softserved 1.1.0

A lightweight, stylish local web server for static files

softserved

A lightweight, stylish local web server for serving static files from your terminal. Perfect for quick demos, prototyping, and development workflows.

Quick Start

pip install -e .
softserved

Done. Your browser opens at http://localhost:8000 and you're serving.

Why softserved?

Just a static server. No fluff. softserved is a cli-based tool for watching vanilla html/css/js projects.

Features

✨ Clean, minimal CLI — Starts a server in one command
🎨 Multiple styling themes — default, dark, and mono options
🔄 Live reload — Auto-refresh browser when files change
⚡ Lightweight — No bloat, just Python stdlib + colorama
🌐 Auto-opens browser — (optional) Opens your default browser automatically
📁 Flexible directory serving — Serve any folder, any port

Installation

From GitHub

git clone https://github.com/tolaoyelola/softserved.git
cd softserved
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .

Verify Installation

softserved --help

Usage

Basic Examples

# Serve current directory on port 8000
softserved

# Serve with custom port and directory
softserved -p 9001 -d ./my-site

# Enable live reload
softserved --reload

# Don't auto-open browser
softserved --no-browser

# Use dark theme for dark terminals
softserved --style dark

# No colors (mono)
softserved --style mono

# Combine options
softserved -p 8080 -d ./portfolio --reload --style dark

Available Options

Option	Default	Description
-p, --port	8000	Port to serve on
-d, --dir	.	Directory to serve
--no-browser	false	Don't auto-open browser
--reload	false	Enable live reload (requires watchdog)
--style	default	Terminal theme: default, dark, or mono

Requirements

Core dependencies:

• Python 3.6+
• colorama — for colored terminal output

Optional dependencies:

• watchdog — for live reload functionality

Install all:

pip install -r requirements.txt

How It Works

1. Server — Uses Python's built-in SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
2. Styling — Colorama handles cross-platform terminal colors
3. Live Reload — Watchdog monitors file changes and triggers browser refresh

Troubleshooting

"Port already in use"

softserved -p 8001  # Use a different port

"watchdog not installed"

pip install watchdog

Browser won't open

softserved --no-browser  # Disable auto-open
# Then manually navigate to http://localhost:8000

Stop the server

Press Ctrl+C to gracefully shut down

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit PRs.

License

MIT — See LICENSE file for details.