Files

The Files module serves resources to clients, either one at a time with a fixed path or as a whole browsable directory tree. The content type of a file is automatically determined by its extension unless overridden.

Serving a Single File

Asset.From(...) accepts a resource, a FileInfo or a file path directly and serves it under the path it is mounted at:

var layout = Layout.Create()
                   .Add("agb.pdf", Asset.From("/var/www/documents/agb.pdf"));

In this example, the file would be available at http://localhost:8080/agb.pdf. To force a specific content type instead of guessing it from the extension, use .Type(...):

Asset.From("./data.bin").Type(ContentType.ApplicationOctetStream);

Downloads

To have the browser download the file instead of rendering it inline, call .AsDownload(...), optionally passing the file name to send to the client (falling back to the resource’s own name if omitted):

var layout = Layout.Create()
                   .Add("agb.pdf", Asset.From("/var/www/documents/agb.pdf").AsDownload());

Serving a Directory

Assets.From(...) serves a whole resource tree or directory, resolving the requested path against it:

var layout = Layout.Create();

// serve all embedded resources in the "Resources" sub folder of your project
var tree = ResourceTree.FromAssembly("Resources");

layout.Add("res", Assets.From(tree));

// or, directly from a folder on disk
layout.Add("res", Assets.From("./Resources"));

await Host.Create()
          .Handler(layout)
          .RunAsync();

For example, a stylesheet named main.css in the styles subfolder would be made available at http://localhost:8080/res/styles/main.css.

Precompressed Files

If your build already produces precompressed variants of your static assets (e.g. main.css.br next to main.css), AllowPrecompressed(...) lets the handler serve those directly instead of compressing the response on every request:

using GenHTTP.Modules.Compression.Algorithms;

var assets = Assets.From("./dist")
                   .AllowPrecompressed(new BrotliAlgorithm());

With this configuration, a request for main.css with Accept-Encoding: br will be answered with the contents of main.css.br (falling back to main.css if no precompressed variant is found or accepted).

Ioxide Engine

When the directory based Assets.From(...) runs on the Ioxide engine, it automatically serves files through a handler built on the engine’s native I/O layer: responses are baked ahead of time and revalidated via statx instead of being assembled per request, while precompressed variants are negotiated exactly as described above. No separate package or registration is required - the same handler transparently falls back to the portable implementation on every other engine.

var layout = Layout.Create()
                   .Add("static", Assets.From("./dist"));

As the native layer caches file descriptors rather than touching the disk on every request, the baked responses are re-scanned for external changes at most once per RefreshInterval (250 ms by default). Lowering it picks up changes faster at the cost of more frequent stat calls; the setting has no effect on other engines.

var assets = Assets.From("./dist")
                   .RefreshInterval(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));