A lightweight command-line tool and Ruby library for quickly previewing Slim templates in a local web server powered by Sinatra.

• Instantly preview .slim templates in your browser
• Minimal setup - just point to a folder and go
• Automatically reloads templates in development
• Configurable port and root directory via flags or environment variables
• Automatically wraps views with layout.slim when present
• Render partial Slim templates via == slim :other_template

gem install slimview

Or add it to your Gemfile:

gem 'slimview'

Slimview is also available as a docker image:

docker run --rm -it -v $PWD:/docs -p 3000:3000 dannyben/slimview

or as a docker compose service:

services:
  web:
    build: .
    image: dannyben/slimview
    volumes: ["./:/docs"]
    ports: ["3000:3000"]

View image on Docker Hub

$ slimview --help

Usage: slimview [options]

Options:
  --port PORT       Set the port to run the server on (default: 3000)
  --root PATH       Set the root templates directory (default: ./templates)
  --assets PATH     Set the assets directory (default: <root>/assets)
  --help, -h        Show this help message
  --version, -v     Print version info

Environment Variables:
  SLIMVIEW_PORT     Set the port
  SLIMVIEW_ROOT     Set the root templates directory
  SLIMVIEW_ASSETS   Set the assets directory

Example:

# Serve Slim templates from ./templates at http://localhost:3000
slimview

# Serve from another folder on port 8080
slimview --root app/views --port 8080

# Serve with a custom assets directory
slimview --root app/views --assets public/assets

# Use environment variables instead of flags
SLIMVIEW_ASSETS=public/assets SLIMVIEW_ROOT=app/views slimview

You can also use Slimview programmatically from Ruby:

require 'slimview'

# Start the server with default port 3000 and default 'templates' root
Slimview::Server.new.start

# Customize port and templates root
server = Slimview::Server.new port: 4000, root: 'views/slim'
server.start

# Override the assets directory
server = Slimview::Server.new root: 'views/slim', assets: 'public/assets'
server.start

# Pass locals (available as variables inside your Slim templates)
server = Slimview::Server.new items: ['one', 'two'], title: 'Hello'
server.start

• Templates are served from the directory specified by --root (or SLIMVIEW_ROOT).
• Static files (images, CSS, JS) can be placed in an assets/ directory and overridden via --assets or SLIMVIEW_ASSETS.
• Slim templates are automatically reloaded on each request in development mode.
• The tool is intended for local development and previewing, not for production use.