perception30/echo-server

An HTTP server that echos the request/response headers, and allows you to control response details.

Node.js Echo Server

This HTTP server echos the request and response details, and allows you to craft custom HTTP responses based on request parameters.

Getting Started

Requirements: Node http://nodejs.org (version 2.6 or greater)

To run the server:

node echo-server.js

By default echo server runs on port 8124. You can run on a different port with the --port options:

node echo-server.js --port 12345

Usage

Trigger an HTTP 200 response: http://localhost:8124/200

Trigger an HTTP 404 response: http://localhost:8124/404

Trigger an HTTP 404 response with a custom message: http://localhost:8124/404?reasonPhrase=Oh%20No%21

Trigger an HTTP 200 response with a custom header: http://localhost:8124/200?headers.CustomHeader=foo

There are a lot more options and things you can do, including sending parameters as a serialized JSON object, sending an array of responses, and using conditionals to choose the appropriate response. I'll write up more soon, in the meantime, check the source.

Background

Testing client/server communications can be a pain. You either need to embed logging in your code, or fire up WireShark to view the requests/responses. And if you are debugging a server, the start server -> make request -> check logs -> stop server -> edit code cycle can be a real pain. This server helps with these situations by echoing your request/response headers, and also giving you fine-grained control over the response.

One example where this can be useful is testing a CORS preflight request (which is an HTTP OPTION request followed by another HTTP request). Testing this on a regular server would be a pain, but echo-server's "json" parameter gives you fine-grain, almost script-like control over responses or a series of responses.