Files

Your content root is one flat folder of plain JavaScript, mirrored to the server as-is (to /srv/porthoster). The broker decides what to open purely from the names of the top-level files. This page is the complete set of rules — what counts as an entry point, what is ignored, and what merely rides along.

The layout

~/Developer/LIVE/Port/               content root  →  /srv/porthoster
  echo.tcp.7000.port.js              entry point: TCP :7000
  echo.tcp.7000.port.json            access manifest for the handler beside it
  metrics.udp.9125.port.js           entry point: UDP :9125
  relay.tcp.4000.port.js             entry point: TCP :4000
  lib/                               supporting code — synced, opens no port
    framing.js                         imported by handlers
    codec.js
  _relay.tcp.4001.port.js            ignored: leading _ (local only)
  .git/                              ignored: dotfile
  .notes.md                          ignored: dotfile

Path patterns

Pattern	Role	Synced	Opens a port
`<name>.tcp.<port>.port.js` (top level)	TCP handler	Yes	Yes — TCP on `<port>`
`<name>.udp.<port>.port.js` (top level)	UDP handler	Yes	Yes — UDP on `<port>`
`<name>.<proto>.<port>.port.json` (top level)	Access manifest	Yes	No
Any other `.js` / file / sub-folder	Supporting code	Yes	No — imported, never a listener
A handler-named file not at the top level	Supporting code	Yes	No — only top-level names are entry points
`_*` (leading underscore, anywhere)	Ignored	No	No
`.*` (dotfile, anywhere)	Ignored	No	No

Naming rules

Suffix. An entry point ends in .port.js. The tokens immediately before it — .tcp.<port> or .udp.<port> — carry the protocol and the port.
Protocol token. Exactly tcp or udp, lowercase. No other transport is recognised.
Port token. An integer 1–65535. It is authoritative — the number in the name is exactly what the broker opens.
Name token. The leading <name> is a label for logs and ctx.name. Keep it to letters, digits, - and _ (not as the first character — a leading _ means "ignore"); avoid dots inside it, since dots delimit the grammar.
Top-level only. Only files directly in the content root are entry points. The same name in a sub-folder is treated as supporting code and opens nothing.
One per protocol+port. Two files claiming the same protocol and port conflict; the later one is refused and logged.

Ignore rules

Two prefixes are never synced and never opened, so the folder is safe to keep under version control and full of scratch work:

Prefix	Effect
`_`	Develop-in-place. `_relay.tcp.4001.port.js` stays on your machine. Drop the underscore to go live; add it back to take a live port offline.
`.`	Dotfiles — `.git`, editor state, notes — are left on your machine entirely.

Sidecars & supporting files

Beside a handler you may place a <name>.<proto>.<port>.port.json access manifest — it configures that handler and opens no port of its own. Everything else in the folder — libraries in sub-folders, helper modules, data files — syncs and is importable, but is only ever reached through a handler. Supporting code has no naming rules beyond the ignore prefixes.

Reserved ports

Some ports the broker will not bind, even if you name a handler for them, because they belong to the box itself — the sync API's localhost port and SSH on 22 — or need capability the broker deliberately doesn't hold. A handler that asks for a reserved port is refused and logged rather than opened. The exact reserved set is still being fixed; see Installation → Server (Q7).