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Python-Only Server

InstaCRUD runs perfectly without the Next.js frontend. If you only need a basic admin UI or are building a backend-focused project, you can skip Next.js entirely and serve a lightweight HTML/JS interface directly from FastAPI.

How it works​

The Python backend already serves static files out of the box:

  • / — serves backend/static/index.html
  • /static/... — serves any file under backend/static/

This is wired up in backend/instacrud/app.py with two lines:

# Mounts the static/ directory at /static
app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory=...), name="static")

# Serves index.html at the root URL
@app.get("/", include_in_schema=False)
async def root():
    return FileResponse(".../static/index.html")

The starter UI​

A fully functional starter UI is already included at backend/static/index.html. It provides:

  • Sign in / Sign up forms
  • Tabbed data grid for all entities (Clients, Contacts, Addresses, Projects, Documents)
  • Detail panel with inline editing
  • Create / Edit / Delete modals
  • Pagination and search
  • JWT auth stored in localStorage

This is a solid starting point for an internal tool or admin panel. Just open http://localhost:8000 after starting the backend.

Adding your own pages​

Drop any .html, .js, or .css files into backend/static/ and they are served automatically. For example, backend/static/reports.html becomes available at http://localhost:8000/static/reports.html.

No build step, no bundler, no Node.js required.

Removing the static UI entirely​

If you do not need any static UI (pure API server), remove the static mount and root route shown in the How it works section above from backend/instacrud/app.py, along with their two imports (StaticFiles and FileResponse). You can then delete the backend/static/ directory entirely.

tip

The API itself (/api/v1/...) is completely unaffected by whether the static files are present or not. Removing the static UI does not change any backend behavior.