---
id: livereload
version: "2.7.1"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# livereload — Python LiveReload is an awesome tool for web developers

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 691.2K/mo

## 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 above — 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

pip install livereload
uv add livereload
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_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 691.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

auto reload browser on file change, live reload development server, watch files and refresh browser, web development hot reload, python livereload tool, web-development, development-tools

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/livereload) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/livereload/)