# Community Solid Server
[](https://travis-ci.com/solid/community-server)
[](https://coveralls.io/github/solid/community-server)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@solid/community-server)
**An open and modular implementation of the
[Solid](https://solidproject.org/)
[specifications](https://solid.github.io/specification/)**
- Community Solid Server is open software
to provide people with their own Solid Pod.
- It will give developers an environment
to create and test new Solid applications.
- Its modular architecture allows
trying out new ideas on the server side
and thereby shape the future of Solid.
## Current status
This software is in **alpha status**,
which means it is **too early for use with Solid apps**.
However, you can already boot up the server,
play around with it,
and check how it is made.
The [architectural diagram](https://github.com/RubenVerborgh/solid-server-architecture)
can help you find your way.
If you are interested in helping out with the development of this server,
be sure to have a look at the [developer notes](https://github.com/solid/community-server/wiki/Notes-for-developers)
and [good first issues](https://github.com/solid/community-server/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22).
## Running locally
```
npm ci
npm start
```
This will start up a server running on port 3000 with a backend storing all data in memory.
More configs with different backends can be found in the config folder.
## Interacting with the server
The server supports low-level interaction via HTTP methods,
such as `GET`, `PUT`, `HEAD`, ...
Below, we provide several examples on how to interact with the server using `curl`.
### `PUT`: Creating resources for a given URL
Create a plain text file:
```bash
$ curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
-d "abc" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
```
Create a turtle file:
```bash
$ curl -X PUT -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
-d " ." \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
```
### `POST`: Creating resources at a generated URL
Create a plain text file:
```bash
$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
-d "abc" \
http://localhost:3000/
```
Create a turtle file:
```bash
$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/turtle" \
-d " ." \
http://localhost:3000/
```
The response's `Location` header will contain the URL of the created resource.
### `GET`: Retrieving resources
Retrieve a plain text file:
```bash
$ curl -H "Accept: text/plain" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
```
Retrieve a turtle file:
```bash
$ curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
```
Retrieve a turtle file in a different serialization:
```bash
$ curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
```
### `DELETE`: Deleting resources
```bash
$ curl -X DELETE http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
```
### `PATCH`: Modifying resources
Currently, only patches over RDF resources are supported using [SPARQL Update](https://www.w3.org/TR/sparql11-update/)
queries without `WHERE` clause.
```bash
$ curl -X PATCH -H "Content-Type: application/sparql-update" \
-d "INSERT DATA { }" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.ttl
```
### `HEAD`: Retrieve resources headers
```bash
$ curl -I -H "Accept: text/plain" \
http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
```
### `OPTIONS`: Retrieve resources communication options
```bash
$ curl -X OPTIONS -i http://localhost:3000/myfile.txt
```