Express.js-like HTTP server library for NodeMCU

About

This HTTP server library is very similar to the popular node.js module express.js.
It's extremely intuitive and easy to use thus and I'm making the interface as similar as possible.
The library is written in Lua.

Features (current and upcoming)

Go to the project site.

Serving files

Serving files is really easy and can be done with a single line of code. Example of serving the file home.html at url /home:

app:use('/home',express.static('home.html'))

To serve all files that are in a certain directory, let's say the directory is called foo, you can do:

app:use('/example',express.static('foo'))

If you have a file called foo/test.html on your ESP8266 module and it's IP is 192.168.1.10, then you will be able to access it by visiting http://192.168.1.10/example/text.html.

Routes

A route consists of a URL path and a function. Whenever someone visits the URL path, the function gets called.
For instance:

-- Create a new route at `/led-on` an the connected function turns an LED on
app:get('/led-on',function(req,res)
    gpio.write(4, gpio.HIGH) -- set GPIO 2 to HIGH
    res:send('Led turned on!')
end)

We always start our path with /. If your ESP8266 has the IP 192.168.1.111 then you can open the route /led-on by typing http://192.168.1.111/led-on into your browser.

Middlewares

A middleware consists of a function that gets called every time someone make an http request to our ESP8266 module.
Using a middleware we can easily extend the functionality of our http server.
For instance to add a cookie parser, a request logger, an authentication mechanism and muuuuuch more.
Here is an example for a request logger:

app:use(function(req,res,next) 
    print('New request!' .. ' Method: ' .. req.method .. ' URL: ' .. req.url)
    next()
end)

Example

For a full example go here: example.lua

Here is the short version:

require('HttpServer')

local app = express.new()
app:listen()

-- Define a new middleware that prints the url of every request
app:use(function(req,res,next) 
    print(req.url)
    next()
end)

-- Define a new route that just returns an html site that says "HELLO WORLD!"
app:get('/helloworld',function(req,res)
    res:send('<html><head></head><body>HELLO WORLD!</body></html>')
end)

-- Serve the file `home.html` when visiting `/home`
app:use('/home',express.static('home.html'))

-- Serve all files that are in the folder `http` at url `/libs/...`
-- (To be more accurate I'm talking about all files starting with `http/`.)
app:use('/libs',express.static('http'))

Of course your ESP8266 needs to be connected to your WiFi or your ESP8266 has to host an AP that you are connecting to.

How to use it

Just upload HttpServer.lua to your ESP8266, then you can use require('HttpServer') just like in my example in yourinit.lua`.

Need help? Have a feature request? Found a bug?

Create an issue right here on github.

T-vK / NodeMCU-Express

readme