diff --git a/bin/deploy b/bin/deploy
index c961220b..466bb6d1 100755
--- a/bin/deploy
+++ b/bin/deploy
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ function error_handler() {
 trap 'error_handler ${LINENO} $?' ERR
 set -o errtrace -o errexit -o nounset -o pipefail
 
-if [[ -z "${FLASK_ENV:-}" ]]; then
-  export FLASK_ENV=staging
+if [[ -z "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV:-}" ]]; then
+  export SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=staging
 fi
 
 if [[ -z "${FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY:-}" ]]; then
diff --git a/bin/get_bpmn_json_for_process_instance b/bin/get_bpmn_json_for_process_instance
index 4f80fedc..9b6b4c75 100755
--- a/bin/get_bpmn_json_for_process_instance
+++ b/bin/get_bpmn_json_for_process_instance
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from spiffworkflow_backend.models.process_instance import ProcessInstanceModel
 
 def main(process_instance_id: str):
     """Main."""
-    os.environ["FLASK_ENV"] = "development"
+    os.environ["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] = "development"
     flask_env_key = "FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
     os.environ[flask_env_key] = "whatevs"
     app = create_app()
diff --git a/bin/import_tickets_for_command_line.py b/bin/import_tickets_for_command_line.py
index 6c161f9a..34b2b9af 100644
--- a/bin/import_tickets_for_command_line.py
+++ b/bin/import_tickets_for_command_line.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def print_process_instance_count(process_model_identifier_ticket: str) -> None:
 
 def main():
     """Main."""
-    os.environ["FLASK_ENV"] = "development"
+    os.environ["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] = "development"
     flask_env_key = "FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
     os.environ[flask_env_key] = "whatevs"
     app = create_app()
diff --git a/bin/recreate_db b/bin/recreate_db
index ecb8fbfc..57ec07aa 100755
--- a/bin/recreate_db
+++ b/bin/recreate_db
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ mysql -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_development
 mysql -uroot -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS spiffworkflow_backend_testing"
 
 for task in $tasks; do
-  FLASK_ENV=development FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db "$task"
+  SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=development FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db "$task"
 done
 
-FLASK_ENV=testing FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db upgrade
+SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=testing FLASK_APP=src/spiffworkflow_backend poetry run flask db upgrade
diff --git a/bin/run_server_locally b/bin/run_server_locally
index 3f75bf31..46e96051 100755
--- a/bin/run_server_locally
+++ b/bin/run_server_locally
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ function error_handler() {
 trap 'error_handler ${LINENO} $?' ERR
 set -o errtrace -o errexit -o nounset -o pipefail
 
-if [[ -z "${FLASK_ENV:-}" ]]; then
-  export FLASK_ENV=development
+if [[ -z "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV:-}" ]]; then
+  export SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=development
 fi
 
 if [[ -z "${BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR:-}" ]]; then
diff --git a/bin/save_all_bpmn.py b/bin/save_all_bpmn.py
index cbeaebf0..cf5dc51c 100644
--- a/bin/save_all_bpmn.py
+++ b/bin/save_all_bpmn.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from spiffworkflow_backend.services.spec_file_service import SpecFileService
 
 def main():
     """Main."""
-    os.environ["FLASK_ENV"] = "development"
+    os.environ["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] = "development"
     flask_env_key = "FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
     os.environ[flask_env_key] = "whatevs"
     if "BPMN_SPEC_ABSOLUTE_DIR" not in os.environ:
diff --git a/conftest.py b/conftest.py
index d307a692..c6c440b2 100644
--- a/conftest.py
+++ b/conftest.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ from spiffworkflow_backend import create_app  # noqa: E402
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def app() -> Flask:
     """App."""
-    os.environ["FLASK_ENV"] = "testing"
+    os.environ["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] = "testing"
     # os.environ["FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"] = "this_is_testing_secret_key"
     os.environ["FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"] = "super_secret_key"
     app = create_app()
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c9cc7be1..c7075b2b 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ services:
       context: .
     environment:
       - APPLICATION_ROOT=/
-      - FLASK_ENV=${FLASK_ENV:-development}
+      - SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV=${SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV:-development}
       - FLASK_DEBUG=0
       - FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY=${FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY:-super_secret_key}
       - OPEN_ID_SERVER_URL=${OPEN_ID_SERVER_URL:-http://localhost:7002}
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index fcd8fc13..ef4f7787 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def setup_database(session: Session) -> None:
     flask_env_key = "FLASK_SESSION_SECRET_KEY"
     session.env[flask_env_key] = "super_secret_key"
     session.env["FLASK_APP"] = "src/spiffworkflow_backend"
-    session.env["FLASK_ENV"] = "testing"
+    session.env["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] = "testing"
     session.run("flask", "db", "upgrade")
 
 
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 7317832f..5059c2ff 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -717,15 +717,15 @@ docs = ["sphinx"]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "flask-sqlalchemy"
-version = "2.5.1"
-description = "Adds SQLAlchemy support to your Flask application."
+version = "3.0.0"
+description = "Add SQLAlchemy support to your Flask application."
 category = "main"
 optional = false
-python-versions = ">= 2.7, != 3.0.*, != 3.1.*, != 3.2.*, != 3.3.*"
+python-versions = ">=3.7"
 
 [package.dependencies]
-Flask = ">=0.10"
-SQLAlchemy = ">=0.8.0"
+Flask = ">=2.2"
+SQLAlchemy = ">=1.4.18"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "furo"
@@ -2170,7 +2170,7 @@ testing = ["func-timeout", "jaraco.itertools", "pytest (>=6)", "pytest-black (>=
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "1.1"
 python-versions = ">=3.9,<3.11"
-content-hash = "f0f5c8611ec24f6e9be2b12f838b9177b7d701d439e2bec7cd99db4e27b6ff1e"
+content-hash = "1eab1f1107af25153136aef3ef6964ed25e449b6bc27cd42a47bf485e23d4d4f"
 
 [metadata.files]
 alabaster = [
@@ -2447,8 +2447,8 @@ Flask-RESTful = [
     {file = "Flask_RESTful-0.3.9-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4970c49b6488e46c520b325f54833374dc2b98e211f1b272bd4b0c516232afe2"},
 ]
 flask-sqlalchemy = [
-    {file = "Flask-SQLAlchemy-2.5.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:2bda44b43e7cacb15d4e05ff3cc1f8bc97936cc464623424102bfc2c35e95912"},
-    {file = "Flask_SQLAlchemy-2.5.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:f12c3d4cc5cc7fdcc148b9527ea05671718c3ea45d50c7e732cceb33f574b390"},
+    {file = "Flask-SQLAlchemy-3.0.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:b54939fd5f48184742b7d5b222d86983e233b43140c1071a36327353e86f3b56"},
+    {file = "Flask_SQLAlchemy-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:741dabf0903569a89e4793667e25be5bb9581e614fa0eeb81a395cc7dee40c4b"},
 ]
 furo = [
     {file = "furo-2022.9.29-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:559ee17999c0f52728481dcf6b1b0cf8c9743e68c5e3a18cb45a7992747869a9"},
@@ -2905,7 +2905,18 @@ py = [
     {file = "py-1.11.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:51c75c4126074b472f746a24399ad32f6053d1b34b68d2fa41e558e6f4a98719"},
 ]
 pyasn1 = [
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py2.4.egg", hash = "sha256:fec3e9d8e36808a28efb59b489e4528c10ad0f480e57dcc32b4de5c9d8c9fdf3"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py2.5.egg", hash = "sha256:0458773cfe65b153891ac249bcf1b5f8f320b7c2ce462151f8fa74de8934becf"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py2.6.egg", hash = "sha256:5c9414dcfede6e441f7e8f81b43b34e834731003427e5b09e4e00e3172a10f00"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py2.7.egg", hash = "sha256:6e7545f1a61025a4e58bb336952c5061697da694db1cae97b116e9c46abcf7c8"},
     {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:39c7e2ec30515947ff4e87fb6f456dfc6e84857d34be479c9d4a4ba4bf46aa5d"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.1.egg", hash = "sha256:78fa6da68ed2727915c4767bb386ab32cdba863caa7dbe473eaae45f9959da86"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.2.egg", hash = "sha256:08c3c53b75eaa48d71cf8c710312316392ed40899cb34710d092e96745a358b7"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.3.egg", hash = "sha256:03840c999ba71680a131cfaee6fab142e1ed9bbd9c693e285cc6aca0d555e576"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.4.egg", hash = "sha256:7ab8a544af125fb704feadb008c99a88805126fb525280b2270bb25cc1d78a12"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.5.egg", hash = "sha256:e89bf84b5437b532b0803ba5c9a5e054d21fec423a89952a74f87fa2c9b7bce2"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.6.egg", hash = "sha256:014c0e9976956a08139dc0712ae195324a75e142284d5f87f1a87ee1b068a359"},
+    {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8-py3.7.egg", hash = "sha256:99fcc3c8d804d1bc6d9a099921e39d827026409a58f2a720dcdb89374ea0c776"},
     {file = "pyasn1-0.4.8.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:aef77c9fb94a3ac588e87841208bdec464471d9871bd5050a287cc9a475cd0ba"},
 ]
 pycodestyle = [
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d22337f6..02a23b1b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ pytest-flask = "^1.2.0"
 pytest-flask-sqlalchemy = "^1.1.0"
 psycopg2 = "^2.9.3"
 typing-extensions = "^4.3.0"
-connexion = {extras = [ "swagger-ui",], version = "^2.13.1"}
+connexion = {extras = [ "swagger-ui",], version = "^2"}
 lxml = "^4.9.1"
 marshmallow-enum = "^1.5.1"
 marshmallow-sqlalchemy = "^0.28.0"
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ APScheduler = "^3.9.1"
 types-requests = "^2.28.6"
 Jinja2 = "^3.1.2"
 RestrictedPython = "^5.2"
-Flask-SQLAlchemy = "^2.5.1"
+Flask-SQLAlchemy = "^3"
 
 
 [tool.poetry.dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
index 34e67627..cc5a4ea5 100644
--- a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
+++ b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/__init__.py
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ def setup_database_uri(app: Flask) -> None:
         if os.environ.get("SPIFF_DATABASE_TYPE") == "sqlite":
             app.config[
                 "SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"
-            ] = f"sqlite:///{app.instance_path}/db_{app.env}.sqlite3"
+            ] = f"sqlite:///{app.instance_path}/db_{app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER']}.sqlite3"
         elif os.environ.get("SPIFF_DATABASE_TYPE") == "postgres":
             app.config[
                 "SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"
-            ] = f"postgresql://spiffworkflow_backend:spiffworkflow_backend@localhost:5432/spiffworkflow_backend_{app.env}"
+            ] = f"postgresql://spiffworkflow_backend:spiffworkflow_backend@localhost:5432/spiffworkflow_backend_{app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER']}"
         else:
             # use pswd to trick flake8 with hardcoded passwords
             db_pswd = os.environ.get("DB_PASSWORD")
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def setup_database_uri(app: Flask) -> None:
                 db_pswd = ""
             app.config[
                 "SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"
-            ] = f"mysql+mysqlconnector://root:{db_pswd}@localhost/spiffworkflow_backend_{app.env}"
+            ] = f"mysql+mysqlconnector://root:{db_pswd}@localhost/spiffworkflow_backend_{app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER']}"
     else:
         app.config["SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"] = os.environ.get(
             "SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_URI"
@@ -41,10 +41,11 @@ def setup_config(app: Flask) -> None:
     except OSError:
         pass
 
+    app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER'] = os.environ.get("SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV", "development")
     app.config["SQLALCHEMY_TRACK_MODIFICATIONS"] = False
     app.config.from_object("spiffworkflow_backend.config.default")
     # This allows config/testing.py or instance/config.py to override the default config
-    if "ENV" in app.config and app.config["ENV"] == "testing":
+    if "SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV" in app.config and app.config["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV"] == "testing":
         app.config.from_pyfile("config/testing.py", silent=True)
     else:
         app.config.from_pyfile(f"{app.instance_path}/config.py", silent=True)
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ def setup_config(app: Flask) -> None:
     setup_database_uri(app)
     setup_logger(app)
 
-    env_config_module = "spiffworkflow_backend.config." + app.env
+    env_config_module = "spiffworkflow_backend.config." + app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER']
     try:
         app.config.from_object(env_config_module)
     except ImportStringError as exception:
diff --git a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/admin_blueprint/admin_blueprint.py b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/admin_blueprint/admin_blueprint.py
index 743933c7..6c3f37be 100644
--- a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/admin_blueprint/admin_blueprint.py
+++ b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/routes/admin_blueprint/admin_blueprint.py
@@ -26,38 +26,6 @@ admin_blueprint = Blueprint(
 ALLOWED_BPMN_EXTENSIONS = {"bpmn", "dmn"}
 
 
-@admin_blueprint.before_app_first_request
-def before_first_request() -> None:
-    """Before_first_request."""
-    # token()
-    # ProcessInstanceReportModel.add_fixtures()
-
-
-# @admin_blueprint.route("/token", methods=["GET"])
-# def token() -> str:
-#     """Token."""
-#     if current_app.env == "production":
-#         return "Not authorized"
-#
-#     user = UserModel.query.first()
-#     if user is None:
-#         user = UserModel(service='keycloak',
-#                          service_id="test_user1",
-#                          name='Test Name',
-#                          username='test_username')
-#         db.session.add(user)
-#         db.session.commit()
-#
-#     principal = PrincipalModel.query.filter_by(user_id=user.id).first()
-#     if principal is None:
-#         principal = PrincipalModel(user_id=user.id)
-#         db.session.add(principal)
-#         db.session.commit()
-#
-#     auth_token = user.encode_auth_token()
-#     return f"auth_token: {auth_token}"
-
-
 @admin_blueprint.route("/process-groups", methods=["GET"])
 def process_groups_list() -> str:
     """Process_groups_list."""
diff --git a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/authorization_service.py b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/authorization_service.py
index 535cba06..09c1f28d 100644
--- a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/authorization_service.py
+++ b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/authorization_service.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class AuthorizationService:
         principal_ids = [p.id for p in principals]
         permission_assignment = (
             PermissionAssignmentModel.query.
-            filter(PrincipalModel.id.in_(principal_ids))
+            filter(PermissionAssignmentModel.principal_id.in_(principal_ids))
             .filter_by(
                 permission=permission
             )
diff --git a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/logging_service.py b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/logging_service.py
index 6840e2ea..500c2d1d 100644
--- a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/logging_service.py
+++ b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/logging_service.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def setup_logger(app: Flask) -> None:
 
     # the json formatter is nice for real environments but makes
     # debugging locally a little more difficult
-    if app.env != "development":
+    if app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER'] != "development":
         json_formatter = JsonFormatter(
             {
                 "level": "levelname",
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def setup_logger(app: Flask) -> None:
     spiff_logger_filehandler = None
     if app.config["SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_LOG_TO_FILE"]:
         spiff_logger_filehandler = logging.FileHandler(
-            f"{app.instance_path}/../../log/{app.env}.log"
+            f"{app.instance_path}/../../log/{app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER']}.log"
         )
         spiff_logger_filehandler.setLevel(spiff_log_level)
         spiff_logger_filehandler.setFormatter(log_formatter)
diff --git a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_instance_processor.py b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_instance_processor.py
index 5b2a162f..b1be8092 100644
--- a/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_instance_processor.py
+++ b/src/spiffworkflow_backend/services/process_instance_processor.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class CustomBpmnScriptEngine(PythonScriptEngine):  # type: ignore
 
     def __get_augment_methods(self, task: SpiffTask) -> Dict[str, Callable]:
         """__get_augment_methods."""
-        return Script.generate_augmented_list(task, current_app.env)
+        return Script.generate_augmented_list(task, current_app.config['ENV_IDENTIFIER'])
 
     def evaluate(self, task: SpiffTask, expression: str) -> Any:
         """Evaluate."""