#Development

srvkit provides a live-reloading dev server that updates in place when your files change. There is no restart — the fetch, error, and middleware handlers are swapped without dropping connections.

#Starting the dev server

When you run the dev command for your build tool, srvkit starts a development server:

vite dev

rsbuild dev

The server starts on localhost:3001 by default and watches your entry file for changes.

#Entry file

By default, srvkit looks for the entry file at ./src/index.ts, falling back to ./src/index.js if the TypeScript file does not exist. You can override this with the entry option:

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { srvkit } from "@srvkit/vite/plugin";

export default defineConfig({
    plugins: [
        srvkit({
            entry: "./src/server.ts",
        }),
    ],
});

import { defineConfig } from "@rsbuild/core";
import { pluginSrvkit } from "@srvkit/rsbuild/plugin";

export default defineConfig({
    plugins: [
        pluginSrvkit({
            entry: "./src/server.ts",
        }),
    ],
});

#How live reload works

On startup, srvkit reads the default export from your entry file and starts serving requests through the fetch handler.

When a file change is detected, the module is re-imported. The new options are passed to the live server, which swaps the handlers in place. In-flight requests continue on the old handler — no connections are dropped.

If a module reload fails (for example, due to a syntax error), srvkit keeps serving the previous working handler so your dev server remains responsive. The Vite plugin retries failed reloads up to three times with increasing backoff.

#Configuration

Dev server options are set through the plugin configuration:

import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { srvkit } from "@srvkit/vite/plugin";

export default defineConfig({
    plugins: [
        srvkit({
            dev: {
                host: "0.0.0.0",
                port: 4000,
            },
        }),
    ],
});

import { defineConfig } from "@rsbuild/core";
import { pluginSrvkit } from "@srvkit/rsbuild/plugin";

export default defineConfig({
    plugins: [
        pluginSrvkit({
            dev: {
                host: "0.0.0.0",
                port: 4000,
            },
        }),
    ],
});

#dev.host

The hostname the dev server binds to. Defaults to localhost.

Set to "0.0.0.0" to make the server accessible on your local network.

#dev.port

The port the dev server listens on. Defaults to 3001.

srvkit({
    dev: {
        port: 4001,
    },
});

#HTTPS

To enable HTTPS in development, provide certificate and key paths (or inline PEM content):

srvkit({
    dev: {
        https: {
            cert: "./certs/local.crt",
            key: "./certs/local.key",
            passphrase: "optional-passphrase",
        },
    },
});

The passphrase field is optional and only needed if your private key is encrypted.