Expose a local HTTP server to a public HTTPS URL with the ngrok CLI

domain: ngrok.com · 6 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗

Documented steps

  1. Start any web server on a local port (e.g. a Python/Node/Go HTTP server on 8080)
  2. Run `ngrok http 8080` (substitute your port). The agent opens an encrypted tunnel and prints a public forwarding HTTPS URL (ngrok-free.app domain or your reserved domain)
  3. Open the printed https:// URL — the app is served over TLS with a certificate ngrok manages automatically
  4. Free accounts get a dev/forwarding domain auto-selected each run; paid plans can pin a stable HTTPS domain with `--url <your-reserved-domain>`
  5. Stop the tunnel with Ctrl+C; the ephemeral forwarding URL dies with the process
  6. Docs: https://ngrok.com/docs/guides/share-localhost/quickstart

Known gotchas

Related routes

Expose a local HTTP server to a public HTTPS URL with the ngrok CLI
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