Jolt Server

A web server supporting live reloading and single page applications

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Installation

You can install @jolt/server using npm.

Install using npm:

npm install --save-dev @jolt/server

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Command Line Usage

To launch the dev server, just run the command jolt-server.
By default this will put it into a minimal static web server.

You can add additonal functionality by using cli options.

CLI Options:

• -p, --port - sets the port the server will run on. (default: 3000)
• -r, --root - sets the folder that files will be served from. (default: /)
• -f, --file - sets the fallback file to serve. (default: index.html)
• -l, --live - sets the server to reload the page when a file is saved.
• -s, --spa - sets the server to respond to all routes with the fallback file.
• --key - sets the SSL private key to use for https.
• --cert - sets the SSL certificate to use for https.

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JavaScript Usage

You can use @jolt/server in your JavaScript file and pass it the same options as the cli as well as a custom headers or bodyParser property.

The bodyParser property allows you to set a custom function for parsing the request body. The value returned by the bodyParser is assigned to req.body.

Example:

import server from "@jolt/server";

server({
    port: 3000,
    root: process.cwd(),
    file: "index.html",
    live: true,
    spa: true,
    headers: {
        "Cache-Control": "no-cache"
    },
    bodyParser: (data) => JSON.parse(data)
});

@jolt/server also allows you to handle requests yourself. You can do this by using the application interface returned by @jolt/server. The application interface gives you access to the internal server variable as well as being able to respond to request using get, post, put, patch, and delete functions.

Example:

import server from "@jolt/server";

const app = server({...});

app.get("/home", (req, res) => {
    res.end("You are at /home");
});

Using the application interface, you can also handle parameterized urls. To access the parameters use the req.params property.

Example:

import server from "@jolt/server";

const app = server({...});

app.get("/users/:user", (req, res) => {
    res.end(`Hello ${req.params.user}!`);
});

/* optional parameters */
app.get("/items/:item?", (req, res) => {
    const { item } = req.params;

    if(item) res.end(`You requested the item: ${item}`);
    else res.end("You are at the items page");
});

When using an HTTP method other than a get request, the req.body property contains the parsed JSON request body.

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Why?

Jolt Server was developed to provide a easy setup for developing web apps. Most alternatives use a bunch of dependencies to achieve the desired functionality and as for the case with single page applications, they often dont work for complex routes. Jolt Server solves these problems by not using any dependencies, and making sure that single page applications that utilize push state routing will have no problems being run on this server.

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Reporting Issues

If you are having trouble getting something to work with Jolt Server, you can ask in our discord or create a new Issue.

If you find a bug or if something is not working properly, you can report it by creating a new Issue.

If Jolt Server does not fit your needs or is missing a feature you would like to see, let us know! We would greatly appreciate your feedback on it.

You can contact Outwalk Studios directly using support@outwalkstudios.com

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License

Jolt Server is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.