Quick Start

This guide will help you install Harp. You’ll create and serve a simple project in development mode, where preprocessing occurs automatically, and then in production mode, where the preprocessed output is cached for better performance.

  1. Install the Harp Web Server

    First, install Node.js. Harp uses Node.js, but you don’t need to know about Node.js or even JavaScript to use Harp. Once it’s finished installing, you can install Harp using the mighty npm: Node.js’ package manager. You’ll use the command prompt to do this.

    On OS X and Linux

    Access the command prompt using the Terminal application. On OS X, it’s located in Applications → Utilities → Terminal. On Ubuntu, find it in Applications → Terminal. Then, run the following command:

    sudo npm install -g harp
    

    On Windows

    If you are using Windows, NodeJS will have come with the Node.js Command Prompt application. Now, to install Harp via npm, type in:

    npm install -g harp
    
  2. Create an Application

    Harp will serve something as simple as an index.html. But, because Harp has built-in preprocessing, you can create HTML with a templating language just as easily. Create an index.jade file instead. To do this using the command line, run the following:

    mkdir hello-world
    cd hello-world
    echo h1 Hello World >> index.jade
    

    This will make a hello-world/ directory for your Harp app. Then, inside that directory, an index.jade file is created that will be served as <h1>Hello world</h1>.

  3. Start the web server

    Fire up the Harp web server on the default port, 9000.

    harp server --port 9000
    

    Visiting localhost:9000 will now show the following:

    Harp “Hello world” in the browser

  4. Compile the project

    Optionally to running as a web server you can compile to be run with a webserver of your choice. Harp makes for a great static site generator.

    harp compile
    
  5. Putting Harp in Production

    This is all you need to put a Harp application into production. In production mode, Harp will cache the preprocessed output—in this case, from index.jade—to serve the files as quickly as possible. Always use this production flag when putting Harp in production:

    NODE_ENV=production sudo harp server --port 80
    

    You don’t need to manually run Harp in production to get your project online, however. The easiest way to get started is to use the Harp Platform, which lets you create and collaborate on Harp apps right in your Dropbox.

    You can also run Harp in production on Heroku, deploy Harp to GitHub Pages, compile your app for Apache Cordova/PhoneGap, and more.

What’s Next

This is just a taste of what Harp can do for you. For example, the default Harp application also includes a .less file that is automatically served as .css. Being able to change the CSS just by editing the LESS file—no configuration necessary—makes the default app a good starting point for your own project; read more about initializing the default Harp app.