jiweiyuan/tunelo/tunelo

When to use tunelo

Use tunelo when the user needs to:

• Preview files remotely — "show me that PDF", "let me browse those files on my phone"
• Share a local dev server — "give me a link to your React app"
• Demo something to a colleague — "send me the URL so I can test it"
• Access localhost from another device — mobile testing, remote debugging
• Share a directory — project files, documents, media, datasets

Do NOT use tunelo when:

• The user only needs local access (use python3 -m http.server or tunelo serve . --local)
• The files are already hosted somewhere public

Install

curl -fsSL https://tunelo.net/install.sh | sh

If tunelo is not found after install, the binary is at /usr/local/bin/tunelo.

Commands

Expose a local port

tunelo port 3000                # Expose port 3000 → get public HTTPS URL
tunelo port 5173                # React/Vite dev server
tunelo port 8080                # Any local service
tunelo port 3000 --password     # Auto-generate a password
tunelo port 3000 --password mysecret  # Set a specific password

Run a command and tunnel it

tunelo port 3000 -- pnpm dev    # Start pnpm dev, wait for port 3000, then tunnel
tunelo port 3000 -- next start  # Start Next.js and tunnel it
tunelo port 5173 -- vite        # Start Vite and tunnel it

The child process gets PORT set in its environment. Tunelo waits for the port to accept connections before creating the tunnel. When either the command or the tunnel stops, the other is cleaned up.

Serve files with web explorer

tunelo serve .                  # Current directory → public URL with file browser
tunelo serve ./dist             # Specific directory
tunelo serve README.md          # Single file
tunelo serve index.html         # HTML file (rendered in browser)
tunelo serve . --local          # Local-only preview (no tunnel, no public URL)
tunelo serve . -l -p 8000       # Local preview on port 8000

The file explorer runs in the browser — directory browsing, code syntax highlighting, markdown rendering, PDF viewer, image/video/audio playback, CSV/Excel tables. Everything is embedded in the binary, no dependencies.

Options

tunelo port <PORT> --relay my.server:4433   # Use a custom relay server
tunelo port <PORT> -H 192.168.1.100         # Forward to non-localhost
tunelo port <PORT> --password               # Auto-generate a password
tunelo port <PORT> --password mysecret      # Set a specific password

Default relay is tunelo.net:4433 (free public relay). Use --relay for self-hosted.

Typical agent workflows

User says "share these files with me"

tunelo serve /path/to/files
# Give the user the public URL from the output

User says "I want to see this on my phone"

# If there's a dev server running:
tunelo port 3000
 
# If it's just files:
tunelo serve .

User says "let my colleague test the API"

tunelo port 8080 --password
# Give them the Share URL (includes password in the URL)

User says "start the dev server and share it"

tunelo port 3000 -- pnpm dev
# Starts the dev server, waits for port, creates tunnel

User says "preview this locally first"

tunelo serve ./dist --local
# Opens on http://localhost:3000, no public URL

How it works

Browser → HTTPS → Relay → QUIC tunnel → Client → localhost / file server

• Public HTTPS URL assigned automatically (random subdomain like swift-fox-3847.tunelo.net)
• QUIC transport — encrypted, multiplexed, low latency
• Auto-reconnects if connection drops
• Session limit: tunnels expire after ~2 hours on the public relay