node-livereload
An implementation of the LiveReload server in Node.js. It's an alternative to the graphical http://livereload.com/ application, which monitors files for changes and reloads your web browser.
Example Usage
First, install the LiveReload browser plugins by visiting http://help.livereload.com/kb/general-use/browser-extensions.
To use livereload from the command line:
$ npm install -g livereload
$ livereload [path]
Or to use the api within a project:
$ npm install livereload
Then, simply create a server and fire it up.
livereload = require('livereload');
server = livereload.createServer();
server.watch(__dirname + "/public");
You can also use this with a Connect server:
connect = require('connect');
connect.createServer(
connect.compiler({ src: __dirname + "/public", enable: ['less'] }),
connect.staticProvider(__dirname + "/public")
).listen(3000);
livereload = require('livereload');
server = livereload.createServer({exts: ['less']});
server.watch(__dirname + "/public");
Watching multiple paths:
Passing an array of paths will allow you to watch multiple directories. All directories have the same configuration options.
server.watch([__dirname + "/js", __dirname + "/css"]);
Using originalPath option:
// server.js
var server = livereload.createServer({
originalPath: "http://domain.com"
});
server.watch('/User/Workspace/test');
$ node server.js
<!-- html -->
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://domain.com/css/style.css">
</head>
When /User/Workspace/test/css/style.css
modified, the stylesheet will be reload.
Command-line Options
The commandline options are
-p
or--port
to specify the listening port-i
or--interval
to specify the listening interval in milliseconds. Default is 1000.
Specify the path when using the options.
$ livereload . -i 200
API Options
The createServer()
method supports a few basic options, passed as a JavaScript object:
https
is an optional object of options to be passed to https.createServer (if not provided,http.createServer
is used instead)port
is the listening port. It defaults to35729
which is what the LiveReload extensions use currently.exts
is an array of extensions you want to observe. The default extensions arehtml
,css
,js
,png
,gif
,jpg
,php
,php5
,py
,rb
,erb
, and "coffee."applyJSLive
tells LiveReload to reload JavaScript files in the background instead of reloading the page. The default for this isfalse
.applyCSSLive
tells LiveReload to reload CSS files in the background instead of refreshing the page. The default for this istrue
.exclusions
lets you specify files to ignore. By default, this includes.git/
,.svn/
, and.hg/
originalPath
Set URL you use for development, e.g 'http:/domain.com', then LiveReload will proxy this url to local path.overrideURL
override the stylesheet href with your set.
Limitations
Right now this is extremely simple. It relies on polling so there's a delay in refreshing the browser. It could be faster.
License
Copyright (c) 2010-2014 Brian P. Hogan and Joshua Peek
Released under the MIT license. See LICENSE
for details.