HTTP(S) server with automatic refresh on file changes, based on Python's http.server
Project description
reloadserver
HTTP(S) server with automatic refresh on file changes, based on Python's http.server
Supported Platforms
Platform | Supported? | Notes |
---|---|---|
Python 3.10+ | Yes | Tested on 3.10 through 3.12 every release. |
Python 3.9- | No | |
Linux | Yes | Tested on Fedora and Ubuntu every release. |
Windows | Partially | Once tested manually. File watching didn't work, but triggering a reload by HTTP request did. |
Mac | No | I don't have a Mac. It might partially work, but I don't know. |
Installation
python3 -m pip install --user reloadserver
Usage
python3 -m reloadserver
Accepts the same port
and bind
arguments as http.server, though the others differ. For a full list, run python -m reloadserver -h
.
By default, monitors files in the current folder (and subfolders) for changes, and refreshes connected clients when a change is detected. Dotfiles and some commonly ignored folders are ignored (this is configurable, as described later). The monitoring is done by injecting a script tag into .html
files as they're served. This script calls back to reloadserver via long-polling and triggers a reload when it gets the right response.
On Firefox, a full reload is triggered that bypasses cache, as if ctrl+F5 were pressed. Unfortunately, this ability is not available in other browsers (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Location/reload).
File Selection
Files to watch or ignore can be specified, as in these examples:
# Reload only when index.html or index.js changes
python3 -m reloadserver --watch index.html index.js
# Do not reload when any file in temp cahnges
python3 -m reloadserver --ignore 'temp/*'
Trigger Reload by HTTP Request
If your workflow makes file watching complicated (or if you you want to use reloadserver on Windows where file watching doesn't work), a reload can be triggered by sending a POST
to /api-reloadserver/trigger-reload
:
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api-reloadserver/trigger-reload
HTTPS Option
Why would you need HTTPS for a development environment? Because someone (who is an asshole) decided that several browser APIs such as gamepad and accelerometer APIs should only be available to pages served over HTTPS. So now my development environment needs have HTTPS, which is a headache, and part of why I needed a new reloading server instead of sticking with the existing livereload module for Python.
Run with HTTPS:
# Generate self-signed server certificate
openssl req -x509 -out server.pem -keyout server.pem -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -sha256 -subj '/CN=server'
python3 -m reloadserver 8443 --certificate server.pem
Note: This uses a self-signed server certificate which clients such as web browser and cURL will warn about. Most browsers will allow you to proceed after adding an exception, and cURL will work if given the -k
/--insecure
option. Using your own certificate from a certificate authority will avoid these warnings.
If Behind a Reverse Proxy
When run behind a reverse proxy, needs to handle serving any .html
files that you want to automatically refresh (so it can inject a script tag), and needs /api-realoadserver/*
.
If using Caddy, reloadserver works with this Caddyfile (replace HOSTNAME with your test server's name):
{
# Not necessary, I just don't like the admin API
admin off
}
http://:8080 {
file_server browse
root * .
@html {
path *.html
}
reverse_proxy /api-reloadserver/* http://localhost:8000
reverse_proxy @html http://localhost:8000
}
https://HOSTNAME:8443 {
tls internal
file_server browse
root * .
@html {
path *.html
}
reverse_proxy /api-reloadserver/* http://localhost:8000
reverse_proxy @html http://localhost:8000
}
Acknowledgements
Much of main()
was copied from Python's http.server
. Many other elements were copied from https://github.com/Densaugeo/uploadserver (another of my projects), thanks to all the contributors over there too!
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