Exclude sub directory from static files in express - node.js

Question

Is there any way to exclude sub directory from express static middleware in express 4.8.5.
For example if I have :
app.use(express.static(__dirname + 'public'));
And my public directory is like this :
- public
- css
- images
- scripts
- index.html
- exclude_me
- scripts
- views
- index.html
So I need to exclude last sub directory and when user does :
GET /exclude_me
It should call my route rather than returning directory automatically.
I can't just remove it from public dir because it depends on stuff inside it because public directory is angular application and exclude_me is another angular application that fetches scripts from /exclude_me/scripts AND from /public/scripts.
I know it is little confusing but it is how it is and I cannot just remove it from public dir because it won't see public/scripts any more which are needed and I cannot leave it because I cannot authorize it then (all authorization is in public/scripts)
If there is some smarter way to do this, feel free to let me know :)

Answer 1

You can add your own middleware. Here's what I did to exclude some folders:
app.use('/public', (req, res, next) => {
if (env !== 'development') {
var result = req.url.match(/^\/js\/(maps|src)\/.+\.js$/)
if (result) {
return res.status(403).end('403 Forbidden')
}
}
next()
})
app.use('/public', express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/public')))

Answer 2

It's possible by adding regular expressions to the first optional param of use method.
According with Express 4.x API path documentation.
Example, I don't want to give access to my secure folder inside public folder:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use([/^\/public\/secure($|\/)/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
This will allow you to access all files but not the ones in the secure folder.
You can use it also to restrict a file extension, example files that ends with .js.map:
app.use([/(.*)\.js\.map$/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
And you also can add multiple rules, like this example where secure folder and files that end with .js.map are ignored from the static folder:
app.use([/^\/public\/secure($|\/)/, /(.*)\.js\.map$/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

Answer 3

I had a similar problem, which may be the answer you were seeking. Given the following directory:
public
css/
images/
secure/
index.html
The Express Middleware stack I wanted was this:
1. Static files (except the `secure/` directory)
2. Logging
3. Authentication
4. `secure/` static files
Here's how I solved it:
var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var app = express();
// path.join here makes it work cross platform with Windows / Linux / etc
var statics = express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'));
function secureStatic(secure) {
return function (req, res, next) {
if (/^\/secure/.test(req.path) === !!secure) return statics(req, res, next);
return next();
};
}
// add public files
app.use(secureStatic());
app.use(logging());
app.use(authentication());
// add secured files
app.use(secureStatic(true));
This will only serve public files when unauthenticated, and only serve secure files after authentication.

Answer 4

Most solutions above are to use a middleware.
However, there is a just easier way to solve this.
Don't serve static assests directly with the dir public rather than serve dir just what you want to serve with a virtual path prefix .
You can serve like below
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use('/public', __dirname + 'css');
app.use('/public', __dirname + 'images');
...