Flask SQLAlchemy querying a column with "not equals"

The filter_by() method takes a sequence of keyword arguments, so you always have to use = with it.

You want to use the filter() method which allows for !=:

seats = Seat.query.filter(Seat.invite != None).all()

I think this can help http://docs.sqlalchemy.org/en/rel_0_9/core/sqlelement.html#sqlalchemy.sql.operators.ColumnOperators.isnot

Is None

query.filter(User.name == None)

or alternatively, if pep8/linters are a concern

query.filter(User.name.is_(None))

Is not None

query.filter(User.name != None)

or alternatively, if pep8/linters are a concern

query.filter(User.name.isnot(None))