A lightweight VS Code extension that serves your workspace files over HTTP with automatic live-reload. Built for Remote-SSH workflows — no browser extensions needed.
✨ Features
🚀 One-click serve
Right-click any file or folder → Open using LiveReload HTTP
♻️ Live reload
Auto-refreshes when HTML, CSS, JS, or images change on disk
🔌 Remote-SSH ready
Automatic port forwarding — local browser, remote files
📂 File & folder support
Serve a single file or browse a directory listing
🎲 Random or fixed port
Pick a port or let it choose one automatically
📊 Status bar
Shows the active port with server stats — click to start/stop
⚡ Zero config
Works out of the box — just install and go
🚀 Quick Start
Install the extension
Open a workspace over Remote-SSH (or locally)
The server starts automatically on activation
Right-click a file or folder → Open using LiveReload HTTP
Edit your files — the browser refreshes automatically
📖 How It Works
✏️ Save file → 🐍 Python HTTP Server → 🌐 Browser reloads
Extension spawns a threaded Python HTTP server in your workspace
HTML responses are injected with a tiny polling script
The script checks file modification times every second
When a change is detected, the browser reloads after a configurable delay
Linked resources (CSS, JS, images) are also tracked — edit a stylesheet and the page refreshes
🎮 Commands
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):
Command
Description
LiveReload HTTP: Start Server
Start the HTTP server
LiveReload HTTP: Stop Server
Stop the server and remove port forwarding
Open using LiveReload HTTP
Open the selected file/folder in the browser
💡 You can also click the HTTP status bar item to toggle the server.
⚙️ Settings
Setting
Default
Description
livereloadHttp.port
0
Server port (0 = random available port)
livereloadHttp.showInfoBar
true
Show an overlay bar with last update time
livereloadHttp.debug
false
Verbose logging in the Output channel
livereloadHttp.reloadDelay
0
Delay (ms) between file change and reload (0–10000)
livereloadHttp.directoryStyle
styled
Directory listing style: styled (dark theme) or default (Python built-in)
📦 Installation
Download the .vsix file
Ctrl+Shift+P → Extensions: Install from VSIX...
Select the .vsix file
Reload VS Code
📋 Requirements
Python 3 installed on the machine (remote or local)
⚠️ Limitations
Auto-reload only works for HTML files. The reload script is injected into HTML responses. Plain text files (.txt, .json, etc.) are served but won't auto-refresh — you'll need to manually reload the browser.
❓ Troubleshooting
Problem
Solution
Server won't start
Make sure python3 is installed and available in your PATH
Browser doesn't reload
Check that the file is inside the workspace folder
Port already in use
Set livereloadHttp.port to 0 (random) or pick a different port
No port forwarding
Ensure you're connected via Remote-SSH — forwarding is automatic
Changes not detected
Linked resources (CSS/JS) are tracked too — check the Output channel (LiveReload HTTP) for logs
Extension not activating
Run LiveReload HTTP: Start Server from the Command Palette
💡 Enable livereloadHttp.debug for verbose logging in the Output channel.
