local.dev

Expose your local website to the internet — instantly. No signup, no config.

npx local.dev 3000

Install

npm install -g @o-town/local.dev

Or use without installing:

npx @o-town/local.dev 3000

CLI Usage

npx local.dev [port] [options]

Arguments

| Argument | Description | Default | |----------|--------------------------|---------| | port | Local port to expose | 3000 |

Options

| Flag | Alias | Description | |-----------------------|-------|------------------------------------------| | --subdomain | -s | Request a custom subdomain | | --host | -H | Local host to tunnel (default: localhost)| | --qr | -q | Show QR code for the public URL | | --open | -o | Open tunnel URL in your browser | | --print-requests | -r | Log incoming HTTP requests | | --help | -h | Show help | | --version | -v | Show version number |

Examples

# Expose port 3000
npx local.dev 3000

# Expose port 8080 with a custom subdomain
npx local.dev 8080 --subdomain myapp

# Show QR code (great for mobile testing)
npx local.dev 3000 --qr

# Open tunnel URL in browser + log requests
npx local.dev 3000 --open --print-requests

# Expose a non-localhost server
npx local.dev 3000 --host 192.168.1.10

Programmatic API

You can also use local.dev as a Node.js library:

const { tunnel } = require('@o-town/local.dev');

async function main() {
  // Simple: just pass a port
  const t = await tunnel(3000);
  console.log('Public URL:', t.url);

  // Stop the tunnel when done
  t.close();
}

main();

With options

const t = await tunnel({
  port: 8080,
  subdomain: 'myapp',
  host: 'localhost',
  printRequests: true,
});

console.log(t.url); // https://myapp.loca.lt

t.on('request', (info) => {
  console.log(info.method, info.path, info.statusCode);
});

t.on('close', () => {
  console.log('Tunnel closed');
});

API Reference

tunnel(port, [options]) → Promise<TunnelHandle>

tunnel(options) → Promise<TunnelHandle>

Options:

| Property | Type | Description | |-----------------|---------|--------------------------------------| | port | number | Required. Local port to expose | | host | string | Local host (default: 'localhost') | | subdomain | string | Requested subdomain | | printRequests | boolean | Log requests (default: false) |

TunnelHandle

| Property/Method | Description | |-----------------|------------------------------| | .url | The public HTTPS URL | | .close() | Close the tunnel | | .on('request', cb) | Fired on each HTTP request | | .on('close', cb) | Fired when tunnel closes | | .on('error', cb) | Fired on tunnel errors |

How it works

local.dev creates a secure tunnel from a public URL to your local machine using the localtunnel protocol. Incoming requests hit the public URL and are proxied through to your local server — no port forwarding or firewall changes needed.

License

MIT

Publishing

npm install
npm login
npm publish --access public

Scoped packages require --access public to be visible on the npm registry.