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CLI Commands

Quart-Assets provides several command-line tools to help you manage your assets. These commands integrate with Quart's CLI system.

Basic Usage

All Quart-Assets CLI commands are accessed through the quart assets command:

python -m quart assets --help

Available Commands

build

Build all registered asset bundles:

python -m quart assets build

This command: - Processes all registered bundles - Applies configured filters (minification, compilation, etc.) - Outputs the final bundled files - Reports any errors or warnings

Example output: 

Building bundle: css_all
Building bundle: js_all
Built 2 bundles successfully

clean

Remove all generated asset files:

python -m quart assets clean

This command: - Removes all output files created by bundles - Cleans the cache directory - Reports which files were deleted

Example output: 

Cleaning generated assets...
Deleted asset: dist/all.min.css
Deleted asset: dist/all.min.js
Cleaned 2 assets

watch

Watch source files for changes and automatically rebuild:

python -m quart assets watch

This command: - Monitors all source files for changes - Automatically rebuilds affected bundles when files change - Runs continuously until stopped (Ctrl+C) - Useful during development

Example output: 

Watching assets for changes...
Change detected in css/main.css, rebuilding css_all...
Built css_all successfully

Environment Setup

The CLI commands need access to your Quart application. Set the QUART_APP environment variable:

export QUART_APP=myapp.py
python -m quart assets build

Or use it inline:

QUART_APP=myapp.py python -m quart assets build

Application Factory Pattern

If you're using an application factory, you can specify the factory function:

export QUART_APP="myapp:create_app"
python -m quart assets build

Configuration

The CLI commands respect your application's configuration. You can set different configurations for different environments:

# config.py
class DevelopmentConfig:
    ASSETS_DEBUG = True
    ASSETS_AUTO_BUILD = True

class ProductionConfig:
    ASSETS_DEBUG = False
    ASSETS_AUTO_BUILD = True

export QUART_ENV=development
export QUART_APP=myapp.py
python -m quart assets build

Integration with Development Workflow

Development Workflow

During development, use the watch command to automatically rebuild assets:

# Terminal 1: Run your Quart app
python -m quart run --debug

# Terminal 2: Watch for asset changes
python -m quart assets watch

Production Deployment

For production deployments, build assets as part of your deployment process:

# Build assets for production
QUART_ENV=production python -m quart assets build

# Then start your production server
gunicorn -k quart.worker.QuartWorker myapp:app

CI/CD Pipeline

Example GitHub Actions workflow:

name: Build and Test
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
      with:
        python-version: 3.11

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        pip install -e .
        pip install pytest

    - name: Build assets
      run: python -m quart assets build
      env:
        QUART_APP: myapp.py

    - name: Run tests
      run: pytest

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

If you get "No such command 'assets'", ensure: - Quart-Assets is installed: pip install quart-assets - Your app imports and initializes QuartAssets - The QUART_APP environment variable is set correctly

Assets Not Building

If assets aren't building: - Check that source files exist in the correct paths - Verify bundle registration in your app - Look for error messages in the command output - Ensure required filters are installed (e.g., jsmin, cssmin)

Permission Errors

If you get permission errors: - Check write permissions on the output directory - Ensure the static folder is writable - Consider using a different output directory

Import Errors

If you get import errors: - Ensure all dependencies are installed - Check that your app can be imported normally - Verify the Python path includes your project directory

Examples

Basic Project

# Project structure
myproject/
├── app.py
├── static/
│   ├── css/
│   └── js/
└── templates/

# Build assets
QUART_APP=app.py python -m quart assets build

Blueprint Project

# Project with blueprints
myproject/
├── app.py
├── main/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── static/
├── admin/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── static/
└── templates/

# Build all assets (including blueprint assets)
QUART_APP=app.py python -m quart assets build

Using Make

Create a Makefile for common tasks:

# Makefile
.PHONY: assets clean watch

assets:
    python -m quart assets build

clean:
    python -m quart assets clean

watch:
    python -m quart assets watch

dev: assets
    python -m quart run --debug

Then use: 

make assets  # Build assets
make clean   # Clean assets
make watch   # Watch for changes
make dev     # Build and run development server

Next Steps