localtunnel exposes your localhost to the world for easy testing and sharing! No need to mess with DNS or deploy just to have others test out your changes.

Great for working with browser testing tools like browserling or external api callback services like twilio which require a public url for callbacks.

git clone https://github.com/lpolish/localtunne.git
cd localtunnel

# now create a tunnel to expose a port
# (3000 for example if you have a node project running there)

localtunnel/bin/lt.js --port 3000

npx localtunnel --port 8000

npm install -g localtunnel

yarn add localtunnel

When localtunnel is installed globally, just use the lt command to start the tunnel.

lt --port 8000

Thats it! It will connect to the tunnel server, setup the tunnel, and tell you what url to use for your testing. This url will remain active for the duration of your session; so feel free to share it with others for happy fun time!

You can restart your local server all you want, lt is smart enough to detect this and reconnect once it is back.

Below are some common arguments. See lt --help for additional arguments

• --subdomain request a named subdomain on the localtunnel server (default is random characters)
• --local-host proxy to a hostname other than localhost
• --max-reconnect maximum number of reconnection attempts (default is 10)
• --reconnect-backoff initial delay in ms between reconnection attempts (doubles with each attempt, default is 1000ms)
• --detailed-logs enable detailed request logging with timestamps and headers
• --status-monitor display periodic connection status updates
• --request-log-size maximum number of requests to keep in memory (default is 100)

You may also specify arguments via env variables. E.x.

PORT=3000 lt

The localtunnel client is also usable through an API (for test integration, automation, etc)

Creates a new localtunnel to the specified local port. Will return a Promise that resolves once you have been assigned a public localtunnel url. options can be used to request a specific subdomain. A callback function can be passed, in which case it won't return a Promise. This exists for backwards compatibility with the old Node-style callback API. You may also pass a single options object with port as a property.

const localtunnel = require('localtunnel');

(async () => {
  const tunnel = await localtunnel({ port: 3000 });

  // the assigned public url for your tunnel
  // i.e. https://abcdefgjhij.localtunnel.me
  tunnel.url;

  // the current status of the tunnel
  const status = tunnel.getStatus();
  console.log(status.status); // 'connected'

  tunnel.on('status', (status) => {
    // status updates emitted periodically
    console.log(`Status: ${status.status}, Last activity: ${status.lastActive}`);
  });

  tunnel.on('request', (info) => {
    // requests going through the tunnel
    console.log(`${info.method} ${info.path}`);
  });

  tunnel.on('close', () => {
    // tunnels are closed
  });
})();

• port (number) [required] The local port number to expose through localtunnel.
• subdomain (string) Request a specific subdomain on the proxy server. Note You may not actually receive this name depending on availability.
• host (string) URL for the upstream proxy server. Defaults to https://localtunnel.me.
• local_host (string) Proxy to this hostname instead of localhost. This will also cause the Host header to be re-written to this value in proxied requests.
• local_https (boolean) Enable tunneling to local HTTPS server.
• local_cert (string) Path to certificate PEM file for local HTTPS server.
• local_key (string) Path to certificate key file for local HTTPS server.
• local_ca (string) Path to certificate authority file for self-signed certificates.
• allow_invalid_cert (boolean) Disable certificate checks for your local HTTPS server (ignore cert/key/ca options).
• maxReconnectAttempts (number) Maximum number of reconnection attempts (default: 10).
• reconnectBackoff (number) Initial delay in ms between reconnection attempts - doubles with each attempt (default: 1000ms).
• maxRequestLogSize (number) Maximum number of requests to keep in log history (default: 100).

Refer to tls.createSecureContext for details on the certificate options.

The tunnel instance returned to your callback emits the following events

The tunnel instance has the following methods

Clients in other languages

go gotunnelme

go go-localtunnel

C#/.NET localtunnel-client

Rust rlt

See localtunnel/server for details on the server that powers localtunnel.

MIT