Frappe Custom App Syntax

Deterministic syntax reference for building Frappe custom apps — scaffolding, configuration, modules, patches, and fixtures.

Decision Tree

What do you need?
├─ Brand new app from scratch → bench new-app
├─ Extend existing ERPNext behavior → bench new-app + required_apps = ["frappe", "erpnext"]
├─ Install existing app from Git → bench get-app <url>
└─ Add functionality to an installed app
   ├─ New data model → Add module to modules.txt + create DocType
   ├─ New fields on existing DocType → Fixtures (Custom Field)
   ├─ Modify field properties → Fixtures (Property Setter)
   └─ Data migration → Patch in patches.txt

New app vs extend existing?
├─ Independent functionality → New app
├─ Tightly coupled to one app → New app with required_apps dependency
└─ Small customization (fields, properties) → Extend via fixtures in existing custom app

Creating an App

# Create new app (interactive prompts for title, description, publisher, etc.)
bench new-app my_custom_app

# Install on site
bench --site mysite install-app my_custom_app

# Get existing app from Git
bench get-app https://github.com/org/my_custom_app

# Build frontend assets
bench build --app my_custom_app

# Run migrations (patches + fixtures + schema sync)
bench --site mysite migrate

App Directory Structure

[v15+] pyproject.toml (Primary)

apps/my_custom_app/
├── pyproject.toml                     # Build configuration (flit)
├── README.md
├── my_custom_app/                     # Inner Python package
│   ├── __init__.py                    # MUST contain __version__
│   ├── hooks.py                       # Frappe integration hooks
│   ├── modules.txt                    # Module registration
│   ├── patches.txt                    # Migration scripts
│   ├── patches/                       # Patch files
│   │   └── __init__.py
│   ├── my_custom_app/                 # Default module (same name as app)
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── doctype/
│   ├── public/                        # Static assets → /assets/my_custom_app/
│   │   ├── css/
│   │   └── js/
│   ├── templates/                     # Jinja templates
│   │   └── includes/
│   └── www/                           # Portal pages (URL = directory path)
└── .git/

[v14] setup.py (Legacy)

apps/my_custom_app/
├── setup.py                           # Build configuration (setuptools)
├── MANIFEST.in
├── requirements.txt                   # Python dependencies
├── dev-requirements.txt               # Dev dependencies (developer_mode only)
├── package.json                       # Node dependencies
├── my_custom_app/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── hooks.py
│   ├── modules.txt
│   ├── patches.txt
│   └── [same inner structure as v15]
└── .git/

Critical Files

__init__.py (REQUIRED)

# my_custom_app/__init__.py
__version__ = "0.0.1"

CRITICAL: Without __version__, the flit build FAILS and the app CANNOT be installed.

pyproject.toml [v15+]

[build-system]
requires = ["flit_core >=3.4,<4"]
build-backend = "flit_core.buildapi"

[project]
name = "my_custom_app"
authors = [
    { name = "Your Company", email = "[email protected]" }
]
description = "Description of your app"
requires-python = ">=3.10"
readme = "README.md"
dynamic = ["version"]
dependencies = []            # Python packages ONLY — NEVER Frappe/ERPNext

[tool.bench.frappe-dependencies]
frappe = ">=15.0.0,<16.0.0"
erpnext = ">=15.0.0,<16.0.0"  # Only if app extends ERPNext

CRITICAL rules for pyproject.toml:

• name MUST match the inner directory name exactly
• dynamic = ["version"] is REQUIRED — flit reads __version__ from __init__.py
• NEVER put frappe or erpnext in [project] dependencies (they are not on PyPI)
• ALWAYS put Frappe app dependencies in [tool.bench.frappe-dependencies]

setup.py [v14] (Legacy)

from setuptools import setup, find_packages

setup(
    name="my_custom_app",
    version="0.0.1",
    description="Description of your app",
    author="Your Company",
    author_email="[email protected]",
    packages=find_packages(),
    zip_safe=False,
    include_package_data=True,
    install_requires=[],
)

hooks.py (Minimal Skeleton)

app_name = "my_custom_app"
app_title = "My Custom App"
app_publisher = "Your Company"
app_description = "Description"
app_email = "[email protected]"
app_license = "MIT"

required_apps = ["frappe"]  # Or ["frappe", "erpnext"] if extending ERPNext

fixtures = [
    {"dt": "Custom Field", "filters": [["module", "=", "My Custom App"]]},
    {"dt": "Property Setter", "filters": [["module", "=", "My Custom App"]]},
]

Modules

modules.txt

My Custom App
Integrations
Settings
Reports

Rules:

• One module name per line — NEVER leave empty lines or trailing spaces
• Module name uses spaces; directory name uses underscores (My Custom App → my_custom_app/)
• Every DocType MUST belong to a registered module
• ALWAYS include __init__.py in every module directory

Module Directory Structure

my_custom_app/
├── my_custom_app/       # "My Custom App" module
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── doctype/
├── integrations/        # "Integrations" module
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── doctype/
├── settings/            # "Settings" module
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── doctype/
└── reports/             # "Reports" module
    ├── __init__.py
    └── report/

DocType Directory (within a module)

doctype/my_doctype/
├── __init__.py              # Empty (REQUIRED)
├── my_doctype.json          # DocType definition (generated by UI)
├── my_doctype.py            # Python controller
├── my_doctype.js            # Client script
├── test_my_doctype.py       # Unit tests
└── my_doctype_dashboard.py  # Dashboard config

Patches (Migration Scripts)

patches.txt with INI Sections

[pre_model_sync]
# Runs BEFORE schema sync — old fields still available
myapp.patches.v1_0.backup_old_data

[post_model_sync]
# Runs AFTER schema sync — new fields available
myapp.patches.v1_0.populate_new_fields
myapp.patches.v1_0.cleanup_data

Patch Implementation

# myapp/patches/v1_0/populate_new_fields.py
import frappe

def execute():
    """Populate new fields with default values."""
    batch_size = 1000
    offset = 0

    while True:
        records = frappe.get_all(
            "MyDocType",
            filters={"new_field": ["is", "not set"]},
            fields=["name"],
            limit_page_length=batch_size,
            limit_start=offset,
        )
        if not records:
            break

        for record in records:
            frappe.db.set_value(
                "MyDocType", record.name,
                "new_field", "default_value",
                update_modified=False,
            )

        frappe.db.commit()
        offset += batch_size

Pre vs Post Model Sync

Re-running a Patch

# Patches run ONCE. To re-run, make the line unique with a comment:
myapp.patches.v1_0.my_patch #2024-01-15

bench migrate Workflow

1. before_migrate hooks execute
2. [pre_model_sync] patches execute
3. Database schema sync (DocType JSON → tables)
4. [post_model_sync] patches execute
5. Fixtures sync
6. after_migrate hooks execute

Fixtures

hooks.py Configuration

fixtures = [
    "Category",                                              # All records
    {"dt": "Custom Field", "filters": [["module", "=", "My Custom App"]]},
    {"dt": "Property Setter", "filters": [["module", "=", "My Custom App"]]},
    {"dt": "Role", "filters": [["name", "like", "MyApp%"]]},
]

Exporting and Importing

# Export fixtures to JSON files
bench --site mysite export-fixtures --app my_custom_app

# Import happens automatically during bench migrate or install-app

Fixtures vs Patches

Fixture Ordering

ALWAYS order fixtures so dependencies come first:

fixtures = [
    "Workflow State",   # FIRST — Workflow depends on states
    "Workflow",         # SECOND
]

Version Differences

Migration v14 to v15

1. Create pyproject.toml with flit_core build-system
2. Move dependencies from requirements.txt to [project] dependencies
3. Verify __version__ in __init__.py
4. Optionally remove: setup.py, MANIFEST.in, requirements.txt
5. Test with bench get-app and bench install-app

Critical Rules

ALWAYS

1. Define __version__ in __init__.py — flit build fails without it
2. Add dynamic = ["version"] in pyproject.toml
3. Register EVERY module in modules.txt
4. Include __init__.py in EVERY Python directory
5. Put Frappe dependencies in [tool.bench.frappe-dependencies], NEVER in [project] dependencies
6. Use batch processing and error handling in patches
7. Set module field on Custom Fields and Property Setters for correct fixture export
8. Order fixtures by dependency (states before workflows)

NEVER

1. Put frappe or erpnext in pip dependencies (not on PyPI — install fails)
2. Create patches without try/except and logging
3. Include user data or transactional data (Sales Invoice, User) in fixtures
4. Hardcode site-specific values in patches
5. Process large datasets without batching and periodic frappe.db.commit()
6. Use spaces in directory names (spaces in modules.txt only)
7. Change module names after DocTypes have been created in production

Reference Files

See Also

• frappe-syntax-hooks — Full hooks.py reference
• frappe-syntax-controllers — DocType controller methods
• frappe-impl-customapp — Implementation patterns and workflows