Go File Server & JSON DB

A powerful, standalone static file server written in Go, featuring virtual hosting, automatic hosts file management, a built-in JSON database API, and system tray integration.

Features

• Virtual Hosting: Serve different folders for different domains (e.g., myserver.local, docs.local).
• Auto-Hosts Configuration: Automatically adds configured domains to your Windows hosts file (requires Administrator privileges).
• JSON Database API: A built-in REST API to read and write JSON files, enabling backend-less frontend development.
• System Tray Integration: Runs silently in the background with a system tray icon and "Quit" option.
• Auto-Open Browser: Optionally opens your default browser to the configured sites on startup.
• Zero-Config Deployment: compiles to a single start.exe (plus config.xml).

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Go (if building from source)
• Windows OS (for hosts file automation and system tray)

Building the Project

To build the project effectively, you need to create two executables: one for the main server (background) and one for the stop utility.

1. Build the Server (Headless/Background)

   go build -ldflags "-H=windowsgui" -o start.exe main.go icon.go

2. Build the Stop Utility

   go build -o stop.exe stop.go

Configuration

Server behavior is controlled via config.xml in the same directory.

<Config>
    <Port>9000</Port>
    <Sites>
        <Site>
            <Domain>myserver.local</Domain>
            <Path>.</Path>
            <AutoOpen>true</AutoOpen>
        </Site>
        <Site>
            <Domain>docs.local</Domain>
            <Path>./docs</Path>
            <!-- AutoOpen defaults to false if omitted -->
        </Site>
    </Sites>
</Config>

• Port: The HTTP port to listen on.
• Sites: List of site configurations.
  • Domain: The hostname to listen for.
  • Path: The local directory (or file) to serve for this domain.
  • AutoOpen: If true, opens this URL in the browser on startup.

Usage

1. Start the Server: Double-click start.exe.

   • It will appear in your System Tray.
   • If running as Administrator, it will update C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts automatically.
   • Logs are written to server.log.

2. Stop the Server:

   • Right-click the System Tray icon and select Quit.
   • OR run stop.exe.

JSON Database API

The server exposes a simple API to read/write JSON files located in the db/ directory.

Endpoint: /api/db/<filename>

• GET /api/db/users

  • Returns the content of db/users.json.
  • Returns {} if the file does not exist.

• POST /api/db/users

  • Overwrites db/users.json with the request body (JSON).
  • returns {"status": "ok"} on success.

Example Usage (JavaScript)

// Read
fetch('/api/db/guestbook')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

// Write
fetch('/api/db/guestbook', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({ entries: [...] })
});