tinyshinyserver: Tiny Shiny Server - Lightweight Multi-App Shiny Proxy

Description

A lightweight, WebSocket-enabled proxy server for hosting multiple Shiny applications with automatic health monitoring, session management, and resource cleanup.

Main functions

start_tss

Start the Tiny Shiny Server with a configuration file

Key features

• Host multiple Shiny applications behind a single proxy

• Resident (always-running) and on-demand application modes

• WebSocket support with session affinity

• Real-time management interface and monitoring

• Automatic health checks and application restart

• Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS)

• Support for R Markdown and Quarto dashboards

Getting started

1. Install the package: devtools::install(".") or similar 2. Load the package: library(tinyshinyserver) 3. Copy examples: file.copy(system.file("examples", package = "tinyshinyserver"), ".", recursive = TRUE) 4. Start server: start_tss(config = "examples/config.json") 5. Access via browser: ⁠http://localhost:3838⁠

Package resources

The package includes:

• Example Shiny applications in inst/examples/

• HTML templates and CSS in inst/templates/

• Sample configuration file inst/examples/config.json

Use system.file("examples", package = "tinyshinyserver") to locate the example files after installation.

Author(s)

Maintainer: Lars Bernhardsson cran.sherry228@passinbox.com

See Also

Useful links:

• https://github.com/lab1702/tinyshinyserver

• Report bugs at https://github.com/lab1702/tinyshinyserver/issues

Configuration File Format

Description

Details about the JSON configuration file format used by start_tss.

Configuration Structure

The configuration file should be a valid JSON file with the following structure:

{
  "apps": [
    {
      "name": "app-name",
      "path": "./path/to/app",
      "resident": true|false
    }
  ],
  "starting_port": 3001,
  "proxy_port": 3838,
  "proxy_host": "127.0.0.1",
  "management_port": 3839,
  "restart_delay": 5,
  "health_check_interval": 10,
  "log_dir": "./logs"
}

Required Fields

apps

Array of Shiny applications to host. Each app must have name and path.

starting_port

Starting port number for automatic app port assignment.

log_dir

Directory where server and application logs will be written.

Optional Fields

proxy_port

Port for the main proxy server (default: 3838).

proxy_host

Host interface to bind to (default: "127.0.0.1").

management_port

Port for the management interface (default: 3839).

restart_delay

Seconds to wait before restarting failed apps (default: 5).

health_check_interval

Seconds between health checks (default: 10).

Application Configuration

Each application in the apps array can have:

name

Unique identifier used in URLs and logs. Required.

path

File system path to the app directory. Required.

resident

Boolean. If true, app runs continuously. If false (default), app starts on-demand.

Host Configuration

The proxy_host field controls which network interface the server binds to:

• "127.0.0.1" or "localhost": Localhost only (most secure)

• "0.0.0.0": All network interfaces (allows external access)

• "::1": IPv6 localhost

• "::": All IPv6 interfaces

Port Assignment

Apps are automatically assigned ports starting from starting_port, skipping any reserved ports (proxy_port and management_port). For example, with starting_port: 3001, apps might get ports 3001, 3002, 3003, etc., but will skip 3838 and 3839 if those are the proxy and management ports.

See Also

start_tss for starting the server with a configuration file.

Use system.file("examples", "config.json", package = "tinyshinyserver") to see a complete example configuration file.

Examples

if (interactive()) {
  # Example configuration file:
  config_content <- '
{
  "apps": [
    {
      "name": "dashboard",
      "path": "./apps/dashboard",
      "resident": true
    },
    {
      "name": "reports",
      "path": "./apps/reports",
      "resident": false
    }
  ],
  "starting_port": 3001,
  "proxy_port": 3838,
  "management_port": 3839,
  "log_dir": "./logs"
}'

  # Write to file and use
  writeLines(config_content, "my-config.json")
  start_tss(config = "my-config.json")
}

Example Configuration File

Description

This provides the path to the example config.json file that demonstrates the proper configuration format for start_tss. The file includes sample applications and typical server settings.

Format

A JSON file with the standard configuration structure. See config-format for details about the configuration format.

Details

Path to the example configuration file included with the package.

The example configuration includes:

• Four sample Shiny applications (sales, inventory, reports, dashboard)

• Mix of resident and on-demand application modes

• Standard port configuration (proxy: 3838, management: 3839)

• Automatic port assignment starting from 3001

• Logging configuration

See Also

• start_tss for starting the server

• config-format for configuration file format details

Examples

if (interactive()) {
  # Get the example configuration file path
  config_file <- system.file("examples", "config.json", package = "tinyshinyserver")

  # View the configuration
  config_content <- readLines(config_file)
  cat(config_content, sep = "\\n")

  # Copy examples to current directory and start server
  examples_path <- system.file("examples", package = "tinyshinyserver")
  file.copy(examples_path, ".", recursive = TRUE)
  start_tss(config = "examples/config.json")
}

Start Tiny Shiny Server

Description

Launch the Tiny Shiny Server using a configuration JSON file. This starts a multi-application Shiny server with automatic health monitoring, session management, and WebSocket support.

Usage

start_tss(config = "config.json")

Arguments

Details

The server provides:

• A proxy server on the configured port (default 3838)

• A management interface on the configured port (default 3839)

• Automatic port assignment for individual Shiny applications

• Health monitoring and automatic restart for failed apps

• Support for both resident (always-running) and on-demand apps

The configuration file should contain:

• apps: Array of Shiny applications with name, path, and resident settings

• starting_port: Starting port for auto-assignment to apps

• proxy_port: Port for the main proxy server (default 3838)

• management_port: Port for the management interface (default 3839)

• log_dir: Directory for log files

Access points after starting:

• Main landing page: ⁠http://localhost:3838⁠

• Management interface: ⁠http://localhost:3839⁠

• Individual apps: ⁠http://localhost:3838/proxy/{app_name}/⁠

Value

Invisibly returns the TinyShinyServer instance after starting. The server runs until interrupted (Ctrl-C) or shut down via the management interface.

Examples

if (interactive()) {
  library(tinyshinyserver)
  examples_path <- system.file("examples", package = "tinyshinyserver")
  temp_path <- tempdir()
  file.copy(examples_path, temp_path, recursive = TRUE)
  setwd(temp_path)
  start_tss(config = "examples/config.json")
}