Dev Server

A very simple development server built on top of HttpListener. Intended to be embedded in command line applications.

• Works in CoreRT with AOT compilation (no reflection). This is the main benefit over embedding Kestrel.
• Supports serving local files, default index.html, and directory listings
• Supports a simple, optional "live-reload" workflow
• targets dotnet standard
• Fully async
• About 350 lines of unit-tested, commented code.

Usage

using(var server = new HttpServer("C:\path\to\webroot\", "localhost", 8080, enableAutorefresh: false))
{
    server.Start(CancellationToken.None); // or a cancellation token, if you require cancellation
    Console.ReadKey("server started");
} // server will end when it is disposed or the cancellation token is triggered

If you're using the autorefresh (i.e. "live reload"), call server.SendClientRefresh() to trigger a browser refresh. This is most often called in an event handler, like FileSystemWatcher.Changed.

Installing

Right now there's no nuget package; if you want one, open a GitHub issue and I'll create a package!

Development

• HttpServer: the main user entry point. Its responsibility is managing the .NET HttpListener API
• RequestHandler: maps an http request to an http response
• HttpServerResponse: a model of an http response, contains some static functions to create common response types, like static files or 404 errors.