srv-it

srv-it is a simple cli that merges the best parts of live-server and serve:

• one-command static server from any folder
• polished terminal UX
• live DOM reload and CSS refresh
• directory listing with customizable page style
• simple defaults via config files

Quick start

npm install -g srv-it

Then run:

cd your-project
srv-it

This serves the current directory on port 3000.

Common usage

srv-it
srv-it 3000
srv-it 8080 ./public
srv-it ./public --open
srv-it --style paper --style-css ./srv-listing.css

Config defaults

You can set defaults globally and per-project:

• global: ~/.srvrc.json
• project: ./srv.config.json
• override file: srv-it --config ./my-srv.json
• template: ./srv.config.example.json

Example srv.config.json:

{
  "port": 3000,
  "host": "0.0.0.0",
  "open": false,
  "single": true,
  "cors": true,
  "style": "midnight",
  "directoryListing": true,
  "noCssInject": false,
  "logLevel": 2,
  "noRequestLogging": false,
  "ignore": ["**/.git/**", "**/node_modules/**"]
}

CLI flags always override config files.

CLI options

Run:

srv-it --help

Supported Arguments

• -h, --help: show help output
• -v, --version: print the current version
• -p, --port <number>: set the server port
• --host <host>: set the bind host (default: 0.0.0.0)
• --open [path]: open a browser to / or the provided path
• --no-open: disable automatic browser opening
• --watch <path> (repeat): add extra files/folders to watch for live reload
• --ignore <glob> (repeat): ignore matching watcher paths/globs
• --no-css-inject: use full page reload for CSS changes instead of hot CSS refresh
• --cors: enable CORS headers
• --single: serve index.html for unknown routes (SPA fallback)
• --no-dir-listing: disable generated directory listing pages
• --style <midnight|paper>: choose the directory listing style preset
• --style-css <file>: load custom CSS for directory listing pages
• -c: create srv.config.json in the served root if missing
• --config <file>: read additional config JSON file
• --no-request-logging: disable request logs
• --log-level <0-3>: set startup log verbosity
• --ssl-cert <file>: path to SSL certificate
• --ssl-key <file>: path to SSL private key
• --ssl-pass <file>: path to SSL passphrase file

Notes

• HTML pages get an auto-injected websocket client for live reload.
• CSS changes refresh styles without full page reload unless --no-css-inject is enabled.
• If a folder has index.html, that file is served; otherwise a styled directory listing is shown.
• Watch mode always ignores .git and node_modules, and also skips common home cache/config paths (~/.cache, ~/.local/share).
• If the OS watcher limit is reached (ENOSPC), srv-it keeps serving files and disables live reload instead of crashing.