Flask-Migrate is an extension that handles database migrations for Flask applications using Alembic. It works alongside SQLAlchemy, which is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) that maps Python objects to database tables. Using Flask-Migrate, you can easily handle version control for your database schema, allowing for smooth database changes and rollbacks over time.

👉 Flask Database Migrations - Complete Documentation

Setup for Different DBMS

Flask-Migrate supports different database management systems. Below are the steps to configure SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

SQLite

SQLite is a lightweight, file-based database suitable for small projects or testing.

1. Install dependencies:

   pip install Flask-SQLAlchemy Flask-Migrate

2. Update config.py:

   # config.py
   class Config:
       SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'sqlite:///app.db'  # SQLite URI
       SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = False

3. Initialize Flask-Migrate in app.py:

   from flask import Flask
   from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
   from flask_migrate import Migrate
   
   app = Flask(__name__)
   app.config.from_object('config.Config')
   
   db = SQLAlchemy(app)
   migrate = Migrate(app, db)

MySQL

1. Install the MySQL client:

   pip install mysqlclient

2. Update config.py:

   # config.py
   class Config:
       SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'mysql://username:password@localhost/db_name'  # MySQL URI
       SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = False

3. Ensure MySQL is running and the database exists:

   mysql -u username -p
   CREATE DATABASE db_name;

PostgreSQL

1. Install the PostgreSQL client:

   pip install psycopg2

2. Update config.py:

   # config.py
   class Config:
       SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = 'postgresql://username:password@localhost/db_name'  # PostgreSQL URI
       SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS = False

3. Ensure PostgreSQL is running and create the database:

   psql -U username
   CREATE DATABASE db_name;

Flask Migrate Kickoff

To set up Flask-Migrate and apply migrations to your database, follow these steps:

1. Clone the Git repository:

   git clone https://github.com/app-generator/docs-flask-db-migrations
   cd docs-flask-db-migrations

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install required packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure your database in config.py (choose SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL).

5. Initialize Flask-Migrate:

   flask db init

6. Create your models in models.py:

   from app import db
   
   class User(db.Model):
       id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key=True)
       username = db.Column(db.String(150), unique=True, nullable=False)
       email = db.Column(db.String(150), unique=True, nullable=False)

7. Create the initial migration:

   flask db migrate -m "Initial migration"

8. Apply the migration:

   flask db upgrade

9. Run the application:

   flask run

   Your Flask app will be running at http://127.0.0.1:5000.

Common Flask-Migrate Commands

• flask db init: Initializes the migration directory (migrations/).
• flask db migrate -m "message": Generates a new migration script.
• flask db upgrade: Applies the migration to the database.
• flask db downgrade: Rolls back the last migration.
• flask db history: Shows the migration history.
• flask db stamp head: Marks the current database as being at the latest migration.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve covered how to set up Flask-Migrate with SQLAlchemy for managing database migrations in Flask applications. We’ve also shown how to configure different databases (SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL) and run the Flask application with migrations.

By using Flask-Migrate, you can handle database schema changes in a more structured and controlled way. This approach simplifies managing database evolution over time, especially as your project grows.

Feel free to explore the code in the repository and follow the steps to integrate Flask-Migrate into your own Flask applications.

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Flask Database Migrations - Free sample provided by App Generator