Serv

Ad hoc serving of HTTP requests from any directory.

$ npm install -g serv
$ cd directory/to/serv
$ serv
Serving files from directory/to/serv at http://localhost:8000
Press Ctrl+L to launch in browser
Press Ctrl+C to quit

By default, serv only allows access from the local machine. This protects your file system from external network access. If remote access is needed, you may specify an IP address to bind to with the -b flag, or --public to allow all network access. Access may still be limited by your machine's firewall.

$ serv -h
Options:
  -h, --help     Show this help message                               [boolean]
  -b, --bind     IP to bind the server to                             [default: "127.0.0.1"]
  -p, --port     Port to bind the server to, uses PORT env var if set [default: "Auto (8000+)"]
  -v, --version  serv version
  --path         File system path to expose                           [default: <current working directory>]
  --public       Listen on all available IP addresses                 [boolean]

Direct API access is also available:

var serv = require('serv');
var app = serv({
    // use long flag names (i.e. use 'port' instead of 'p')
    port: 8000
});
app.listen(); // may optionally override the port and host
...
app.close();

Note: direct API usage will not automatically look for an open port. That feature is only available from the shell.