Lightweight development node server for serving a web app, providing a fallback for browser history API, loading in the browser, and injecting scripts on the fly.

johnpapa

lite-server

All notable changes to the code will be documented in this file.

- Fixed npm audit's reported security vulnerabilities

  - [audit fixes](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/14f718f204f0305490166ec4e07fda6813996703)

  - [ws](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/7de85f2393ce17f493fc2f375820662cae421526)

  - [js yaml](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/a1f81830069970845dde7a0fbbb3449f1a20afc8)

  - [handlebars](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/b66952cf8911b41a30b0b9626eeb4db793bc813b

  [moment](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/cdef287b088b3488473cdaf9cfadba2a8d9af935)

  "description": "Lightweight development node server for serving a web app, providing a fallback for browser history API, loading in the browser, and injecting scripts on the fly.",

    "test": "eslint *.js lib/*.js && istanbul cover _mocha -- -R spec"

    "url": "git+https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server.git"

    "Christopher Martin <cgmartin@gmail.com>"

  "homepage": "https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server#readme",

    "connect-history-api-fallback": "^1.2.0",

Lightweight _development only_ node server that serves a web app, opens it in the browser, refreshes when html or javascript change, injects CSS changes using sockets, and has a fallback page when a route is not found.

[![Dependency Status](https://david-dm.org/johnpapa/lite-server.svg)](https://david-dm.org/johnpapa/lite-server)

[![npm version](https://badge.fury.io/js/lite-server.svg)](http://badge.fury.io/js/lite-server)

[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/johnpapa/lite-server.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/johnpapa/lite-server) [![Greenkeeper badge](https://badges.greenkeeper.io/johnpapa/lite-server.svg)](https://greenkeeper.io/)

[![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/johnpapa/lite-server/_apis/build/status/johnpapa.lite-server?branchName=master)](https://dev.azure.com/johnpapa/lite-server/_build/latest?definitionId=4&branchName=master)

BrowserSync does most of what we want in a super fast lightweight development server. It serves the static content, detects changes, refreshes the browser, and offers many customizations.

When creating a SPA there are routes that are only known to the browser. For example, `/customer/21` may be a client side route for an Angular app. If this route is entered manually or linked to directly as the entry point of the Angular app (aka a deep link) the static server will receive the request, because Angular is not loaded yet. The server will not find a match for the route and thus return a 404. The desired behavior in this case is to return the `index.html` (or whatever starting page of the app we have defined). BrowserSync does not automatically allow for a fallback page. But it does allow for custom middleware. This is where `lite-server` steps in.

`lite-server` is a simple customized wrapper around BrowserSync to make it easy to serve SPAs.

The recommended installation method is a local NPM install for your project:

...and add a "script" entry within your project's `package.json` file:

With the above script entry, you can then start `lite-server` via:

Other options for running locally installed NPM binaries is discussed in this Stack Overflow question: [How to use package installed locally in node_modules](http://stackoverflow.com/q/9679932)

lite-server can be also installed globally, if preferred:

The default behavior serves from the current folder, opens a browser, and applies a HTML5 route fallback to `./index.html`.

lite-server uses [BrowserSync](https://www.browsersync.io/), and allows for configuration overrides via a local `bs-config.json` or `bs-config.js` file in your project.

You can provide custom path to your config file via `-c` or `--config=` run time options:

For example, to change the server port, watched file paths, and base directory for your project, create a `bs-config.json` in your project's folder:

  "files": ["./src/**/*.{html,htm,css,js}"],

You can also provide custom path to your base directory `--baseDir=` run time options:

A more complicated example with modifications to the server middleware can be done with a `bs-config.js` file, which requires the `module.exports = { ... };` syntax:

      // overrides the second middleware default with new settings

      1: require('connect-history-api-fallback')({

The `bs-config.js` file may also export a function that receives the lite-server Browsersync instance as its only argument. While not required, the return value of this function will be used to extend the default lite-server configuration.

        // overrides the second middleware default with new settings

        1: require('connect-history-api-fallback')({

**NOTE:** Keep in mind that when using middleware overrides the specific middleware module must be installed in your project. For the above example, you'll need to do:

$ npm install connect-history-api-fallback --save-dev

...otherwise you'll get an error similar to:

Error: Cannot find module 'connect-history-api-fallback'

Another example: To remove one of the [default middlewares](./lib/config-defaults.js), such as `connect-logger`, you can set it's array index to `null`:

      0: null // removes default `connect-logger` middleware

A list of the entire set of BrowserSync options can be found in its docs: <http://www.browsersync.io/docs/options/>

When using `lite-server` to run end to end tests, we may not want to log verbosely. We may also want to prevent the browser from opening. These options in the `bs-config.js` will silence all logging from `lite-server`:

		{
		"name": "lite-server",
		"version": "2.5.3",
		"version": "2.5.4",
		"description": "Lightweight development node server for serving a web app, providing a fallback for browser history API, loading in the browser, and injecting scripts on the fly.",
		@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ "main": "index.js",
		"dependencies": {
		"browser-sync": "^2.26.5",
		"browser-sync": "^2.26.7",
		"connect-history-api-fallback": "^1.2.0",
		"connect-logger": "0.0.1",
		"lodash": "^4.17.11",
		"lodash": "^4.17.15",
		"minimist": "1.2.0"
		},
		"devDependencies": {
		"eslint": "^5.16.0",
		"eslint": "^6.0.0",
		"istanbul": "^0.4.3",
		@@ -40,0 +40,0 @@ "mocha": "^6.1.4",

		@@ -57,3 +57,3 @@ # lite-server
		```bash
		$ npm install -g lite-server
		$ npm install --global lite-server

		@@ -60,0 +60,0 @@ # To run:

Improved metrics

Dependency changes

		@@ -5,2 +5,12 @@ # Change Log

		## 2.5.4

		- Fixed npm audit's reported security vulnerabilities
		- [audit fixes](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/14f718f204f0305490166ec4e07fda6813996703)
		- [ws](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/7de85f2393ce17f493fc2f375820662cae421526)
		- [js yaml](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/a1f81830069970845dde7a0fbbb3449f1a20afc8)
		- [handlebars](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/b66952cf8911b41a30b0b9626eeb4db793bc813b
		[moment](https://github.com/johnpapa/lite-server/commit/cdef287b088b3488473cdaf9cfadba2a8d9af935)

		Changes
		## 2.5.3
		@@ -7,0 +17,0 @@