Quick Recipe

A recipe recommendation web application that lets users search, save, and share recipes using the Tasty (RapidAPI) food API.

Live: https://quick-recipe.doumbiasoft.com

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Tech Stack
• Project Structure
• Database Schema
• Getting Started
• Environment Variables
• Running the App
• Managing Dependencies
• API Reference
• Authentication
• Email Notifications

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Features

• Recipe Search — Search recipes by name or filter by tags (vegetarian, desserts, gluten-free, etc.)
• Recipe Details — View full recipe details including ingredients, instructions, video and credits
• Favorites (Pinning) — Authenticated users can pin/unpin recipes to their favorites list
• Recipe Recommendations — Get similar recipe suggestions based on saved favorites
• User Accounts — Register with email/password or sign in with Google OAuth2
• Account Activation — Email-based account activation with a time-limited token link
• Password Reset — Email-based password reset flow with a time-limited token link
• Social Sharing — Share recipes on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Print — Print-friendly recipe view
• Admin Dashboard — Admin users can view all registered subscribers
• API Caching — API responses cached locally for 12 weeks to reduce rate-limit consumption

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Language	Python 3.13
Framework	Flask 3.x
Database	PostgreSQL
ORM	SQLAlchemy 2.x
Auth	Flask-Bcrypt, Google OAuth2 (google-auth-oauthlib)
Forms	Flask-WTF, WTForms
Sessions	Flask-Session (filesystem)
Tokens	itsdangerous (URLSafeTimedSerializer)
Email	smtplib + SendGrid SMTP
API Caching	requests-cache
Templates	Jinja2
WSGI Server	Gunicorn
Package Manager	uv

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Project Structure

capstone-one-quick-recipe/
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py              # App factory
│   ├── extensions.py            # Extensions, constants, and utilities
│   ├── mailing.py               # Email sending logic
│   ├── auth/                    # Auth blueprint
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── routes.py            # Login, register, OAuth, password reset
│   ├── main/                    # Main blueprint
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── routes.py            # Home, favorites, user profile
│   ├── search/                  # Search blueprint
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── routes.py            # Recipe search and details
│   ├── models/
│   │   ├── users.py             # User model
│   │   ├── recipe_favorites.py  # Saved recipes model
│   │   └── recipe_review.py     # Recipe reviews model
│   ├── forms/
│   │   ├── auth/
│   │   │   ├── login.py
│   │   │   └── register.py
│   │   └── search/
│   │       └── recipes.py
│   ├── templates/               # Jinja2 templates
│   ├── static/                  # CSS, JS, images, mail templates
│   └── cache/                   # Local API response cache
├── helpers.py                   # Caching session and utility functions
├── config.py                    # App configuration
├── wsgi.py                      # WSGI entry point with ProxyFix
├── pyproject.toml               # Project dependencies (uv)
├── Procfile                     # Production server command
└── .env                         # Environment variables (not committed)

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Database Schema

Models

User

Column	Type	Description
id	Integer PK	Auto-increment
first_name	String(255)	Required
last_name	String(255)	Required
email	String(50)	Unique, required
password	Text	Bcrypt hash
is_active	Boolean	False until email activation
is_admin	Boolean	Admin flag
is_oauth	Boolean	Google OAuth user flag
oauth_provider	Text	e.g. "Google"
oauth_uid	Text	OAuth unique identifier
oauth_profile_url	Text	Profile picture URL
created_at	DateTime	Auto
updated_at	DateTime	Auto

RecipeFavorite

Column	Type	Description
id	Integer PK	Auto-increment
user_id	FK → users.id	Required
recipe_id	Integer	Tasty API recipe ID
name	Text	Recipe name
tag	Text	Recipe tag
thumbnail_url	Text	Thumbnail image URL
description	Text	Recipe description
data	JSONB	Full recipe data
created_at	DateTime	Auto

RecipeReview

Column	Type	Description
id	Integer PK	Auto-increment
user_id	FK → users.id	Required
recipe_id	Integer	Tasty API recipe ID
comment	String(255)	Review text
rating	Float	Numeric rating
created_at	DateTime	Auto

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13
• uv — install with curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
• PostgreSQL

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repo-url>
   cd capstone-one-quick-recipe

2. Install dependencies:

   uv sync

3. Create the database:

   createdb quick_recipe_db

4. Set up your .env file (see Environment Variables).

5. Initialize the database tables:

   uv run flask shell
   >>> from app.extensions import db
   >>> db.create_all()
   >>> exit()

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Environment Variables

Create a .env file at the project root:

# App
SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key
URL_SAFE_KEY=your_url_safe_key

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql:///quick_recipe_db

# Food API (Tasty via RapidAPI)
API_KEY=your_rapidapi_key
API_CACHE_WEEKS_TIMEOUT=12

# Email (SendGrid)
MAIL_SMTP=smtp.sendgrid.net
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=apikey
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_sendgrid_api_key
MAIL_SENDER=noreply@yourdomain.com
MAIL_SENDER_NAME=Quick Recipe

# Google OAuth2
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secret
GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID=your_google_project_id
GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI_BASE=http://127.0.0.1:5000

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Running the App

Development:

uv run flask run

Production:

uv run gunicorn wsgi:app --bind 0.0.0.0:8000

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Managing Dependencies

Task	Command
Install all dependencies	uv sync
Add a package	uv add <package>
Remove a package	uv remove <package>
Upgrade all packages	uv sync --upgrade

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API Reference

Provider: Tasty (RapidAPI)

Base URL: https://tasty.p.rapidapi.com

Endpoint	Usage
GET /recipes/list	Search and list recipes by name, tag, or random
GET /tags/list	Fetch all available tags for filtering
GET /recipes/list-similarities	Fetch similar recipes by recipe ID

API responses are cached locally for 12 weeks to minimize rate-limit usage. The cache is stored at app/cache/local_cache.

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Authentication

Email / Password

1. Register — Submit the registration form. A confirmation email with an activation link (valid 10 minutes) is sent.
2. Activate — Click the link in the email to activate the account.
3. Login — Submit email and password. Bcrypt is used to verify the password hash.
4. Password Reset — Request a reset email with a time-limited link (valid 2 minutes) to set a new password.

Google OAuth2

1. Click Sign in with Google.
2. Authorize the app in Google's consent screen.
3. On callback, the app verifies the ID token and either logs in the existing user or creates a new account.
4. Google accounts cannot use the password reset flow.

Note: An email already registered with a standard account cannot be used with Google OAuth, and vice versa.

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Email Notifications

Emails are sent via SendGrid SMTP using Python's smtplib. The following emails are sent automatically:

Trigger	Email
New registration	Account activation link
Account activated	Welcome email
Google OAuth signup	Welcome email
Password reset request	Password reset link

Both SSL (port 465) and STARTTLS (port 587) are supported, configured via MAIL_PORT.

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Routes Summary

Auth (/auth)

Route	Method	Description
/auth/authentication	GET, POST	Login / Register page
/auth/google-login	GET	Start Google OAuth flow
/auth/google/callback	GET	Google OAuth callback
/auth/logout	POST	Logout
/auth/email-reset-password	GET, POST	Request password reset
/auth/reset-user-password/<token>	GET, POST	Set new password
/auth/account-activation/<token>	GET	Activate account
/auth/activation-notification	GET	Activation pending page
/auth/send-email-reset-notification	GET	Reset email sent page
/auth/link-expired	GET	Token expired page

Main (/)

Route	Method	Description
/	GET	Homepage with recipe categories
/recipes/favorites	GET	Saved recipes and suggestions
/recipes/pin	POST	Pin / unpin a recipe
/user/profile	GET	User profile
/user/edit-info	POST	Update name
/user/check-current-pass	POST	Verify current password
/user/save-password	POST	Update password
/user/delete-account	POST	Delete account
/subscribers	GET	Admin: list all users

Search (/search)

Route	Method	Description
/search/recipes	GET, POST	Search and filter recipes
/search/recipes-item	POST	Store recipe in session
/search/recipes/details	GET	Recipe detail page