Load config file which is located outside package directory

[wigging]

I have a simple flask project as shown below. There is a config file config.json where things like port, host, debug, etc. can be defined.

flask-example
├── README.md
├── config.json
├── pyproject.toml
└── src/
    └── flaskr/
        ├── __init__.py

In the __init__.py I have the following:

import json
from flask import Flask

def create_app():
    app = Flask(__name__)

    app.config.from_file("config.json", load=json.load)

    @app.route("/hello")
    def hello():
        return "Hello, World!"

    return app

The configuration file config.json is located outside the package source code directory. The content of the config file is:

{
    "PORT": 5040,
    "DEBUG": true
}

When I run flask --app flaskr run, I get a file not found error because flask is looking in the src/flaskr directory for the config file. How do I provide the path to the config file so I don't have to put the file inside the package source?

[tachyondecay]

The simplest answer is: use an absolute path.

Relative paths are relative to the app config object's root path, which by default will be app.root_path, which can be a couple of different things depending on how your package is configured. If you’re using a src layout, you might want to install your package in editable mode.

[davidism]

That's because those values are set in the server, they're not part of app config.

[wigging]

So how would I set these values using a configuration file?

[davidism]

You wouldn't. You set them on the command line when running the dev server.

[wigging]

So I should use the config file for app settings and configure the server from the command line?

[ThiefMaster]

Yes. The dev server is ONLY for development anyway. You never use flask run or app.run() outside development.