LiveLocalhost

GitHub | npm | sponsor | craigbuckler.com | BlueSky | X

A simple localhost development web server with hot reloading. It serves web files from any local directory, watches for file changes, and triggers automated browser refreshes. You can run it from the command line or within a Node.js application.

Quick start

Run LiveLocalhost from the command line to serve files from the current directory:

npx livelocalhost

then open localhost:8000 in your browser.

You can also install it globally:

npm install livelocalhost -g

and run using:

livelocalhost

or

llh

To use a different port and directory:

llh -p 8888 -d ./path/

Command line configuration

Add -? or --help for CLI help. Options:

|parameter|description| |-|-| | -v, --version | show application version | | -?, --help | show CLI help | | -E, --helpenv | show .env/environment variable help | | -A, --helpapi | show Node.js API help | | -e, --env <file> |load defaults from an .env file| | -p, --serveport <port> | HTTP port (default 8000) | | -d, --servedir <dir> | directory to serve (./) | | -r, --reloadservice <path> | path to reload service (/livelocalhost.service) | | -j, --hotloadJS | enable hot reloading of JavaScript files (false) | | -w, --watchDebounce <ms> | debounce time for file changes (default 600) | | -l, --accessLog | show server access log (false) |

Serve files from ./build/ at http://localhost:8080 and show the access log:

llh --serveport 8080 -d ./build/ -l

The first two non-dashed parameters set the port and directory:

llh 8080 ./build/ -l

Stop the server with Ctrl | Cmd + C.

Environment variable configuration

You can configure the server with environment variables. Add -E or --helpenv for help. Variables:

|env variable|description| |-|-| | SERVE_PORT=<port> | HTTP port (default 8000) | | BUILD_DIR=<dir> | directory to serve (./) | | RELOAD_SERVICE=<path> | path to reload service (/livelocalhost.service) | | HOTLOAD_JS=<true\|false> | enable hot reloading of JavaScript files (false) | | WATCH_DEBOUNCE=<num> | debounce time for file changes (default 600) | | ACCESS_LOG=<true\|false> | show server access log (false) |

You can define variables in a file, e.g.

# example .env file
SERVE_PORT=8080
BUILD_DIR=./build/
ACCESS_LOG=true

then loaded:

llh --env .env

Note that CLI arguments take precedence over environment variables.

Node.js API usage

You can use LiveLocalhost in any Node.js project. Add -A or --helpapi for help.

Install in your project:

npm install livelocalhost --save-dev

(--save-dev ensures it's available in development but not production)

Import the module into any JavaScript file (such as index.js):

import { livelocalhost } from 'livelocalhost';

set options as necessary, e.g.

livelocalhost.serveport     = 8080;       // HTTP port
livelocalhost.servedir      = './build/'; // directory to serve
livelocalhost.reloadservice = '/reload';  // path to reload service
livelocalhost.hotloadJS     = true;       // hot reload JS
livelocalhost.watchDebounce = 2000;       // debounce time
livelocalhost.accessLog     = true;       // show server logs

(When not set, options fall back to environment variables then defaults.)

Execute the .start() method to start the server:

livelocalhost.start();

Launch your application as normal (node index.js) and open the server URL in your browser.

Hot reloading

Browser hot reloading is available when:

1. the application has permission to watch OS files, and
2. --reloadservice is a valid URL path starting /.

The default Server Sent Events service path for hot reloading is /livelocalhost.service. The server injects a client-side script at /livelocalhost.service.js into all HTML files which automatically refreshes the browser:

• CSS changes are hot reloaded without a full page refresh
• HTML changes trigger a full page refresh
• JavaScript changes trigger a full page refresh when you enable --hotloadJS (off by default).

You can change --reloadservice when its path is in use by another asset. Disable hot reloading by setting any value that does not start with /.

Watch debouncing

When a file changes, LiveLocalhost waits 600ms. A hot reload triggers if no other files change within that time.

You can change the delay time using --watchDebounce. Note that low settings can make reloading slower.