server helper

Simple node.js server helper module.

• It will run your server, and allow you to have a clean main application file, which won't be cluttered with bootstrap code.
• It can be used to restart your server on file change for a nice development experience.

Example

// app.js

const express = require("express");

module.exports = function appFactory() {
  const app = express();

  app.get("/", (req, res, next) => {
    res.send(`Hello, world!`);
  });

  return app;
};

$ server-helper app.js

CLI Options

• --watch / -w: Enable automatic restarting on file changes.
• --port / -p: Change the port number. [Default: 3000]
• --host / -h: Change the host.

Programmatic use:

// start.js

const serverHelper = require("@gustavnikolaj/server-helper");

serverHelper({
  entrypoint: require.resolve("./app.js"),
  port: 5000
});

$ node start.js

The command line flags are still supported.

Config

Configuration can be given in multiple different ways, to support different use-cases. See doc/background/configuration.md.

Options given as cli flags are used before options given as environment variables, which are used before options given in the programmatic interface.

Configuration through cli flags

• --watch / -w: Enable automatic restarting on file changes.
• --port / -p: Change the port number. [Default: 3000]
• --host / -h: Change the host.

The path to the entrypoint file is given as the only non-flag argument.

Configuration through environment variables.

Configuration can also be passed through environment variables.

• PORT: The port number to listen to.
• SERVERHELPER_PORT: Same as PORT, but higher specificity.
• SERVERHELPER_HOST: What host to bind to.

Configuration through options in api mode

You call serverHelper with an options object as the only argument. This can only be done when invoking it programatically.

Supported properties:

• entrypoint: The path to the file that implements the server handler.
• port: The port number to listen to. (number)
• host: The host to bind to. (string)
• watch: Enables watch mode. (boolean)