Python + Flask + neo4j on Heroku Example

I put this project together as an entry for the Heroku neo4j challenge and it should be fairly easy to get a feel for how to integrate neo4j into an app of your own or use as a base for a new app. Check out the demo app to see it in action.

The app is a simple data explorer with bookmarking ability to show off some of the features of neo4j. A subset of data from a Stack Exchange CC data dump, specifically Programers Stack Exchange, is used to populate a sample database. The bookmarking feature allows for weights to be added for later use in recomendations.

For more details about the the app check out the wiki page.

I'm using the following stack on the server side:

Python
Flask web microframework
neo4j graph database
py2neo neo4j python library

I'm using the following stack on the client side:

handlebars.js for templates
jquery
jquery address for history support
underscore.js
Twitter bootstrap

If you find this code helpful take a minute and rate it on Gensen. If you want to use this code as a base for another project take a look at the comments labeled "neo4j note" for hints on what might be most useful.

Deploying Localy

There are a few requirements for the app to run:

neo4j needs to be installed and running. Following the neo4j server guide should make that happen.
virtualenv needs to be installed.

After verifing that requirements are ready the following should get things running:

git clone [email protected]:carsonmcdonald/Python-Flask-neo4j-Heroku-Example.git
cd Python-Flask-neo4j-Heroku-Example
virtualenv venv --distribute
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
# The following command will take a while to run but will produce output as it does
python load.py
# Once the load is complete the app is ready to run
python app.py

You can also use Foreman to run locally.

Heroku Deployment

git clone [email protected]:carsonmcdonald/Python-Flask-neo4j-Heroku-Example.git
cd Python-Flask-neo4j-Heroku-Example
virtualenv venv --distribute
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
heroku create --stack cedar
heroku addons:add neo4j
heroku scale web=0
git push heroku master
# This next step will take a while, maybe 30 minutes monitor it with the "heroku logs" command
heroku run:detached python load.py 
# Once the load has completed
heroku scale web=1

See the Heroku Python howto for more information.