MarketConnect API / Flask Backend

This repo now contains the Flask backend for MarketConnect/Expoflow. It includes both browser-facing web pages and JSON API routes, so the server can be deployed as one self-contained Flask application.

The Flask backend was rewritten from the earlier Django monolith prototype in smart_market.zip; the previous FastAPI implementation remains available in Git history before this migration branch.

It preserves the prototype's main flows:

• landlord and tenant registration/login
• landlord stall publishing
• hourly slot pricing
• tenant stall search
• multi-slot booking with one QR code
• cash/card payment state
• booking history
• two-way reviews and reputation updates

For a detailed explanation of why HTML files live in this backend repo and how the folders should be maintained, read docs/PROJECT_STRUCTURE.md.

Run Locally

Recommended Conda env name: Market_Connection.

If the env already exists:

conda activate Market_Connection
pip install -r requirements.txt
flask --app app init-db
flask --app app seed-demo
flask --app app run

If the env needs to be recreated:

conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate Market_Connection
flask --app app init-db
flask --app app seed-demo
flask --app app run

Open http://127.0.0.1:5000.

Alternative virtualenv setup:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
flask --app app init-db
flask --app app seed-demo
flask --app app run

Demo accounts after seed-demo:

• Tenant: tenant1 / tenant1_password
• Landlord: landlord1 / landlord1_password

Structure

• app.py: thin compatibility entrypoint for flask --app app ....
• models.py: compatibility re-export for older imports.
• market_connect/: application package.
• market_connect/api/v1/: JSON API routes under /api/v1.
• market_connect/web/: browser page routes for landlords and tenants.
• market_connect/services/: shared booking, payment, review, and seed logic.
• market_connect/models.py: SQLAlchemy models for users, stalls, slots, bookings, prices, and reviews.
• templates/: server-rendered frontend HTML files. They are frontend-facing, but they stay in this Flask backend repo because Flask renders them on the server with render_template(...).
• static/: future CSS, JavaScript, images, and browser assets.
• migrations/: future database migrations.
• fixtures/: future seed/demo data files.
• tests/: smoke tests for the booking/payment flow.

API Routes

• GET /api/v1/health: service health check.
• GET /api/v1/stalls: list stalls with available slots.
• GET /api/v1/stalls/<stall_id>/slots: list available slots for one stall.
• POST /api/v1/bookings: create a booking from JSON user_id and slot_ids.
• GET /api/v1/bookings/<qr_code>: fetch one QR-code booking group.
• POST /api/v1/payments: update payment state from JSON qr_code and payment_method.

Notes

• This is still a prototype, not production authentication or payment code.
• SQLite is used by default at instance/market_connect.db.
• Booking.slot_id is unique to prevent double-booking the same slot.
• Web routes and /api/v1 routes intentionally live in the same backend repo so the team has one server to run, test, review, and deploy.