{"id":14577,"library":"flask-api","title":"Flask-API","description":"Flask-API provides tools for building browsable web APIs on top of Flask, offering features like content negotiation and a custom renderer system. While it reached version 3.1, it is now largely unmaintained. Developers starting new projects are strongly advised to use more actively maintained alternatives like Flask-RESTX or Flask-Smorest.","status":"deprecated","version":"3.1","language":"en","source_language":"en","source_url":"https://github.com/flask-api/flask-api","tags":["web","api","flask","deprecated"],"install":[{"cmd":"pip install flask-api","lang":"bash","label":"Install Flask-API"}],"dependencies":[{"reason":"Flask-API is an extension for the Flask web framework.","package":"Flask","optional":false}],"imports":[{"symbol":"FlaskAPI","correct":"from flask_api import FlaskAPI"},{"symbol":"APIException","correct":"from flask_api.exceptions import APIException"},{"symbol":"status","correct":"from flask_api import status"}],"quickstart":{"code":"from flask_api import FlaskAPI\nfrom flask_api.exceptions import APIException\nfrom flask_api import status\n\napp = FlaskAPI(__name__)\n\n@app.route('/')\ndef hello_world():\n    return {\"message\": \"Hello, World!\"}\n\n@app.route('/items/<int:item_id>/')\ndef get_item(item_id):\n    items = {\n        1: {'name': 'Apple', 'price': 1.00},\n        2: {'name': 'Banana', 'price': 0.50}\n    }\n    try:\n        return items[item_id]\n    except KeyError:\n        raise APIException('Item not found', status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND)\n\nif __name__ == '__main__':\n    app.run(debug=True)","lang":"python","description":"A basic Flask-API application demonstrating content negotiation and custom error handling using APIException. When run, it provides a browsable API for the root path and a specific item lookup."},"warnings":[{"fix":"Migrate to actively maintained alternatives such as Flask-RESTX (a fork of Flask-RESTful), Flask-Smorest, or simply use plain Flask for API development.","message":"The `flask-api` library is unmaintained and will not receive updates for new Flask versions or critical security patches. Using it in new projects or with modern Flask versions (2.x+) is highly discouraged.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"All versions of Flask-API, especially with Flask >= 2.0"},{"fix":"If you must use Flask-API, thoroughly test response types and content negotiation. For better control and flexibility, consider alternatives that offer clearer separation of concerns for rendering.","message":"Flask-API's content negotiation and renderer system might conflict with or behave unexpectedly when combined with modern Flask features or other API extensions. Its approach to response rendering can be less flexible than newer solutions.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"All versions"},{"fix":"Avoid using `flask-api` for new development. For existing projects, consider a migration strategy to a supported library.","message":"The project is explicitly marked as unmaintained by its original developers, with the recommendation to use other libraries for new development. Expect no new features, bug fixes, or compatibility updates.","severity":"deprecated","affected_versions":"All versions"}],"env_vars":null,"last_verified":"2026-04-16T00:00:00.000Z","next_check":"2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z","problems":[{"fix":"Run `pip install flask-api` to install the library.","cause":"The `flask-api` package has not been installed in your Python environment.","error":"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'flask_api'"},{"fix":"Upgrade to an actively maintained Flask API framework like Flask-RESTX or Flask-Smorest, or downgrade your Flask version to one compatible with `flask-api` (e.g., Flask 1.x).","cause":"This error often occurs when running `flask-api` with newer versions of Flask (e.g., Flask 2.x+), which have changed internal attributes like `json_encoder`. `flask-api` has not been updated to reflect these changes.","error":"AttributeError: 'FlaskAPI' object has no attribute 'json_encoder'"},{"fix":"Ensure your view functions return dictionaries, `flask.Response` objects, or a tuple compatible with Flask-API's rendering system. For example, `return {'status': 'ok'}` is preferred over `return 'ok'` directly if not using a custom renderer for strings.","cause":"While Flask-API aims for simplified returns, mixing standard Flask view return types (e.g., a simple string or an `int`) with Flask-API's expected dictionary/object returns can lead to this error if the rendering pipeline isn't correctly configured or a custom renderer isn't handling the type.","error":"ValueError: View function did not return a response tuple (response, status_code, headers)"}],"ecosystem":"pypi"}