What is autoIndex as it relates to a web server?

Question

What does autoIndex mean as it relates to a web server? I'm interested to know specifically in the context of this Node.js app, http-server. I've seen the term used in a number of other questions on stackoverflow without a definition.

In the mentioned app's execution options, it is listed as "Display autoIndex", discrete from another option "Show directory listings". I understand the latter (Show directory listings) to mean that the app will, in the event of a user's navigating to a directory missing a file with the default extension, construct a web page displaying a list of links to the files and subfolders within that directory. However, I do not understand what autoIndex means, as I cannot find an authoritative definition of it online. Can anyone explain it to me, hopefully linking to some documentation?

Answer 1

autoIndex = true; means to respond with /path/index.html when /path/ is requested. It's a part of ecstatic package api.