Proxlens

Share your localhost with clients instantly. Built-in feedback widget, optional password protection, zero setup.

Proxlens is an open-source Electron desktop app. It wraps your local dev server in a public HTTPS URL via Cloudflare Tunnel, injects a feedback widget into every page your client sees, and saves their feedback locally on your machine — no accounts, no hosting, no cost.

What makes it different

Most tunnel tools just give you a URL. Proxlens adds a layer that's actually useful for client work:

• Feedback widget — automatically injected into every page. Clients click any element, leave a comment, hit Send. No browser extensions, no separate tool, no client setup required.
• Local feedback storage — every submission is saved to a JSON file on your machine, visible in the Feedback tab, persistent across sessions. Works with zero configuration.
• GitHub Issues sync — optional. If you configure a GitHub token and repo, feedback is also posted as Issues in a private repo you own. Useful for keeping a permanent record per project.
• Password protection — optional. Set a password in Settings; clients see a branded password page before accessing the preview.

Installation

Requirements: Node.js 18+, npm

Recommended — install globally via npm

npm install -g proxlens

Then launch it any time from any directory:

proxlens

That's it. No cloning, no project folder, no configuration. The app opens and works immediately.

Alternative — clone and run from source

If you want to contribute or inspect the code locally:

git clone https://github.com/Chiarinze/proxlens.git
cd proxlens
npm install
npm start

How feedback works

Default (no configuration needed)

1. Start a tunnel on any port
2. Send the URL to your client
3. Client sees your site with a Feedback button in the bottom-right corner
4. They click it, click any element on the page, type a comment, press Send
5. You get a desktop notification immediately
6. The feedback appears in the Feedback tab of the app
7. It's saved permanently to your machine — still there the next time you open Proxlens

With GitHub Issues (optional upgrade)

When you configure a GitHub token and private repo in Settings:

• Feedback is saved locally and posted as a GitHub Issue in the background
• The Issue includes the page URL, the element selector, and the client's comment
• The feedback card in the app updates to show a link to the Issue
• If GitHub fails for any reason, the local save is unaffected — the client never sees an error

To set up GitHub sync:

1. Create a private GitHub repo to collect feedback (e.g. yourname/client-feedback)
2. Go to github.com/settings/tokens/new, select the repo scope, generate the token
3. In Proxlens → Settings, enter the token and repo name, click Test, then Save

GitHub tokens expire. When yours expires, feedback will continue saving locally without interruption — you just won't get new Issues until you generate a fresh token and update Settings.

Password protection

1. Open Settings in the app
2. Toggle Require a password on
3. Type any password you want your client to use
4. Click Save

Clients see a simple password page before accessing the preview. The check happens locally in the proxy — the password never leaves your machine.

Architecture

Client Browser
     │  HTTPS
     ▼
Cloudflare Quick Tunnel  (free, temporary *.trycloudflare.com URL)
     │
     ▼
Proxlens Proxy  (localhost:51xxx — runs silently on your machine)
  ├─ Password gate (if enabled)
  ├─ Injects feedback widget into all HTML responses
  ├─ Handles /feedback submissions:
  │    1. Saves to local JSON file immediately
  │    2. Posts to GitHub Issues in background (if configured)
  └─ Tracks visits → desktop + in-app notifications
     │
     ▼
Your Dev Server  (localhost:3000 or whichever port you set)

Privacy & security

• Settings (password, GitHub token) are stored in your OS user data folder via Electron's app.getPath('userData'). They are never uploaded anywhere.
• Feedback is stored locally in the same folder as a plain JSON file.
• Your GitHub token is only ever used to call POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues on the repo you specify. It is never logged or transmitted to any Proxlens server (there is no Proxlens server).
• The tunnel URL changes on every session. When you click Stop, the URL is dead instantly.

Exporting feedback

In the Feedback tab, click Export JSON. This opens the raw proxlens-feedback.json file from your user data folder. You can copy it, import it into a spreadsheet, or share it with a client directly.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. To keep the codebase stable, all changes go through Pull Requests.

How to contribute:

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
3. Make your changes
4. Commit with a clear message: git commit -m "add: description of what you did"
5. Push to your fork: git push origin feature/your-feature-name
6. Open a Pull Request describing what you changed and why

Before submitting a PR:

• Open an issue first for anything beyond small bug fixes, so we can discuss it before you invest time building it
• Keep PRs focused — one change per PR is easier to review than many changes bundled together
• Test that npm start runs cleanly before submitting

License

MIT