# Kick [](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/isomorphicgo/kick) A lightweight mechanism to provide an *instant kickstart* to a Go web server instance, upon the modification of a Go source file within a particular project directory (including any subdirectories). An *instant kickstart* consists of a recompilation of the Go code and a restart of the web server instance. Kick comes with the ability to take both the `go` and `gopherjs` commands into consideration when performing the *instant kickstart*. Please note, that Kick, currently works on Unix-like operating systems (e.g., BSD, Linux, Mac OS) only. Kick doesn't work on Windows, due to some [technical limitations](https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/issues/53). ## Installation Before installing Kick, it is recommended, to install the barebones [isogoapp](https://github.com/isomorphicgo/isogoapp) first – since it will provide you an example of how to use kick. ### Get Kick `go get -u github.com/isomorphicgo/kick` ## Usage ### Getting Help Issue the `help` flag to get help on using the kick command: `kick --help` ### Running Kick Example (using GopherJS): `kick --appPath=$ISOGO_APP_ROOT --mainSourceFile=isogoapp.go --gopherjsAppPath=$ISOGO_APP_ROOT/client` The `appPath` flag specifies the project directory where the Go application resides. The `mainSourceFile` flag specifies the Go source file that implements the main function. The `gopherjsAppPath` flag specifies the directory to the GopherJS client-side application. This flag is optional. If your Go project is not using GopherJS, you can feel free to omit the `gopherjsAppPath` flag. ### Verify That Kick Is Functioning Assuming that you've installed the [isogoapp](https://github.com/isomorphicgo/isogo), and you have issued the kick command to run the web server instance: Access the [test page](http://localhost:8080) for the `isogoapp` using your web browser. Open up the `client.go` source file in the `$ISOGO_APP_ROOT/client` directory. Change the message that is passed to the `SetInnerHTML()` function call. Refresh your web browser. You should see your change reflected. In the command line prompt where you issued the kick command, take note of the "Recompiling and Restarting" message. This is kick's way of telling you that an *instant kickstart* was performed. ## The Isomorphic Go Project More information on the benefits of Isomorphic Go applications can be found at the [Isomorphic Go Website](http://isomorphicgo.org). ## License Kick is licensed under the BSD License. Read the [LICENSE](https://github.com/isomorphicgo/kick/blob/master/LICENSE) file for more information.