Low Code Web Framework For Real World Applications, In Python And JavaScript
Frappe Framework
Full-stack web application framework that uses Python and MariaDB on the server side and a tightly integrated client side library. Built for ERPNext.
Philosophy
The best code is the one that is not written
Started in 2005, Frappe Framework was inspired by the Semantic Web. The "big idea" behind semantic web was of a framework that not only described how information is shown (like headings, body etc), but also what it means, like name, address etc.
By creating a web framework that allowed for easy definition of metadata, it made building complex applications easy. Applications are usually designed around how users interact with a system, but not based on semantics of the underlying system. Applications built on semantics end up being much more consistent and extensible.
The first application built on Framework was ERPNext, a beast with more than 700 object types. Framework is not for the light hearted - it is not the first thing you might want to learn if you are beginning to learn web programming, but if you are ready to do real work, then Framework is the right tool for the job.
Key Features
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Full-Stack Framework: Frappe covers both front-end and back-end development, allowing developers to build complete applications using a single framework.
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Built-in Admin Interface: Provides a pre-built, customizable admin dashboard for managing application data, reducing development time and effort.
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Role-Based Permissions: Comprehensive user and role management system to control access and permissions within the application.
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REST API: Automatically generated RESTful API for all models, enabling easy integration with other systems and services.
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MCP Server: Gives agents tools to discover schemas, read and change documents, and call existing methods as a site user.
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Customizable Forms and Views: Flexible form and view customization using server-side scripting and client-side JavaScript.
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Report Builder: Powerful reporting tool that allows users to create custom reports without writing any code.
Production Setup
Managed Hosting
You can try Frappe Cloud, a simple, user-friendly and sophisticated open-source platform to host Frappe applications with peace of mind.
It takes care of installation, setup, upgrades, monitoring, maintenance and support of your Frappe deployments. It is a fully featured developer platform with an ability to manage and control multiple Frappe deployments.
Self Hosting
Docker
Prerequisites: docker, docker-compose, git. Refer Docker Documentation for more details on Docker setup.
Run the following commands:
git clone https://github.com/frappe/frappe_docker
cd frappe_docker
docker compose -f pwd.yml up -d
After a couple of minutes, site should be accessible on your localhost port: 8080. Use below default login credentials to access the site.
- Username: Administrator
- Password: admin
See Frappe Docker for ARM based docker setup.
Development Setup
Manual Install
The Easy Way: our install script for bench will install all dependencies (e.g. MariaDB). See https://github.com/frappe/bench for more details.
New passwords will be created for the Frappe "Administrator" user, the MariaDB root user, and the frappe user (the script displays the passwords and saves them to ~/frappe_passwords.txt).
Local
To setup the repository locally follow the steps mentioned below:
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Setup bench by following the Installation Steps and start the server
bench start
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In a separate terminal window, run the following commands:
# Create a new site
bench new-site frappe.localhost
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Open the URL http://frappe.localhost:8000/app in your browser, you should see the app running
Learning and community
- Frappe School - Learn Frappe Framework and ERPNext from the various courses by the maintainers or from the community.
- Official documentation - Extensive documentation for Frappe Framework.
- Discussion Forum - Engage with community of Frappe Framework users and service providers.
- buildwithhussain.com - Watch Frappe Framework being used in the wild to build world-class web apps.
Contributing
- Issue Guidelines
- Report Security Vulnerabilities
- Pull Request Requirements
- Translations
