@empellio/vite-localtunnel

Expose your Vite dev server to the internet via LocalTunnel. Prints the public URL and fetches the LocalTunnel password. Vite 4/5, Node 18+.

Installation

npm install -D @empellio/vite-localtunnel

Peer dependency: vite (v4 or v5). Requires Node.js 18+ (native fetch).

Quick start

// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
import viteLocalTunnel from '@empellio/vite-localtunnel'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react(), viteLocalTunnel()],
})

When you start Vite you should see:

🌍 Public dev URL: https://abc-123-xyz.loca.lt
🔑 Localtunnel password: s3cr3t

What it does

• Determines the dev server port from server.httpServer.address().port (fallback to server.config.server.port/5173).
• Starts LocalTunnel: localtunnel({ port }) and logs 🌍 Public dev URL: ….
• Extracts the host from the URL and adds it to server.config.server.allowedHosts (so Vite accepts requests through the tunnel).
• Fetches https://loca.lt/mytunnelpassword and logs 🔑 Localtunnel password: ….
• Closes the tunnel when Vite shuts down (tunnel.close()).

API Reference

• viteLocalTunnel(): Plugin — zero‑config, works out of the box.

Notes

• If you already use server.allowedHosts: true in vite.config.ts, nothing to change — the plugin detects this.
• LocalTunnel is for development only. Do not use in production.

Troubleshooting

• If the public URL or password cannot be retrieved, the plugin logs a warning. Check your network/firewall.
• Some proxies/firewalls can block https://loca.lt. Try another network.

Build

Build is configured via tsup with ESM/CJS outputs and index.d.ts generation.

Changelog

• 0.1.0: Initial release