a webserver that reloads the page when zig build dev --watch rebuilds your content
try it with:
zig build dev --watch -Dopen-browser=index.html
and then edit src/index.html and have the browser tab reload.
Only POSIX is supported, since reloading requires fork() ing the server
to the background at the moment.
The next launch of the server will send a request to the old instance to kill it.
On html pages a small javascript is injected to check when the server was started. When the page receives a newer timestamp, a reload is triggered.
To stop the forked server when zig build dev --watch is stopped,
it sends kill(ppid, 0) signals back to it's parent process on request and end itself if needed.
Naturally, DO NOT USE THIS IN PRODUCTION. This is a development tool only.
// zig fetch --save git+https://github.com/dasimmet/zig-devserver.git
pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
const devserver = @import("devserver");
const run_devserver = devserver.serveDir(b, .{
// optionally provide a host ip. this is the default:
.host = "127.0.0.1",
// provide a port to listen on
.port = b.option(u16, "port", "dev server port") orelse 8080,
// optionally provide a path to open
.open_browser = b.option(
[]const u8,
"open-browser",
"open the os default webbbrowser on first server launch",
) orelse "/",
// either `serveInstall` => path in `zig-out`.
// makes the run step depend on the install step.
// alternatively, use `serveLazyPath` on sources or generated files
.directory = .serveInstall("www"),
});
// setup a `dev` top level step to run the server
b.step("dev", "run dev webserver").dependOn(&run_devserver.step);
}