> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firecrawl.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Flask

> Use Firecrawl with Flask to build web scraping and search APIs in Python.

## Prerequisites

* Python 3.8+
* A Firecrawl API key — [get one free](https://www.firecrawl.dev/app/api-keys)

## Setup

```bash theme={null}
pip install flask firecrawl-py
```

Add your API key to `.env`:

```bash theme={null}
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-YOUR-API-KEY
```

## Create the app

Create `app.py`:

```python theme={null}
import os
from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
from firecrawl import Firecrawl

app = Flask(__name__)
firecrawl = Firecrawl(api_key=os.environ["FIRECRAWL_API_KEY"])


@app.post("/search")
def search():
    data = request.get_json()
    results = firecrawl.search(data["query"], limit=data.get("limit", 5))
    return jsonify([{"title": r.title, "url": r.url} for r in results.web])


@app.post("/scrape")
def scrape():
    data = request.get_json()
    result = firecrawl.scrape(data["url"])
    return jsonify(markdown=result.markdown, metadata=result.metadata)


@app.post("/interact/start")
def interact_start():
    data = request.get_json()
    result = firecrawl.scrape(data["url"], formats=["markdown"])
    return jsonify(scrape_id=result.metadata.scrape_id)


@app.post("/interact")
def interact():
    data = request.get_json()
    response = firecrawl.interact(data["scrape_id"], prompt=data["prompt"])
    return jsonify(output=response.output)


@app.post("/interact/stop")
def interact_stop():
    data = request.get_json()
    firecrawl.stop_interaction(data["scrape_id"])
    return jsonify(status="stopped")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)
```

## Run it

```bash theme={null}
flask run
```

## Test it

```bash theme={null}
# Search the web
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "firecrawl web scraping", "limit": 5}'

# Scrape a page
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/scrape \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

# Start an interactive session
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/interact/start \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://www.amazon.com"}'
```

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Scrape docs" icon="file-lines" href="/features/scrape">
    All scrape options including formats, actions, and proxies
  </Card>

  <Card title="Search docs" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/features/search">
    Search the web and get full page content
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interact docs" icon="hand-pointer" href="/features/interact">
    Click, fill forms, and extract dynamic content
  </Card>

  <Card title="Python SDK reference" icon="python" href="/sdks/python">
    Full SDK reference with crawl, map, async, and more
  </Card>
</CardGroup>