How to serve static HTML files in Nest.js?

For serving static files you have to use useStaticAssets() instead of setBaseViewsDir():

app.useStaticAssets(join(__dirname, '../../client/dist'))

When you use useStaticAssets you don't need to set up a controller, all your files will be served automatically:

Let's say under client/dist you have the files index.html and pic.jpg.They will be served as:

localhost:3000 -> index.htmllocalhost:3000/pic.jpg -> pic.jpg

Setting the base views dir is needed when you want to use a view engine like for example hbs, see docs.

Regarding the official documentation of Nest.js one should serve static files like this:

Install the required package:

npm install --save @nestjs/serve-static

Update app.module.ts to look like this:

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';import { AppController } from './app.controller';import { AppService } from './app.service';import { ServeStaticModule } from '@nestjs/serve-static';import { join } from 'path';@Module({  imports: [    ServeStaticModule.forRoot({      rootPath: join(__dirname, '..', 'client'),   // <-- path to the static files    }),  ],  controllers: [AppController],  providers: [AppService],})export class AppModule {}

If you have something like this

/public  |-index.html  |-main.js  |-etc./src  |-app.controller.js  |-app.module.js  |-main.js

In main.ts or main.js

async function bootstrap() {  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);  app.useStaticAssets(join(__dirname, '..', 'public'));  app.setViewEngine('html');  await app.listen(5000);}bootstrap();

In app.module.js

@Module({  imports:   [     ServeStaticModule.forRoot({      rootPath: join(__dirname, '..', 'public'),      exclude: ['/api*'],    }),  ],  controllers: [AppController],  providers: [AppService],})export class AppModule {}

In app.controller.js

@Controller()@Dependencies(AppService)export class AppController {  constructor(appService) {    this.appService = appService;  }  @Get()  @Render('index')  root() {  }}

With this code, you can do the trick :) :) :)