miniserve is a single binary that serves any directory or file over HTTP in one command. Point it at a folder and it renders a browsable, searchable file listing with correct MIME types — the fastest way to hand a colleague a large file, browse a build artefact folder, or share a folder on the local network without standing up a web server.

What it does

• Serves a directory or a single file over HTTP with no configuration file
• Correct MIME type handling out of the box, so browsers open files instead of downloading blobs
• Search and filter the listing by file or directory name
• Folder download compressed on the fly as .tar.gz or .zip
• Uploads and directory creation from the browser, including photo uploads from a phone
• HTTP Basic authentication with a plain or hashed password, plus random six-hexdigit URLs and generated QR codes for temporary sharing
• TLS support, range requests, WebDAV and a healthcheck route at /__miniserve_internal/healthcheck
• Light and dark themes, README.md rendering in the listing, and shell completions

Why it is quick to run

The release binaries are static and cross-platform, so there is nothing to install around them: one binary plus a path. It is equally available from cargo (cargo install miniserve), from distribution packages, or as a Docker image when you would rather not touch the host at all. Written in Rust on Actix, it streams files in parallel and handles large directory trees without falling over.

Where it fits

miniserve is a sharing and viewing tool rather than a sync service — it shows whatever the filesystem currently holds, with no accounts, indexes or persistent state. That makes it a good fit for LAN file drops, pulling logs off a server, or exposing a read-only artefact directory behind a token URL, and a poor fit for anything needing versioning or per-user libraries.

Alternatives

• copyparty — a single-file Python server with search, uploads and WebDAV
• PsiTransfer — browser based file transfer with resumable uploads