ServeDir 🚀

A lightweight, feature-rich HTTP server for serving directories with byte-range support, CGI scripting, and multi-threading.

Perfect for:
✔ Local development
✔ Sharing files quickly
✔ Testing large file downloads
✔ Serving static websites

Features ✨

✅ Directory Listing – Clean HTML interface with navigation links.
✅ Byte-Range Support – Partial downloads & streaming (Range header).
✅ CGI Support – Execute scripts with --cgi.
✅ Multi-Threaded – Handles concurrent requests efficiently.
✅ Configurable – Custom port, bind address, and root directory.
✅ Segment Support – Serve split/partial files (e.g., .parts.json).

☕ Support

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Usage 🛠

Basic Command

python -m serve_dir [DIR]  # Serve current dir (or DIR) on http://0.0.0.0:8058

Options

Examples

1. Serve a specific directory on port 9000:

   python -m serve_dir /path/to/files -p 9000
   

2. Enable byte-range support for media streaming:

   python -m serve_dir --byte-range
   

3. Bind to localhost only:

   python -m serve_dir -b 127.0.0.1
   

Segment Support 🔗

ServeDir includes built-in support for segmented files, making it ideal for serving large files split into smaller parts (e.g., downloads, media, or backups).

How It Works

• Detects segmented files automatically (e.g., .parts.json metadata files).
• Seamlessly stitches parts when requested, acting like a single file.
• Supports byte-range requests even across segments (e.g., streaming partial content).

Use Cases

• Large file downloads: Split a 10GB file into manageable chunks, but serve it as one.
• Resumable transfers: Byte-range support works across segments.
• Bandwidth efficiency: Clients download only the needed segments.

Example: Serving Segmented Files

1. Prepare segments:
   Split a file (e.g., bigfile.zip) into parts and create a bigfile.parts.json.zip manifest:

   {
     "length": 1024000000, // Total file size
     "parts": [
       [0, 1000000, "bigfile.zip.001"], // [start,  start+size, path]
       [1000000, 1999999, "bigfile.zip.002"]
     ]
   }
   

2. Serve:
   Place all parts + bigfile.parts.json.zip in your directory. ServeDir will handle the rest!

   python -m serve_dir /path/to/segmented_files --byte-range
   

3. Clients see one file:
   Requests to bigfile.parts.json.zip will transparently combine segments.

Why Not Just python -m http.server? 🤔

This project extends Python’s built-in server with:
🔹 Better performance (threaded requests).
🔹 Byte-range support (e.g., for video streaming).
🔹 Nicer directory listings (with HTML/CSS).
🔹 CGI scripting out of the box.
🔹 Segment File Support Serve split/partial files.