`express.static()`

Built-in middleware that serves static files from a directory.

Since Express 4.16 Spec ↗

Syntax

express.static(root[, options])

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`root`	`string`	Yes	The directory to serve files from.
`options`	`object`	No	`maxAge`, `index`, `dotfiles`, `etag`, `immutable`, `extensions`, `fallthrough`.

Returns

function — A middleware function.

Examples

app.use(express.static('public'));
// public/style.css is now served at /style.css

Output

$ curl localhost:3000/style.css
body { margin: 0 }

app.use('/assets', express.static('dist', {
  maxAge: '1y',
  immutable: true,
}));

Output

Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable

Notes

Sets caching headers and supports range requests automatically. Use a long `maxAge` with content-hashed filenames for cache busting. By default it does not serve dotfiles. Mount it after security middleware and before catch-all routes.