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Basics

Warning

You can only start one server in your script

Although not required, it is recommended to import the Pode module using a maximum version, to avoid any breaking changes from new major versions:

Import-Module -Name Pode -MaximumVersion 2.99.99

The script for your server should be set in the Start-PodeServer function, via the -ScriptBlock parameter. The following example will listen over HTTP on port 8080, and expose a simple HTML page of running processes at http://localhost:8080/processes:

Start-PodeServer {
    # attach to port 8080 for http
    Add-PodeEndpoint -Address * -Port 8080 -Protocol Http

    # a simple page for displaying services
    Add-PodePage -Name 'processes' -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }
}

To start the server you can either:

  • Directly run the ./server.ps1 script, or
  • If you've created a package.json file, ensure the ./server.ps1 script is set as your main or scripts/start, then just run pode start (more here)

Terminating

Once your Pode server has started, you can terminate it at any time using Ctrl+C. If you want to disable your server from being terminated then use the -DisableTermination switch on the Start-PodeServer function.

Restarting

You can restart your Pode server by using Ctrl+R, or on Unix you can also use Shift+C and Shift+R as well. When the server restarts it will only re-invoke the initial -ScriptBlock, so any changes made to this main scriptblock will not be reflected - you'll need to terminate and start your server again.

Script from File

You can also define your server's scriptblock in a separate file, and use it via the -FilePath parameter on the Start-PodeServer function.

Using this approach there are 2 ways to start you server:

  1. You can put your scriptblock into a separate file, and put your Start-PodeServer call into another script. This other script is then what you call on the CLI.
  2. You can directly call Start-PodeServer on the CLI.

When you call Start-PodeServer directly on the CLI, then your server's root path will be set to directory of that file. You can override this behaviour by either defining a path via -RootPath, or by telling the server to use the current working path as root via -CurrentPath.

For example, the following is a file that contains the same scriptblock for the server at the top of this page. Following that are the two ways to run the server - the first is via another script, and the second is directly from the CLI:

  • File.ps1

    {
        # attach to port 8080 for http
        Add-PodeEndpoint -Address * -Port 8080 -Protocol Http
    
        # a simple page for displaying services
        Add-PodePage -Name 'processes' -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }
    }
    

  • Server.ps1 (start via script)

    Start-PodeServer -FilePath './File.ps1'
    
    then use ./Server.ps1 on the CLI.

  • CLI (start from CLI)

    PS> Start-PodeServer -FilePath './File.ps1'
    

Tip

Normally when you restart your Pode server any changes to the main scriptblock don't reflect. However, if you reference a file instead, then restarting the server will reload the scriptblock from that file - so any changes will reflect.