Your first tunnel

In under a minute, you'll have a public HTTPS URL pointing at your local development server. This guide assumes you've already installed the CLI and authenticated.

Start a tunnel

Run any local web server — next dev, npm start, a Go service, anything that listens on a port. Then point JustTunnel at it:

justtunnel 3000

That single command opens a WebSocket to JustTunnel's edge, registers a subdomain, and starts forwarding inbound HTTPS traffic to http://localhost:3000.

What you'll see

JustTunnel prints a status banner with your public URL:

✔ Connected to api.justtunnel.dev
  Forwarding  https://wandering-otter-42.justtunnel.dev → http://localhost:3000

  Status      ● Online
  Plan        Free  ·  1/1 tunnels
  Local       http://localhost:3000  (200 OK in 12ms)

  Press Ctrl+C to stop.

The exact subdomain is randomized per session — yours will look different. As inbound requests come in you'll see them logged below the banner with method, path, status, and latency.

Hit your tunnel

From any device — your phone, a co-worker's laptop, a webhook sender — open the public URL. Traffic streams through JustTunnel's edge to your local process in real time.

curl https://wandering-otter-42.justtunnel.dev/api/health

{"ok":true,"version":"0.4.2"}

That response came from localhost:3000 on your laptop. Headers, cookies, and request bodies pass through unchanged, so anything that works against localhost works against the tunnel URL.

To stop, hit Ctrl+C in the CLI. The tunnel closes immediately and the public URL stops resolving.

What's next

Reserve a custom subdomain

Lock in a memorable URL across restarts.

Read more →

Password-protect your tunnel

Add basic auth so prying eyes get a 401.

Read more →

Use a tunnels.yaml config file

Declare ports, subdomains, and auth in one file.

Read more →

Run a long-lived worker tunnel

Keep a tunnel up under systemd or as a managed worker.

Read more →