Flask, Keep getting 404 serving static files using send_static_file

Question

I followed the instructions from How to serve static files in Flask, but still couldn’t get it working.

Here’s my project structure:

Project_path  
 |
 +--app
 |  |
 |  +--main.py
 +--static
    |
    +--js
       |
       +--jquery-1.11.2.min.js

Here’s main.py:

@app.route('/js/<path:path>')
def serve_static(path):
    root_dir = os.path.dirname(os.getcwd())
    print(os.path.join(root_dir, 'static', 'js', path))
    return app.send_static_file(os.path.join(root_dir, 'static', 'js', path))

Here’s index.html:

  ...
  <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/jquery-1.11.2.min.js"></script>
  ...

And when I visit /, I could see the correct path of javascript file printed on the screen
which is Project_path/static/js/jquery-1.11.2.min.js.

But still, I got

127.0.0.1 - - [22/Dec/2014 11:26:30] "GET /js/jquery-1.11.2.min.js HTTP/1.1" 404 -

Any help is appreciated.

EDIT
After stepping through the send_static_file method, I find out what’s going on. Basically, I shouldn’t use abspath as argument, flask has a judgement in send_static_file:

if os.path.isabs(filename) or 
   filename == '..' or 
   filename.startswith('../'):
    raise NotFound()

And since the filename I passed into is a abspath, flask raise NotFound().
It seems that what it supposed to be passed in is a relative path to self.static_folder(self is <Flask 'main'>), which, in my project, is Project_name/app/static. However, I didn’t set static_folder myself which means flask thinks the static folder should be there.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do.

Asked By: laike9m

||

Source

Answer 1

You forgot to add 'static' in the last os.path.join in the return clause.

Answered By: Antoine Catton

Answer 2

Finally got it working. use flask.send_from_directory

from flask import send_from_directory

@app.route('/js/<path:filename>')
def serve_static(filename):
    root_dir = os.path.dirname(os.getcwd())
    return send_from_directory(os.path.join(root_dir, 'static', 'js'), filename)

It is now clear to me that flask really hate people putting app.py or in my case main.py into a subdirectory. Use send_static_file only if your static folder is what flask thinks to be, i.e. a folder with name static in the same directory with app.py.

Answered By: laike9m

Answer 3

All you need to do is, pass the static_folder parameter to the initiator:

static_url_path – can be used to specify a different path for the
static files on the web. Defaults to the name of the static_folder
folder.

static_folder – the folder with static files that should be served at
static_url_path. Defaults to the ‘static’ folder in the root path of
the application.

app = Flask(__name__, static_folder=os.path.abspath('/foo/bar/zoo/'))

Now, flask will look for a directory named static in /foo/bar/zoo from where to serve static files. You only use send_from_directory if you are serving media files which may not be in the same location as static files.

Answered By: Burhan Khalid

Answer 4

for me this one worked :

@app.route('/static/<path:filename>')
def serve_static(filename):
    root_dir = os.path.dirname(os.getcwd())
    return send_from_directory(os.path.join(root_dir, 'static', 'js'),   filename)

beside adding this script into init

app._static_folder = os.path.abspath("static/")
app = Flask(__name__)

into __init__.py

Answered By: alone

Answer 5

One possible cause of 404 error for pages you just added (even if programmed correctly), is if you have previous versions of the script (.py file) still running: make sure to close out and end (terminate) the process.

Answered By: bob

Flask, Keep getting 404 serving static files using send_static_file

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