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Quick Start

Create your first Localport tunnel and get a public URL in under 60 seconds. Step-by-step with HTTP and TCP examples.

This guide gets you from zero to a working tunnel in about 60 seconds. By the end, you'll have a public URL pointing to something running on your machine.

Prerequisites

1. Install Localport (takes ~30 seconds)

2. Have something running locally: a web app, API, file server, or anything on a port

3. A tunnel token from the Localport dashboard

Don't have a local server handy? Start a quick one:

# Python (built-in on most systems)
python3 -m http.server 3000

# Node.js
npx serve -p 3000

Start your first tunnel

localport http 3000 --token YOUR_TOKEN
http is the protocol your service speaks, 3000 is the port it's listening on. Use tcp for game servers, databases, SSH, and any non-HTTP service. Full reference in the CLI docs.

Open the URL

Localport prints the public URL once the tunnel connects. Copy it from the status panel into your browser, send it to a teammate, or paste it into a webhook setting. Your local app is now reachable over a valid HTTPS connection from any device, anywhere.

Stop the tunnel

Press Ctrl+C in the terminal. The public URL stops working immediately. There's no cleanup, no lingering processes.

Common flags

FlagShortWhat it doesExample
--token-tTunnel authentication token--token tok_abc
--local-lLocal address (optional scheme prefix)--local tcp://192.168.1.50:5432
--protoProtocol: http, tcp, or tls--proto tcp
--region-rRegion: eu, us, ap--region eu
--nameClient name (for mesh tunnels)--name my-laptop

HTTP tunnels give you both HTTP and HTTPS

When you create an HTTP tunnel, Localport automatically provides both http:// and https:// URLs. The HTTPS URL has a valid TLS certificate, so there are no browser warnings.

Pick the guide that matches what you're building:

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