IMPORTANT

There is a new project derived from this one: nodeSpeed IDE.

Since I’m not able to actively maintain this project, I encourage everyone interested to use and support the new one.

Brackets Server

Brackets Server is a server for providing hosted version of the popular code editor Brackets. The code editor can be loaded directly in the web browser and it doesn’t require additional installations or browser extensions. Brackets works just like the desktop version, except that all projects and files reside on the server instead of the local file system.

The server may be useful for remote development, real-time changes and testing, development form thin clients or devices such as tablets, or it could be used in conjunction with other web applications for collaboration.

To check the current verion of Brackets source used in the server, please see CHANGELOG.

Installation

Install from npm:

$ npm install brackets -g

Usage Examples

$ brackets --port 80 --proj-dir /var/projects --supp-dir /var/brackets

IMPORTANT: Make sure projects directory exists.

IMPORTANT: Brackets Server cannot work simultaneously on the same machine with the desktop Brackets because of port conflict in one of the build-in modules. The error thrown is: "Error: listen EADDRINUSE". To workaround this problem if you ever need to use bouth simultaneously, run Brackets Server in Docker container.

All arguments are optional.

Short Option	Long Option	Default Value	Description
-p <prot>	--port	6800	TCP port on which Brackets server is listening.
-j <dir>	--proj-dir	~/Projects	Root directory for projects. Directories above this root cannot be accessed.
-s <dir>	--supp-dir	~/.brackets-srv	Root directory for Brackets supporting files such as user extensions, configurations and state persistence.
-d	--user-domains	false	Allows Node domains to be loaded from user extensions.

NOTE: Some Brackets extensions require external Node.js process, called node domain. Node domains run on the server, thereby allowing arbitrary code to be executed on the server through custom extensions. Since this imposes very serious security and stability risks, Brackets Server will not load nor execute domains from user extensions, unless -d option is specified.

Embedding Brackets Server in Web Applications

Example with Express:

    var path        = require("path"),
        http        = require("http"),
        express     = require("express"),
        brackets    = require("brackets"),
        app         = express(),
        server      = http.createServer(app);

    app.get("/", function (req, res) {
        res.send("Hello World");
    });

    var bracketsOpts = {
        projectsDir: path.join(__dirname, ".."),
        supportDir: path.join(__dirname, "..", "/support")
    };
    brackets(server, bracketsOpts);

    server.listen(3000);

    console.log("Your application is availble at http://localhost:3000");
    console.log("You can access Brackets on http://localhost:3000/brackets/");

NOTE: The default values for projectsDir and supportDir are different when Brackets Server is initiated from code. They are respectively ./projects and ./brackets, relative to the current working directory.

Options:

Option	Default Value	Description
httpRoot	/brackets	Defines the root HTTP endpoint for Brackets Server (http://yourdomain.com/brackets).
projectsDir	./projects	Root directory for projects. Directories above this root cannot be accessed.
supportDir	./brackets	Root directory for Brackets supporting files such as user extensions, configurations and state persistence.
allowUserDomains	false	Allows Node domains to be loaded from user extensions.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING.md

License

(MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2012 Boyan Rabchev boyan@rabchev.com. All rights reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.