Serving Up node_modules In ASP.NET

The wwwroot folder in ASP.NET isn't the only place for static files. Briefly, in haiku form:

Serve files from anywhere

Configure static file middleware

Each provider thaws the frozen bits of winter

Recently, I wanted to serve files from both wwwroot and node_modules, so I used code like the following in the Startup class:

// this will serve up wwwroot
app.UseFileServer();

// this will serve up node_modules
var provider = new PhysicalFileProvider(
    Path.Combine(environemnt.ApplicationBasePath, "node_modules")
);
var options = new FileServerOptions();
options.RequestPath = "/node_modules";            
options.StaticFileOptions.FileProvider = provider;
options.EnableDirectoryBrowsing = true; 
app.UseFileServer(options);

Note that the UseFileServer method installs static files, default files, and directory browser middleware with a single method call.

You could also use the same technique to serve files from bower_components. Personally, I've stopped using bower and install all client assets using npm for various reasons (including the simplicity, and also Typescript's ability to find modules in node_modules).