TNA Python Flask Application

Quickstart

# Build and start the container
docker compose up -d

Add the static assets

During the first time install, your app/static/assets directory will be empty.

As you mount the project directory to the /app volume, the static assets from TNA Frontend installed inside the container will be "overwritten" by your empty directory.

To add back in the static assets, run:

docker compose exec app cp -r /app/node_modules/@nationalarchives/frontend/nationalarchives/assets /app/app/static

Run tests

docker compose exec app poetry run python -m pytest

Format and lint code

docker compose exec app format

Run WireMock server for local development

For local development, you can use a mock server instead of connecting to external APIs.

The server will run on http://localhost:65498 and is visible to your app on http://mock-record-copying-service-api:8080/. Set this in your .env:

RECORD_COPYING_SERVICE_API_URL=http://mock-record-copying-service-api:8080/

Environment variables

In addition to the base Docker image variables, this application has support for:

Variable	Purpose	Default
CONFIG	The configuration to use	config.Production
DEBUG	If true, allow debugging[^1]	False
SENTRY_DSN	The Sentry DSN (project code)	none
SENTRY_SAMPLE_RATE	How often to sample traces and profiles (0-1.0)	production: 0.1, staging: 1, develop: 0
COOKIE_DOMAIN	The domain to save cookie preferences against	none
CSP_IMG_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for img-src	'self'
CSP_SCRIPT_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for script-src	'self'
CSP_STYLE_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for style-src	'self'
CSP_FONT_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for font-src	'self'
CSP_CONNECT_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for connect-src	'self'
CSP_MEDIA_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for media-src	'self'
CSP_WORKER_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for worker-src	'self'
CSP_FRAME_SRC	A comma separated list of CSP rules for frame-src	'self'
CSP_REPORT_URL	The URL to report CSP violations to	none
FORCE_HTTPS	Redirect requests to HTTPS as part of the CSP	none
CACHE_TYPE	https://flask-caching.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#configuring-flask-caching	none
CACHE_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT	The number of seconds to cache pages for	production: 300, staging: 60, develop: 0, test: 0
CACHE_DIR	Directory for storing cached responses when using FileSystemCache	/tmp
CACHE_REDIS_URL	The connection string for Redis when using CACHE_TYPE=RedisCache	none
GA4_ID	The Google Analytics 4 ID	none
GOV_UK_PAY_API_KEY	GOV.UK Pay API key	none (required for payments)
GOV_UK_PAY_API_URL	GOV.UK Pay create payment endpoint URL	none (required for payments)
SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI	SQLAlchemy database connection string	none (required)
SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS	SQLAlchemy event system toggle	False
SESSION_REDIS_URL	Redis URL connection string for sessions	none
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION	AWS region for clients (SES/S3)	eu-west-2
PROOF_OF_DEATH_BUCKET_NAME	S3 bucket location for uploaded proof-of-death files	none (required for file uploads)
MAX_UPLOAD_ATTEMPTS	Number of retry attempts for S3 uploads	3
EMAIL_FROM	The address which SES will send emails from	none
DYNAMICS_INBOX	The address which SES will send Dynamics emails to	none
RECORD_COPYING_SERVICE_API_URL	The URL of the Record Copying Service API
MOD_COPYING_API_URL	The URL of the MOD Record Copying Service API, which receives notification of the second payment

[^1] Debugging in Flask