# lws > A lean, modular web server for rapid full-stack development Latest version **4.2.1** (published 2026-07-06) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install lws pnpm add lws yarn add lws bun add lws ``` Provides the command `lws`. ## Health **Score 55/100 (C)** — status: active. Positive: esm support; no vulnerabilities; recently updated. Warnings: low downloads; no types. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 4.2.1 | | Published | 2026-07-06 | | First published | 2016-07-06 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=12.20 | | Dependencies | 14 | | Unpacked size | 48.4 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 53 | | Author | Lloyd Brookes | | Maintainers | 75lb | | Keywords | lws, server, http, http2, https, backend, http-server, dev, web | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/lws - Repository: https://github.com/lwsjs/lws - Homepage: https://github.com/lwsjs/lws#readme - Issues: https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/lws ## Dependencies (14) - [koa](https://npm.io/package/koa.md) ^2.16.4 - [open](https://npm.io/package/open.md) ^8.4.2 - [typical](https://npm.io/package/typical.md) ^7.3.0 - [byte-size](https://npm.io/package/byte-size.md) ^9.0.1 - [walk-back](https://npm.io/package/walk-back.md) ^5.1.2 - [array-back](https://npm.io/package/array-back.md) ^6.2.3 - [load-module](https://npm.io/package/load-module.md) ^5.0.0 - [create-mixin](https://npm.io/package/create-mixin.md) ^3.0.0 - [qrcode-terminal](https://npm.io/package/qrcode-terminal.md) ^0.12.0 - [@75lb/deep-merge](https://npm.io/package/@75lb/deep-merge.md) ^1.1.4 - [command-line-args](https://npm.io/package/command-line-args.md) ^6.0.2 - [command-line-usage](https://npm.io/package/command-line-usage.md) ^7.0.4 - [current-module-paths](https://npm.io/package/current-module-paths.md) ^1.1.3 - [ansi-escape-sequences](https://npm.io/package/ansi-escape-sequences.md) ^6.2.4 ## Alternatives - [@opentelemetry/exporter-zipkin](https://npm.io/package/@opentelemetry/exporter-zipkin.md) — 14.8M weekly downloads - [pusher-js](https://npm.io/package/pusher-js.md) — 2.0M weekly downloads - [browserify](https://npm.io/package/browserify.md) — 1.7M weekly downloads - [sqs-consumer](https://npm.io/package/sqs-consumer.md) — 1.7M weekly downloads - [@sanity/eventsource](https://npm.io/package/@sanity/eventsource.md) — 930.8K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 4.2.1 (latest) — 2026-07-06 - 4.0.0-2 (next) — 2021-06-09 - 4.2.0 — 2024-08-29 - 4.1.5 — 2024-08-01 - 4.1.4 — 2024-07-20 - 4.1.3 — 2024-07-20 - 4.1.2 — 2022-05-28 - 4.1.1 — 2021-10-09 - 4.1.0 — 2021-08-06 - 4.0.2 — 2021-07-15 - 4.0.1 — 2021-07-06 - 4.0.0 — 2021-07-06 - 4.0.0-1 — 2021-06-03 - 4.0.0-0 — 2021-06-02 - 3.1.0 — 2020-05-17 - … 68 more at https://npm.io/package/lws/versions ## README [![view on npm](https://badgen.net/npm/v/lws)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/lws) [![npm module downloads](https://badgen.net/npm/dt/lws)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/lws) [![Gihub repo dependents](https://badgen.net/github/dependents-repo/lwsjs/lws)](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/network/dependents?dependent_type=REPOSITORY) [![Gihub package dependents](https://badgen.net/github/dependents-pkg/lwsjs/lws)](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/network/dependents?dependent_type=PACKAGE) [![Node.js CI](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/actions/workflows/node.js.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/actions/workflows/node.js.yml) # lws A lean, modular web server for rapid full-stack development. Lws is an application core for quickly launching a local web server. Behaviour is added via plugins giving you full control over how requests are processed and responses created. * Supports HTTP, HTTPS and HTTP2. * Small and 100% personalisable. Load and use only the behaviour required by your project. * Attach a custom view to personalise how activity is visualised. * Programmatic and command-line APIs. ## Synopsis ### Core usage Launch an HTTP server on the default port of 8000. ``` $ lws Listening at http://mba4.local:8000, http://127.0.0.1:8000, http://192.168.0.200:8000 ``` For HTTPS or HTTP2, pass the `--https` or `--http2` flags respectively. ``` $ lws --http2 Listening at https://mba4.local:8000, https://127.0.0.1:8000, https://192.168.0.200:8000 ``` Now your server is running, the next step is to attach some middleware to process requests. ### Using middleware plugins Install and use some middleware ([lws-static](https://github.com/lwsjs/static) and [lws-index](https://github.com/lwsjs/index)) to serve static files and directory listings. ``` $ npm install --save-dev lws-static lws-index $ lws --stack lws-static lws-index Listening at http://mba4.local:8000, http://127.0.0.1:8000, http://192.168.0.200:8000 ``` The current directory will now be available to explore at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`. Install and use logging middleware. Note the `lws-` prefix is optional when supplying module names to `--stack`. ``` $ npm install --save-dev lws-log $ lws --stack log static index --log.format combined Listening at http://mba4.local:8000, http://127.0.0.1:8000, http://192.168.0.200:8000 ::ffff:127.0.0.1 - GET /lws.config.js HTTP/1.1 200 52 - 8.259 ms ::ffff:127.0.0.1 - GET /package.json HTTP/1.1 200 399 - 1.478 ms ``` ### Creating a custom middleware plugin Lws uses [Koa](https://github.com/koajs/koa/) as its middleware engine. Here is a trivial plugin example, save the following code as `example-middleware.js`: ```js class ExamplePlugin { middleware () { return async (ctx, next) => { ctx.body = 'Hello from lws!' await next() } } } export default ExamplePlugin ``` Now launch an HTTP server using this middleware. ``` $ lws --stack example-middleware.js Listening at http://mba4.local:8000, http://127.0.0.1:8000, http://192.168.0.200:8000 $ curl http://127.0.0.1:8000 Hello from lws! ``` ## Install ``` $ npm install --save-dev lws ``` ## Documentation * API Reference * [Lws](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/blob/master/doc/lws.md) * [Middleware plugin](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/blob/master/doc/middleware-plugin.md) * [View plugin](https://github.com/lwsjs/lws/blob/master/doc/view-plugin.md) ## See also * [lws plugin list](https://npms.io/search?q=keywords%3Alws-middleware). * [local-web-server](https://github.com/lwsjs/local-web-server), an lws distribution with the most common plugins already installed. * * * © 2016-26 Lloyd Brookes \. Documented by [jsdoc-to-markdown](https://github.com/jsdoc2md/jsdoc-to-markdown). --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/lws · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._