Migrating from v2 to v3

SWS v3 is a major release that refines the configuration surface, tightens security defaults, and adds new capabilities, while keeping the same fast, single-binary spirit of v2.

Migration is straightforward but requires a few adjustments. This guide covers every breaking change and step you need to take.

Additionally, we encourage you to check out the server defaults and the features pages for more details.

Test before deploying

Always test a major version upgrade in a development environment first.

Breaking changes

1. Default port changed

The default port changed from 80 (privileged) to 8787 (non-privileged).

	v2	v3
Default port	80	8787
CLI	--port 80	--port 8787
Env	SERVER_PORT=80	SERVER_PORT=8787

Action: If you relied on the default port without explicitly setting --port, your server will now listen on 8787. Pass --port 80 explicitly to keep the old behaviour (requires root or CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE).

2. TLS and HTTP/2 flags are now separate

In v2, --http2 enabled both TLS and HTTP/2 as a bundle. In v3, TLS and HTTP/2 are independent: you enable TLS with --tls, then opt into HTTP/2 with --http2. The certificate and key flags as well as the environment variables were renamed accordingly.

v2	v3
-t, --http2	-t, --tls
--http2-tls-cert	--tls-cert
--http2-tls-key	--tls-key
--http2 (already using HTTP/2)	--tls + --http2

Action: Replace --http2 with --tls, and add --http2 if you actually need the HTTP/2 protocol. Rename the cert/key flags. Same for env vars and TOML keys.

See TLS and HTTP/2 pages for more details.

3. Symlink flag inverted

The flag was renamed and its meaning flipped, what was a "disable" flag is now an "enable" flag.

v2	v3
--disable-symlinks (default true)	--follow-symlinks (default false)
SERVER_DISABLE_SYMLINKS=true	SERVER_FOLLOW_SYMLINKS=false

The default behaviour is unchanged. Symlinks are still blocked. Only the flag name and polarity changed.

Action: Remove --disable-symlinks from your configuration (the default is already safe). Read about the performance and security implications before enabling the feature.

4. Hidden files flag inverted

Same pattern: renamed and inverted.

v2	v3
--ignore-hidden-files (default true)	--include-hidden (default false)
SERVER_IGNORE_HIDDEN_FILES=true	SERVER_INCLUDE_HIDDEN=false

Action: Remove --ignore-hidden-files from your configuration (the default is already safe). Read about the security considerations before enabling the feature.

5. Pre-compressed static files now enabled by default

v2	v3
--compression-static default false	--compression-static default true

SWS v3 automatically serves .gz, .br, or .zst pre-compressed variants when they exist on disk, without needing to opt in.

Action: No change needed unless you want to disable it: --compression-static false.

6. Security headers now enabled by default

v2	v3
--security-headers default false	--security-headers default true

In v3, security headers (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, CSP, Referrer-Policy) are on by default whenever TLS is active.

Action: Remove any explicit --security-headers true as it's now the default. Set --security-headers false if you need them off.

7. Logging: new format and file output options

v2 only had --log-with-ansi (a boolean for ANSI colours on stderr). v3 adds:

v3 new option	Description	Default
--log-format	json (structured, one-line) or pretty (human-readable)	json
--log-file	Path to write logs to (in addition to stderr)	disabled
--log-with-ansi	ANSI colours only applies when --log-format pretty	false

v3 defaults to structured JSON output on stderr, no colours, machine-parseable. This is a visible change from v2's plain text output.

Action: If you want the old human-readable stderr output, set --log-format pretty (and optionally --log-with-ansi true). No env var changes needed for existing deployments unless you were relying on the old default format.

8. Text charset: TOML type changed to boolean

v2 TOML	v3 TOML
text-charset = "utf-8"	text-charset = true

The text-charset key in [general] is now a boolean rather than a string. The CLI flag was always boolean — only the TOML representation changed.

Action: Replace text-charset = "utf-8" with text-charset = true in your TOML config file.

9. WebAssembly is not supported yet

The v2 supports running SWS as a WASM/WASI binary (via Wasmer). However, v3 still does not support it yet.

Action: For now, if you run SWS on WASM/WASI, stay on v2 or migrate to a native binary (Linux, macOS, Windows).

Quick migration checklist

1. Port: Add --port 80 if you were relying on the default.
2. TLS/HTTP2: Replace --http2 with --tls and optionally --http2. Rename cert/key flags and env vars accordingly.
3. Symlinks: Remove --disable-symlinks (default safe).
4. Hidden files: Remove --ignore-hidden-files (default safe).
5. Pre-compressed: No action needed (now on by default). Add --compression-static false to turn off.
6. Security headers: Remove explicit --security-headers true. Add --security-headers false to opt out.
7. Logging: Add --log-format pretty if you prefer old-style human-readable logs.
8. TOML text-charset: Change "utf-8" string to true boolean.
9. WebAssembly: Migrate to a native binary — Wasm is no longer supported.