Static file server in Golang using gorilla/mux

Question

I have made a app where I need to serve the same files to multiple routes because the front end is a React app. I have been using gorilla mux for the router. The file structure is as follows:

main.go
build/
  | index.html
  | service-worker.js
     static/
       |  js/
           | main.js
       |  css/
           | main.css

The files are refereed to assuming they are at the root of the file directory. So in the html file they are requested like '/static/js/main.js'.

In main my routes are defined as follows:

r.PathPrefix("/student").Handler(http.StripPrefix("/student",http.FileServer(http.Dir("build/")))).Methods("GET")
r.PathPrefix("/").Handler(http.FileServer(http.Dir("build/"))).Methods("GET")

This way I get the index.html file served in both the '/' and '/student' route. If I have them the other way around the '/student' path gets a 404 error. So what I am asking is there another way to serve the same content for both of these routes in order for me not have to define a route for each view I will have in my web app.

Answer 1

I've had this exact setup on multiple occasions.

You will need a file server that serves all static assets. A file server to serve your index.html file on all unhandled routes. A (I assume) a sub router for all API calls to your server.

Here is an example that should match your file structure.

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "net/http"

    "github.com/gorilla/mux"
)

func main() {
    r := mux.NewRouter()

    // Handle API routes
    api := r.PathPrefix("/api/").Subrouter()
    api.HandleFunc("/student", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        fmt.Fprintln(w, "From the API")
    })

    // Serve static files
    r.PathPrefix("/static/").Handler(http.StripPrefix("/static/", http.FileServer(http.Dir("./build/static/"))))

    // Serve index page on all unhandled routes
    r.PathPrefix("/").HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
        http.ServeFile(w, r, "./build/index.html")
    })

    fmt.Println("http://localhost:8888")
    log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":8888", r))
}