README.org
May 17, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
#+title: simple-httpd
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A simple Emacs web server.
This used to be =httpd.el= but there are already several of these out there already of varying usefulness. The server can serve files, directory listings and custom servlets. Client requests are sanitized, but the server is vulnerable to denial of service attacks, so it should only be used for local development or automation. We make no guarantees regarding security.
This package is available on [[https://melpa.org/][MELPA]] and [[https://nongnu.elpa.org/][ELPA]].
** Usage
Once loaded, there are only two interactive functions to worry about: =httpd-start= and =httpd-stop=. By default, files are served from =httpd-root= on port =httpd-port=. To disable, set =httpd-serve-files= to =nil=. Directory listings are enabled by default but can be disabled by setting =httpd-listings= to =nil=.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp (require 'simple-httpd) (setq httpd-root "/var/www") (httpd-start) #+end_src
** Servlets
Servlets can be defined with =httpd-servlet=. They are enabled by default but can be disabled by setting =httpd-servlets= to =nil=. This one creates at servlet at =/hello-world= that says hello.
#+begin_src emacs-lisp (httpd-servlet hello-world text/plain (path) (insert "hello, " (file-name-nondirectory path))) #+end_src
Another example at =/greeting/
#+begin_src emacs-lisp (httpd-servlet* greeting/:name text/plain ((greeting "hi" greeting-p)) (insert (format "%s, %s (provided: %s)" greeting name greeting-p))) #+end_src
See the comment header in =simple-httpd.el= for full details.
** Unit tests
The unit tests can be run with =make test=. The tests do some mocking to avoid using network code during testing.
** Related packages
Packages built on simple-httpd: