"flask run" doesn't work but "python app.py" does?

Question

This problem has been driving me crazy and I hope that it's okay I'm asking this. It's probably a really dumb question but I've tried looking for a solution for hours and I'm still stuck. I've been following this tutorial https://blog.miguelgrinberg.com/post/how-to-create-a-react--flask-project.

This is the error I'm getting:

Basically, when I try to do the command flask run it gives me the error that The system cannot find the file specified. However, when I do python flaskFile.py it does run the application. I have a .flaskenv file that defines FLASK_APP=flaskFile.py and FLASK_ENV=development.

This is what my files look like. The application is in a folder called backend which is inside of a file called DECENT:

In venv there is a Scripts folder where I put the .flaskenv file:

I've tried putting the .flaskenv file in other locations but nothing is working. Thanks in advance, I am super desperate here and I am eternally grateful for any response

Answer 1

As per screenshot it looks like it is not taking the virtualenv python. It is taking the local python where flask is not installed. Try to switch to venv python then try