httpe

httpe is a fully http & https compatible module that can support simultanious ports & protocols, set or generate SSL certificates & charsets & mimetypes, glob & chain requests, stream & process files, and more.

npm install httpe

const httpe = require('httpe');

// immediately start an http/https server on ports 80/443
httpe.createServer({ listen: true }).use(
  'GET:80 /',
  // homepage: show a custom message
  (req, res) => res.send('A request for the root on port 80 using the GET method')
).use(
  '*.js',
  // js: show a confusing message
  (req, res) => res.sendJS(`eval does a body good`)
).use(
  // json: show a confusing message
  '*.json',
  (req, res) => res.sendJSON({ message: 'eval does a body good' })
).use(
  // anything else: show the method, port, and URL of the request
  (req, res) => res.send(`${req.method}:${req.connection.server.port} ${req.pathname}`)
).listen(server => {
  console.log(
    `httpe is listening…\n` +
    `--------------------------------------\n` +
    `   Local: ${server.port.map(port => `http://localhost:${port}/`).join('\n          ')}\n` +
    `External: ${server.port.map(port => `http://${httpe.ip}:${port}/`).join('\n          ')}\n` +
    `--------------------------------------`
  );
});

httpe is backwards-compatible with the http module.

const httpe = require('httpe');

httpe.createServer((req, res) => {
  // do something with the request
}).listen();

Additional Features

The createServer method returns a new instance of a Server. The listen property instructs the server to immediately begin, and giving it a number defines the port.

server = httpe.createServer({ port: 8080 });

server = httpe.createServer({ port: [80, 443] });

The useAvailablePort property instructs the server to use the first available port only if the specified port is not available.

server = httpe.createServer({ listen: 8080, useAvailablePort: true });

Additional Request Features

The request object is identical to http.IncomingMessage with the addition of properties available to an URL.

request.pathname; // the pathname does not include search params

The request.includes function returns whether a search pattern matches the current request.

The path may contain a method, port, and pathname with globs.

server.request((req, res) => {
  if (req.includes('GET:80 /')) {
    // runs whenever the root is requested on port 80 using the GET method
  }

  if (req.includes(':80 /')) {
    // runs whenever the root is requested on port 80 using any method
  }

  if (req.includes('/')) {
    // runs whenever the root is requested on any port using any method
  }

  if (req.includes('GET /')) {
    // runs whenever the root is requested on any port using the GET method
  }

  if (req.includes('GET')) {
    // runs whenever any path is requested on any port using the GET method
  }

  if (req.includes(':80|443')) {
    // runs whenever any path is requested on port 80 or 443 using any method
  }

  if (req.includes('*.js')) {
    // runs whenever any path ending in .js is requested on any port using any method
  }

  if (req.includes('/**/*')) {
    // runs whenever a subdir path of any depth is requested on any port using any method
  }
});

The request.charset property returns the default character set for the requested pathname. The request.contentType property returns the default content type for the requested pathname. The request.mimeType property returns the default mime type for the requested pathname.

// If the request.pathname is `/script.js`
request.charset; // returns 'UTF-8'
request.contentType; // returns 'application/javascript; charset=utf-8'
request.mimeType; // returns 'application/javascript'

Additional Response Features

The response is identical to http.ServerResponse with the addition of the following chainable properties.

The send function sends an HTTP response body and ends the response. When the parameter is a Buffer, the Content-Type is set to application/octet-stream, and when it is a String, the Content-Type is set to text/html, and when the parameter is an Array or Object, the Content-Type is set to text/json.

res.send('<p>some html</p>');

The sendHTML, sendJS, sendJSON, and sendCSS functions handle send specific kinds of responses.

res.sendHTML('<p>some html</p>');

A status code and headers may also be specified.

res.send(404, 'Sorry, we cannot find that!');

res.send({
  status: 404,
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' }
}, 'Sorry, we cannot find that!');

The redirect function redirects to a new URL. A status code may also be specified.

response.redirect('/foo/bar'); // 302

response.redirect(301, 'http://example.com'); // 301

The setHeaders function sets HTTP response headers, and multiple fields may be specified at once.

response.setHeaders('Content-Type', 'text/plain');

response.setHeaders({
  'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
  'Content-Length': 123
});

The sendFile function transfers a file, setting HTTP headers based on the filename’s extension, size, and modified time.

res.sendFile('path/to/file', { from: 'some/dir' });