koa-static

What is koa-static?

The koa-static package is a middleware for Koa, a popular Node.js web framework. It serves static files such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images from a specified directory. This is useful for serving front-end assets in a web application.

What are koa-static's main functionalities?

Serve Static Files

This feature allows you to serve static files from a specified directory. In this example, files from the 'public' directory will be served.

const Koa = require('koa');
const serve = require('koa-static');
const app = new Koa();

// Serve files from the 'public' directory
app.use(serve('./public'));

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

Custom Options

This feature allows you to customize the behavior of the static file serving. You can set options like cache duration, serving hidden files, and specifying a default file.

const Koa = require('koa');
const serve = require('koa-static');
const app = new Koa();

// Serve files from the 'public' directory with custom options
app.use(serve('./public', {
  maxage: 86400000, // Cache files for 1 day
  hidden: true, // Allow hidden files to be served
  index: 'index.html' // Default file to serve
}));

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

Other packages similar to koa-static

serve-static

The serve-static package is a middleware for Express, another popular Node.js web framework. It serves static files similarly to koa-static but is designed for use with Express. It offers similar functionalities such as serving files from a directory and customizing options like cache control.

static-server

The static-server package is a simple, standalone HTTP server for serving static files. Unlike koa-static, it is not a middleware and does not require a web framework like Koa or Express. It is useful for quickly serving static files without setting up a full web server.

http-server

The http-server package is a simple, zero-configuration command-line HTTP server. It is used to serve static files and is often used for development and testing purposes. Unlike koa-static, it is not a middleware and does not integrate with web frameworks.

README

koa-static

Koa static file serving middleware, wrapper for koa-send.

Installation

$ npm install koa-static

API

const Koa = require('koa');
const app = new Koa();
app.use(require('koa-static')(root, opts));

• root root directory string. nothing above this root directory can be served
• opts options object.

Options

• maxage Browser cache max-age in milliseconds. defaults to 0
• hidden Allow transfer of hidden files. defaults to false
• index Default file name, defaults to 'index.html'
• defer If true, serves after return next(), allowing any downstream middleware to respond first.
• gzip Try to serve the gzipped version of a file automatically when gzip is supported by a client and if the requested file with .gz extension exists. defaults to true.
• br Try to serve the brotli version of a file automatically when brotli is supported by a client and if the requested file with .br extension exists (note, that brotli is only accepted over https). defaults to true.
• setHeaders Function to set custom headers on response.
• extensions Try to match extensions from passed array to search for file when no extension is sufficed in URL. First found is served. (defaults to false)

Example

const serve = require('koa-static');
const Koa = require('koa');
const app = new Koa();

// $ GET /package.json
app.use(serve('.'));

// $ GET /hello.txt
app.use(serve('test/fixtures'));

// or use absolute paths
app.use(serve(__dirname + '/test/fixtures'));

app.listen(3000);

console.log('listening on port 3000');

See also

• koajs/conditional-get Conditional GET support for koa
• koajs/compress Compress middleware for koa
• koajs/mount Mount koa-static to a specific path

License

MIT