I am needing to check if my node js app using ExpressJS is running on my localhost (Development env.) and not on the live server and execute certain code if so. This has to be done server side. Any ideas how to check this?

I am needing to check if my node js app using ExpressJS is running on my localhost (Development env.) and not on the live server and execute certain code if so. This has to be done server side. Any ideas how to check this?

• javascript
• node.js
• server-side

Share Improve this question Follow asked Oct 12, 2017 at 12:31 Stefan ZeuchStefan Zeuch 14111 gold badge22 silver badges1212 bronze badges 2

• You'll probably get answers telling you to look at req.hostname. Don't. It's derived from the Host header, which is trivially spoofed. – T.J. Crowder Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 12:40
• One option is to check the path variable __dirname. Check to see if it matches the server path. You can also add a file to the server directory that is not in your localhost directory. If it exists (or doesn't) you can check for that. – 1.21 gigawatts Commented Nov 4, 2023 at 3:20

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1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 7

Pass process.env variable to your node.js instance like this (for example)

node -e 'process.env.NODE_ENV = "development"'

and then just use

if(process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
    ...
}