a simple, rfc 2616 compliant file streaming module for node

node-static has an in-memory file cache, making it highly efficient. node-static understands and supports conditional GET and HEAD requests. node-static was inspired by some of the other static-file serving modules out there, such as node-paperboy and antinode.

var static = require('node-static');

//
// Create a node-static server instance to serve the './public' folder
//
var file = new(static.Server)('./public');

require('http').createServer(function (request, response) {
    request.addListener('end', function () {
        //
        // Serve files!
        //
        file.serve(request, response);
    });
}).listen(8080);

Creating a file server instance is as simple as:

new static.Server();

This will serve files in the current directory. If you want to serve files in a specific directory, pass it as the first argument:

new static.Server('./public');

You can also specify how long the client is supposed to cache the files node-static serves:

new static.Server('./public', { cache: 3600 });

This will set the Cache-Control header, telling clients to cache the file for an hour. This is the default setting.

If you have files that need to be filtered through an asynchronous function, add the filter to your options object. The following example will automatically parse lesscss files:

new static.Server('./public', { cache: 3600,
    filters: {
        less: require('less').render
    }
});

To create a filter, create a function like this:

function myFilter(data, callback) {
    // Args: error, data
    callback(null, 'The data is: ' + data);
}

To serve files under a directory, simply call the serve method on a Server instance, passing it the HTTP request and response object:

var fileServer = new static.Server('./public');

require('http').createServer(function (request, response) {
    request.addListener('end', function () {
        fileServer.serve(request, response);
    });
}).listen(8080);

If you want to serve a specific file, like an error page for example, use the serveFile method:

fileServer.serveFile('/error.html', 500, {}, request, response);

This will serve the error.html file, from under the file root directory, with a 500 status code. For example, you could serve an error page, when the initial request wasn't found:

require('http').createServer(function (request, response) {
    request.addListener('end', function () {
        fileServer.serve(request, response, function (e, res) {
            if (e && (e.status === 404)) { // If the file wasn't found
                fileServer.serveFile('/not-found.html', request, response);
            }
        });
    });
}).listen(8080);

More on intercepting errors bellow.

An optional callback can be passed as last argument, it will be called every time a file has been served successfully, or if there was an error serving the file:

var fileServer = new static.Server('./public');

require('http').createServer(function (request, response) {
    request.addListener('end', function () {
        fileServer.serve(request, response, function (err, result) {
            if (err) { // There was an error serving the file
                sys.error("Error serving " + request.url + " - " + err.message);

                // Respond to the client
                response.writeHead(err.status, err.headers);
                response.end();
            }
        });
    });
}).listen(8080);

Note that if you pass a callback, and there is an error serving the file, node-static will not respond to the client. This gives you the opportunity to re-route the request, or handle it differently.

For example, you may want to interpret a request as a static request, but if the file isn't found, send it to an application.

If you only want to listen for errors, you can use event listeners:

fileServer.serve(request, response).addListener('error', function (err) {
    sys.error("Error serving " + request.url + " - " + err.message);
});

With this method, you don't have to explicitly send the response back, in case of an error.

Sets the Cache-Control header.

example: { cache: 7200 }

Passing a number will set the cache duration to that number of seconds. Passing false will disable the Cache-Control header.

Defaults to 3600

Sets response headers.

example: { 'X-Hello': 'World!' }

defaults to {}