Simple HTTP Server

A lightweight HTTP server implementation built with Node.js and TypeScript that handles basic HTTP requests.

Overview

This server is a minimalistic implementation of HTTP protocol handling, capable of:

• Serving static responses
• Echoing content from URL paths
• Responding with the client's User-Agent
• Basic file operations (reading and writing)

Features

• Basic HTTP Response: Returns a 200 OK status code for requests to the root path (/)
• Echo Service: Echoes content from URL path with proper content types (/echo/{content})
• User-Agent Information: Returns the client's User-Agent header (/user-agent)
• File Operations: Supports reading and writing files (/files/{filename})
  • GET: Retrieve file contents
  • POST: Create or update files

Requirements

• Node.js (v14.x or later recommended)
• TypeScript

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ronitrajfr/http-server.git
   cd http-server

2. Install dependencies:

   bun install

Usage

Start the server with an optional directory for file operations:

bun run dev --directory <path-to-directory>

The server will listen on localhost port 4221.

API Endpoints

Root (/)

• Method: GET
• Description: Returns a 200 OK response
• Response: Empty body with 200 OK status

Echo (/echo/{content})

• Method: GET
• Description: Echoes the content from the URL path
• Response: Content from URL with appropriate Content-Type
• Example: /echo/hello returns "hello"
• Content Types:
  • Default: text/plain
  • .html extension: text/html
  • .json extension: application/json
  • .png extension: image/png

User-Agent (/user-agent)

• Method: GET
• Description: Returns the User-Agent header from the request
• Response: User-Agent string with text/plain Content-Type

Files (/files/{filename})

• Methods: GET, POST
• Description: Read or write files in the specified directory
• GET Response: File contents with application/octet-stream Content-Type
• POST Request: File content in request body
• POST Response: 201 Created on success
• Notes: Requires the --directory parameter when starting the server

Error Handling

• 404 Not Found: Returned for non-existent routes or files
• 405 Method Not Allowed: Returned for unsupported HTTP methods
• 500 Internal Server Error: Returned for file operation failures

Implementation Details

The server implements HTTP request parsing from scratch:

• Parses request line and headers from raw TCP socket data
• Handles request routing based on path and method
• Manages appropriate content types and response formats
• Processes file operations asynchronously

Examples

Echo Example

curl -v http://localhost:4221/echo/hello

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Length: 5

hello

File Upload Example

curl -v -X POST -d 'Hello, File!' http://localhost:4221/files/test.txt

Response:

HTTP/1.1 201 Created

File Retrieval Example

curl -v http://localhost:4221/files/test.txt

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Length: 12

Hello, File!

License

MIT