docs » hs.httpserver

Simple HTTP server

Notes:

Submodules

API Overview

API Documentation

Functions

new
Signature hs.httpserver.new([ssl], [bonjour]) -> object
Type Function
Description

Creates a new HTTP or HTTPS server

Parameters:

  • ssl - An optional boolean. If true, the server will start using HTTPS. Defaults to false.
  • bonjour - An optional boolean. If true, the server will advertise itself with Bonjour. Defaults to true. Note that in order to change this, you must supply a true or false value for the ssl argument.

Returns:

  • An hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • By default, the server will start on a random TCP port and advertise itself with Bonjour. You can check the port with hs.httpserver:getPort()
  • By default, the server will listen on all network interfaces. You can override this with hs.httpserver:setInterface() before starting the server
  • Currently, in HTTPS mode, the server will use a self-signed certificate, which most browsers will warn about. If you want/need to be able to use hs.httpserver with a certificate signed by a trusted Certificate Authority, please file an bug on Hammerspoon requesting support for this.

Methods

getInterface
Signature hs.httpserver:getInterface() -> string or nil
Type Method
Description

Gets the network interface the server is configured to listen on

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • A string containing the network interface name, or nil if the server will listen on all interfaces
getName
Signature hs.httpserver:getName() -> string
Type Method
Description

Gets the Bonjour name the server is configured to advertise itself as

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • A string containing the Bonjour name of this server

Notes:

  • This is not the hostname of the server, just its name in Bonjour service lists (e.g. Safari's Bonjour bookmarks menu)
getPort
Signature hs.httpserver:getPort() -> number
Type Method
Description

Gets the TCP port the server is configured to listen on

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • A number containing the TCP port
maxBodySize
Signature hs.httpserver:maxBodySize([size]) -> object | current-value
Type Method
Description

Get or set the maximum allowed body size for an incoming HTTP request.

Parameters:

  • size - An optional integer value specifying the maximum body size allowed for an incoming HTTP request in bytes. Defaults to 10485760 (10 MB).

Returns:

  • If a new size is specified, returns the hs.httpserver object; otherwise the current value.

Notes:

  • Because the Hammerspoon http server processes incoming requests completely in memory, this method puts a limit on the maximum size for a POST or PUT request.
send
Signature hs.httpserver:send(message) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sends a message to the websocket client

Parameters:

  • message - A string containing the message to send

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object
setCallback
Signature hs.httpserver:setCallback([callback]) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sets the request handling callback for an HTTP server object

Parameters:

  • callback - An optional function that will be called to process each incoming HTTP request, or nil to remove an existing callback. See the notes section below for more information about this callback

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • The callback will be passed four arguments:
    • A string containing the type of request (i.e. GET/POST/DELETE/etc)
    • A string containing the path element of the request (e.g. /index.html)
    • A table containing the request headers
    • A string containing the raw contents of the request body, or the empty string if no body is included in the request.
  • The callback must return three values:
    • A string containing the body of the response
    • An integer containing the response code (e.g. 200 for a successful request)
    • A table containing additional HTTP headers to set (or an empty table, {}, if no extra headers are required)

Notes:

  • A POST request, often used by HTML forms, will store the contents of the form in the body of the request.
setInterface
Signature hs.httpserver:setInterface(interface) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sets the network interface the server is configured to listen on

Parameters:

  • interface - A string containing an interface name

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • As well as real interface names (e.g. en0) the following values are valid:
    • An IP address of one of your interfaces
    • localhost
    • loopback
    • nil (which means all interfaces, and is the default)
setName
Signature hs.httpserver:setName(name) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sets the Bonjour name the server should advertise itself as

Parameters:

  • name - A string containing the Bonjour name for the server

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • This is not the hostname of the server, just its name in Bonjour service lists (e.g. Safari's Bonjour bookmarks menu)
setPassword
Signature hs.httpserver:setPassword([password]) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sets a password for an HTTP server object

Parameters:

  • password - An optional string that contains the server password, or nil to remove an existing password

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • It is not currently possible to set multiple passwords for different users, or passwords only on specific paths
setPort
Signature hs.httpserver:setPort(port) -> object
Type Method
Description

Sets the TCP port the server is configured to listen on

Parameters:

  • port - An integer containing a TCP port to listen on

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object
start
Signature hs.httpserver:start() -> object
Type Method
Description

Starts an HTTP server object

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object
stop
Signature hs.httpserver:stop() -> object
Type Method
Description

Stops an HTTP server object

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object
websocket
Signature hs.httpserver:websocket(path, callback) -> object
Type Method
Description

Enables a websocket endpoint on the HTTP server

Parameters:

  • path - A string containing the websocket path such as '/ws'
  • callback - A function returning a string for each recieved websocket message

Returns:

  • The hs.httpserver object

Notes:

  • The callback is passed one string parameter containing the received message
  • The callback must return a string containing the response message
  • Given a path '/mysock' and a port of 8000, the websocket URL is as follows:
    • ws://localhost:8000/mysock
    • wss://localhost:8000/mysock (if SSL enabled)