Scaffolding

One command. Six files. A working CRUD feature with routes, templates, tests, and Swagger docs -- ready to run.

That is Tina4's scaffolding system. It generates the boilerplate you write by hand in every project: models, migrations, routes, forms, views, and tests. You describe what you want. The generators produce it.

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The CRUD Generator

This is the generator most developers reach for first. It creates everything a feature needs in one shot.

tina4python generate crud Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

That single command creates six files:

#	File	Purpose
1	src/orm/Product.py	ORM model with typed fields
2	migrations/20260401_create_product.sql	UP migration (CREATE TABLE)
3	migrations/20260401_create_product.down.sql	DOWN migration (DROP TABLE)
4	src/routes/products.py	CRUD routes with Swagger annotations
5	src/templates/products/form.html	Form template with typed inputs and form_token
6	src/templates/products/view.html	List and detail templates
7	tests/test_products.py	pytest stubs for all CRUD operations

What Each File Contains

The model maps the product table to a Python class:

from tina4 import ORM

class Product(ORM):
    table_name = "product"
    fields = {
        "id": "integer",
        "name": "string",
        "price": "float",
        "created_at": "datetime",
        "updated_at": "datetime"
    }

The migration creates the table:

-- migrations/20260401_create_product.sql
CREATE TABLE product (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    name VARCHAR(255),
    price FLOAT,
    created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

The down migration reverses it:

-- migrations/20260401_create_product.down.sql
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS product;

The routes file wires up five endpoints with Swagger docs:

from tina4 import get, post, put, delete
from src.orm.Product import Product

@get("/api/products", description="List all products")
async def get_products(request, response):
    products = Product().select()
    return response(products)

@get("/api/products/{id}", description="Get a product by ID")
async def get_product(request, response):
    product = Product()
    product.id = request.params["id"]
    product.load()
    return response(product)

@post("/api/products", description="Create a product")
async def create_product(request, response):
    product = Product(request.body)
    product.save()
    return response(product, 201)

@put("/api/products/{id}", description="Update a product")
async def update_product(request, response):
    product = Product(request.body)
    product.id = request.params["id"]
    product.save()
    return response(product)

@delete("/api/products/{id}", description="Delete a product")
async def delete_product(request, response):
    product = Product()
    product.id = request.params["id"]
    product.delete()
    return response(None, 204)

The form template renders typed inputs with CSRF protection:

<form method="POST" action="/api/products">
    <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value="{{ form_token }}">
    <label>Name</label>
    <input type="text" name="name" required>
    <label>Price</label>
    <input type="number" step="0.01" name="price" required>
    <button type="submit">Save</button>
</form>

The test file stubs out CRUD assertions:

import pytest
from tina4 import App

@pytest.fixture
def client():
    app = App()
    return app.test_client()

def test_create_product(client):
    response = client.post("/api/products", json={"name": "Widget", "price": 9.99})
    assert response.status_code == 201

def test_list_products(client):
    response = client.get("/api/products")
    assert response.status_code == 200

def test_get_product(client):
    response = client.get("/api/products/1")
    assert response.status_code == 200

def test_update_product(client):
    response = client.put("/api/products/1", json={"name": "Updated Widget"})
    assert response.status_code == 200

def test_delete_product(client):
    response = client.delete("/api/products/1")
    assert response.status_code == 204

Run It

After generating, run the migration and start the server:

tina4python migrate
tina4python serve

Open Swagger UI at http://localhost:7145/swagger and test every endpoint. The scaffolded code works out of the box.

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Individual Generators

The CRUD generator calls several smaller generators under the hood. You can call each one directly when you need a single piece.

Model

tina4python generate model Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates three files: the ORM model (src/orm/Product.py), the UP migration, and the DOWN migration. No routes, no templates, no tests.

Route

tina4python generate route products --model Product

Creates one file: src/routes/products.py with CRUD endpoints and Swagger annotations. The model must exist first.

Migration

tina4python generate migration add_category_to_product

Creates two files: migrations/20260401_add_category_to_product.sql and migrations/20260401_add_category_to_product.down.sql. Both are empty stubs. You write the SQL.

Middleware

tina4python generate middleware AuthLog

Creates one file with before and after stubs:

from tina4 import middleware

@middleware(before=True)
async def auth_log_before(request):
    print(f"Request: {request.method} {request.url}")
    return request

@middleware(after=True)
async def auth_log_after(request, response):
    print(f"Response: {response.status_code}")
    return response

Test

tina4python generate test products --model Product

Creates one file: tests/test_products.py with pytest CRUD stubs.

Form

tina4python generate form Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates one file: src/templates/products/form.html with typed inputs and form_token.

View

tina4python generate view Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates two templates: a list view and a detail view in src/templates/products/.

CRUD

tina4python generate crud Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Shorthand for running all generators at once: model, migration, route, form, view, and test.

Auth

tina4python generate auth

Generates the full authentication scaffold: User model, migrations, login/register/logout routes, templates, and tests.

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AutoCRUD

AutoCRUD automatically generates REST API endpoints from your ORM models:

• GET /api/{table} — List with pagination (?limit=10&offset=0)
• GET /api/{table}/{id} — Get single record
• POST /api/{table} — Create record
• PUT /api/{table}/{id} — Update record
• DELETE /api/{table}/{id} — Delete record

Usage

from tina4_python.crud import AutoCrud
AutoCrud.register(User)
AutoCrud.discover("src/orm", prefix="/api")

AutoCrud.register(Model) wires up a single model. AutoCrud.discover(path) scans a directory and registers every ORM model it finds. Both approaches mount the five standard endpoints automatically — no route files needed.

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The Auth Generator

Authentication needs more than one file. The auth generator creates seven:

tina4python generate auth

#	File	Purpose
1	src/orm/User.py	User model with hashed password field
2	migrations/20260401_create_user.sql	UP migration
3	migrations/20260401_create_user.down.sql	DOWN migration
4	src/routes/auth.py	Login, register, logout routes
5	src/templates/auth/login.html	Login form
6	src/templates/auth/register.html	Registration form
7	tests/test_auth.py	Auth flow tests

The generated routes handle password hashing, JWT token creation, and session management. The templates include CSRF tokens. The tests cover registration, login, invalid credentials, and logout.

Run the migration, start the server, and you have working auth:

tina4python migrate
tina4python serve

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Field Types

Generators accept these field types. Each type maps to a specific column type in migrations, input type in forms, and display format in views.

Field Type	Migration Column	Form Input	View Display
string	VARCHAR(255)	<input type="text">	Plain text
int	INTEGER	<input type="number">	Number
float	FLOAT	<input type="number" step="0.01">	Decimal
bool	BOOLEAN	<input type="checkbox">	Yes / No
text	TEXT	<textarea>	Paragraph
datetime	DATETIME	<input type="datetime-local">	Formatted date
blob	BLOB	<input type="file">	Download link

Table Naming Convention

Tina4 uses singular table names. The model name Product maps to the table product. The model name OrderItem maps to order_item. The generator handles the conversion.

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Combining Generators

Sometimes you want a model with routes but no form. Or a model with a migration but no test. The --with flags let you compose:

tina4python generate model Product --fields "name:string,price:float" --with-route --with-migration

Available flags:

Flag	Adds
--with-route	CRUD route file
--with-migration	Migration files (included by default with model)
--with-test	Test file
--with-form	Form template
--with-view	View templates

The generate crud command is equivalent to using all --with flags at once.

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Exercise: Scaffold a Blog

Build a blog with three resources using generators.

Step 1: Generate the auth system.

tina4python generate auth

Step 2: Scaffold the Post resource.

tina4python generate crud Post --fields "title:string,body:text,published:bool"

Step 3: Scaffold the Category resource.

tina4python generate crud Category --fields "name:string,description:text"

Step 4: Add a migration to link posts to categories.

tina4python generate migration add_category_id_to_post

Edit the migration to add the foreign key:

ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN category_id INTEGER REFERENCES category(id);

Step 5: Run all migrations and start the server.

tina4python migrate
tina4python serve

You now have a working blog with authentication, posts, categories, and Swagger documentation. Total commands: five. Total hand-written SQL: one line.

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Gotchas

Generators Do Not Overwrite

If a file exists, the generator skips it and prints a warning. This protects your edits. To regenerate, delete the file first.

Run Migrate After Generate

The model generator creates migration files. Those files do nothing until you run tina4python migrate. Generate and migrate are separate steps by design.

File Naming Matters

The generator derives file names from the model name. Product becomes Product.py for the model and products.py for routes. Do not rename generated files unless you update all imports.

Field Changes Need New Migrations

Changing --fields and re-running the generator does not update existing migrations. Create a new migration with generate migration and write the ALTER TABLE by hand.

Singular Table Names

Tina4 uses singular table names: product, not products. The route paths use plural (/api/products), but the table stays singular. The generator handles this split.