How to stop flask application without using ctrl-c

Flask is a popular web framework for building web applications in Python. When running a Flask application, you can use Ctrl-C to stop the application. However, there may be situations where you want to stop the application without using Ctrl-C. Here are a few ways to achieve this:

Send a POST request

One way to stop a running Flask application is by sending a POST request to a specific endpoint that triggers the shutdown process. You can create a route in your Flask application that listens for a POST request and executes the shutdown function from the werkzeug library to stop the application. Here’s an example:

from flask import Flask
from werkzeug.serving import shutdown

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/shutdown', methods=['POST'])
def shutdown_server():
    shutdown()
    return 'Server shutting down...'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()
    

Use a command-line tool

Another option is to use a command-line tool like curl to send a POST request to the shutdown endpoint. Open a terminal and run the following command:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/shutdown
    

This will send a POST request to the /shutdown endpoint of the Flask application, triggering the shutdown process.

Implement a custom shutdown mechanism

If you need more control over the shutdown process, you can implement a custom mechanism in your Flask application. This could involve setting a flag that indicates the application should stop, and then periodically checking this flag within the application code. If the flag is set, the application can gracefully shut down by closing connections and stopping any running processes. Here’s an example of how you might implement this:

import time
from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)
should_stop = False

# ... other application code ...

def stop_server():
    global should_stop
    should_stop = True
    # Perform any cleanup actions here

def monitor_shutdown_flag():
    global should_stop
    while not should_stop:
        time.sleep(1)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    monitor_thread = Thread(target=monitor_shutdown_flag)
    monitor_thread.start()
    app.run()
    

By implementing a custom shutdown mechanism, you have more control over how the application stops, and can ensure that any cleanup tasks are performed before the application exits.

These are just a few ways to stop a Flask application without using Ctrl-C. Depending on your specific requirements and use case, you may need to choose the method that best fits your needs.