# Installation Guide ## Setting Up Your Virtual Environment ### 1. Create a Virtual Environment To begin, create a virtual environment using the following command: ```bash python -m venv venv ``` ### 2. Activate the Virtual Environment For Windows, activate the virtual environment with: ```bash .\venv\Scripts\activate.bat ``` ### 3. Install Required Packages Once the environment is activated, install the necessary packages by running: ```bash pip install -r requirements.txt ``` --- ## Setting Up the Database ### 1. Initialize the Database To initialize the database, run the following command: ```bash flask --app app.py db init ``` ### 2. Migrate the Database Migrate the database schema to the latest version with: ```bash flask --app app.py db migrate ``` ### 3. Upgrade the Database Apply the migration to update the database with: ```bash flask --app app.py db upgrade ``` --- ## Seeding the Database To populate the database with a few sample users and services, run: ```bash python seed.py ``` --- ## Starting the Application To start the application, run: ```bash python app.py ``` --- # Development Commands ### Updating `requirements.txt` To update the `requirements.txt` with the currently installed packages, use the following command: ```bash pip freeze > requirements.txt ``` ---