httpit - lightweight HTTP server for Python

4 months ago 20

Ultra-fast, lightweight HTTP server for Python. httpit is a high-performance static file server built as a Python C extension, offering exceptional speed and efficiency.

Serve files from the current directory on port 8000:

Serve files from a specific directory:

Serve on a custom port:

Combine directory and port:

httpit /path/to/files 8080

🚀 Blazing Fast - Built in C with zero-copy sendfile() support
🪶 Lightweight - Minimal memory footprint and dependencies
🔧 Easy to Use - Simple command-line interface and Python API
📁 Directory Listing - Browse directories with built-in HTML interface
🔒 Security - Basic authentication and access control support
🌐 Modern Standards - HTTP/1.1, IPv6, Keep-Alive, Range requests
📊 Production Ready - Access logging, daemon mode, custom MIME types

# Serve current directory on port 8000 (default) httpit # Serve on specific port httpit 8080 # Serve specific directory httpit /var/www/html # Serve specific directory on specific port httpit /var/www/html 8080

# Enable debug output httpit -d # Disable directory listing httpit -F # Enable access logging httpit -l access.log # Bind to specific IP httpit -i 192.168.1.100 # Enable CORS headers httpit -C # Custom index file httpit -I index.php # Set connection timeout (seconds) httpit -t 30 # Set maximum connections httpit -c 100 # Run in background (daemon mode) httpit -D # Enable basic authentication httpit -a username:password # Serve specific virtual host httpit -n www.example.com # Custom mime types file httpit -m /etc/mime.types

# Production server with logging, authentication, and custom settings httpit /var/www/html 443 \ -D \ -l /var/log/httpit/access.log \ -a admin:secure_password \ -F \ -t 60 \ -c 1000

from httpit import HTTPServer # Create and start server server = HTTPServer(port=8080, root="/var/www/html") server.start() # Check if running if server.is_running(): print("Server is running") # Stop server server.stop()

from httpit import HTTPServer with HTTPServer(port=8080) as server: print(f"Serving at http://localhost:{server.port}") input("Press Enter to stop...")

from httpit import HTTPServer server = HTTPServer( port=8080, root="/var/www/html", host="www.example.com", # Virtual host bind_ip="0.0.0.0", # Bind address debug=True, # Debug output no_listing=True, # Disable directory listing auth="user:pass", # Basic auth log="access.log", # Access log cors="*", # CORS headers timeout=60, # Connection timeout max_connections=1000, # Max concurrent connections index="index.php" # Index file ) server.start()

Running in Background Thread

import threading from httpit import HTTPServer server = HTTPServer(port=8080) # Start in background thread thread = threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever) thread.daemon = True thread.start() # Your application continues running # ... # Stop when done server.stop()

httpit is designed for maximum performance:

Zero-copy file serving using sendfile() system call
Minimal memory allocations during request handling
Efficient event loop with epoll/kqueue support
Smart caching for directory listings and file metadata

Benchmark results show httpit can serve static files 2-5x faster than traditional Python web servers like http.server or SimpleHTTPServer.

Static file serving - Websites, documentation, downloads
Development server - Quick testing and prototyping
Media streaming - Video/audio files with range support
File sharing - Simple LAN file server
CDN origin - Backend for content delivery networks
Docker containers - Minimal footprint for containerized apps

Comparison with Alternatives

Feature httpit http.server nginx Apache

Performance	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ease of Use	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Memory Usage	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Features	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Python Integration	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐	⭐

httpit is designed for serving static files only
Always use -F flag to disable directory listing in production
Use authentication (-a) for sensitive content
Run as non-root user when possible
Consider using a reverse proxy for HTTPS in production

If you see "Port already in use" error:

# Find process using the port lsof -i :8000 # Or force kill any httpit processes pkill -f httpit

If serving from system directories:

# Use sudo (not recommended) sudo httpit /etc 8080 # Better: copy files to user directory cp -r /etc/myapp ~/myapp httpit ~/myapp

Run with debug flag to see errors:

httpit is a high-performance HTTP server for Python. For feature requests and issues, submit PRs to the httpit repository or visit https://httpit.rodmena.co.uk

GNU General Public License v2.0 (GPLv2)

httpit is developed and maintained by RODMENA LIMITED
High-performance C-based HTTP server with Python integration
Visit https://httpit.rodmena.co.uk for documentation and support

RODMENA LIMITED specializes in high-performance software solutions and web technologies. Visit us at https://rodmena.co.uk for more information about our services and products.

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