livereload

Python LiveReload is an awesome tool for web developers

livereload v2.7.1 691.2K downloads/30d#5,325 on PyPI★ 1,051

Permissive license BSD Active released 2024-12-18

What it is and what it does

LiveReload is a development server that monitors your project files for changes and automatically refreshes connected browsers, eliminating the manual refresh cycle during web development. It works by injecting a small JavaScript snippet into your pages that communicates with the server via WebSocket, triggering a reload whenever watched files change.

The package is built on tornado and targets developers working with static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It's designed for straightforward file-watching workflows and is particularly useful during template or stylesheet iteration. The project has been stable since 2012 and supports Python 3.7 through 3.11.

Use it for:

Iterating on HTML templates and CSS stylesheets without manually refreshing the browser.
Developing static site generators or documentation sites where file changes should trigger immediate preview updates.
Testing responsive design changes across multiple browser windows simultaneously.
Rapid prototyping of web layouts and frontend markup.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Automatically reloads webpages in your browser when source files change, eliminating manual refresh during development.

Yes. Low install friction, active maintenance, permissive BSD license, no known vulnerabilities, and a single lightweight dependency make this a practical choice for web developers who want automatic browser refresh during development. The 604-day release cadence suggests stable, mature code rather than abandonment.

Install

livereload on PyPI

pip

pip install livereload

uv

uv add livereload

poetry

poetry add livereload

Installing livereload

Before you install

Low friction: pure Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (tornado). Actively maintained as of May 2026, with consistent release history since 2012.

License in practice

BSD license (permissive) — you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart

pip install livereload

from livereload import Server
server = Server()
server.watch('*.html')
server.serve(root='.')

Verify before relying

Whether the package works with modern frontend frameworks (React, Vue, etc.) or is primarily for static HTML/CSS workflows.
Performance characteristics when watching large numbers of files or directories.

Package facts

License	BSD (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.7)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — tornado
Maintenance	actively maintained — 604 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-05-23
First released	2012-05-08
Downloads	691,229/month — #5,325 on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-14)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14)

Evidence: livereload-2.7.1-py3-none-any.whl

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