# vercel/serve

Static file serving and directory listing

Repository: https://github.com/vercel/serve
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vercel-serve
Homepage: https://npmjs.com/package/serve
Language: TypeScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: cli, command, http, node
Last push: 2026-06-30T19:11:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 41, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3780, "days_push": 64, "days_rel": 183, "gap_med": 251.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 9896, forks 703 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:37.635799+00:00)

## What it is
A Node.js CLI tool and library for serving static files and single-page applications with a built-in directory listing UI. Its core, serve-handler, can also be used as middleware in existing HTTP servers.

## Use cases
- preview a static site locally before deploying
- serve a single page application during development
- share files on the local network
- browse a directory's contents in the browser
- add static file handling as middleware to an existing node http server
- quickly serve a folder with npx serve

## When to choose
- you need a zero-config static file server for local development or previews
- you want a clean directory listing UI out of the box
- you want a programmable static file handler as Node.js middleware

## When to avoid
- you need a production-grade web server with TLS, load balancing, or dynamic backend logic
- you are deploying to a platform like Vercel that serves static assets for you
- you need advanced features like WebDAV or authentication

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: http-server, cli
- domain: web-development, developer-tools
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: static-files, directory-listing, spa, local-development, serve-handler, command-line, nodejs

## Member repositories
- vercel/serve (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:37.635799+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:20:21.148858+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vercel/serve (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:37.635799+00:00, sha 01f3cda78fd8)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/serve (fetched 2026-08-29T08:20:25.394366+00:00, sha 16afe4ad7767)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.