httpwatcher

library0.5.2pypypiunverified

httpwatcher is a Python library and command-line utility for serving static files with live reload functionality, primarily intended for web development. It leverages the Tornado asynchronous web framework for its HTTP and WebSocket server capabilities. The current version is 0.5.2. Releases appear to be ad-hoc, tied to development needs rather than a fixed cadence.

web-framework http-networking

pip install httpwatcher

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · HTTPWATCHER

httpwatcher

web-frameworkpythonv0.5.2

Install

3.5s avg

Import

460ms

Disk

26MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.5.2 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.940 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.095s · 27.3MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.940 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 3.5s · import 0.089s · 28MB

26MB installed

● package 26MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

watch

✓ import httpwatcher httpwatcher.watch(...)

Convenience method to quickly set up and run a server.

HttpWatcherServer

✓ from httpwatcher import HttpWatcherServer

For more fine-grained control over the server and I/O loop.

This example demonstrates how to set up and run an `httpwatcher` server programmatically. It serves files from a 'my_static_app' directory, includes a basic `index.html` file, and starts the server on `http://127.0.0.1:5555`. Changes to files in 'my_static_app' would trigger a live reload in connected browsers. The `open_browser=False` argument is used for programmatic control.

import os from httpwatcher import HttpWatcherServer from tornado.ioloop import IOLoop # Create a dummy directory and file for demonstration if not os.path.exists('my_static_app'): os.makedirs('my_static_app') with open('my_static_app/index.html', 'w') as f: f.write('<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Test</title></head><body><h1>Hello, httpwatcher!</h1></body></html>') # Instantiate the server server = HttpWatcherServer( root='my_static_app', host='127.0.0.1', port=5555, base_path='/', open_browser=False, verbose=True ) # Start the server (usually in a separate thread or process for non-blocking operations) # For a quick runnable example, we'll run it directly, which will block. # In a real application, you might use IOLoop.current().start() in a thread. print(f"Serving 'my_static_app' at http://127.0.0.1:5555") print("Press Ctrl+C to stop.") try: server.start() # This blocks the current thread except KeyboardInterrupt: print("Server stopped.") finally: server.stop() # Clean up dummy files/directories os.remove('my_static_app/index.html') os.rmdir('my_static_app')

httpwatcher --version

Debug

Known issues

gotchaThis Python library 'httpwatcher' is distinct from the 'HttpWatch' browser extension for HTTP debugging. Searching for issues or documentation might lead to irrelevant results for the browser tool.

fix

Always qualify searches with 'python library' or 'pypi' when looking for information on this specific package.

affects: All versions

breakinghttpwatcher is explicitly designed for development purposes and is NOT intended for production environments. It has 'only basic security checks' and may have critical vulnerabilities not addressed in smaller sub-projects.

fix

Do not deploy applications using `httpwatcher` as a production web server. Use production-ready web servers like Nginx, Apache, Gunicorn, or uWSGI instead.

affects: All versions

gotchaThe live reload functionality relies on injecting `<script>` tags before the `</body>` closing tag. HTML content without a `</body>` tag (e.g., partial HTML files or non-HTML content) will not receive the live reload script injection.

fix

Ensure that all HTML files intended for live reloading contain a `</body>` tag. For non-HTML content, live reload will not function as expected.

affects: All versions

Upgrade

Version history

0.5.2latest on PyPI · released Nov 14, 2018

Audit

Dependencies

tornadorequiredCore asynchronous web framework for HTTP and WebSocket server.

Agent activity

6 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/thanethomson/httpwatcher ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/httpwatcher/ ↗