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Expose – Pure Go Localhost Tunneling CLI

Expose Terminal Demo

Downloads Documentation Tests codecov License: Apache 2.0

The drop-in, open-source Go alternative to ngrok.
Start instantly on free public relays with zero config and zero signups, or graduate to your own self-hosted relay on a $5 VPS in a single <10MB binary. Zero lock-in.

Install via Homebrew:

brew install kernelshard/tap/expose

Tunnel your local server (e.g. port 3000):

expose tunnel 3000

💡 What is this for?

When you run an app on http://localhost:3000, only your laptop can access it. Expose creates a temporary public HTTPS URL that connects directly to your local server:

  • 🪝 Webhook Testing: Give Stripe, GitHub, or Twilio a live HTTPS URL to test webhook callbacks locally.
  • 📱 Mobile & Device Testing: Open your local website on a physical smartphone or tablet over 4G/5G.
  • 👥 Instant Previews: Send a live demo link to a friend or client without deploying to cloud servers.
  • 🏠 Private Self-Hosting: Route traffic through your own private VPS instead of commercial SaaS relays.

🆚 Why Expose?

Feature 🚀 Expose ngrok Cloudflare Tunnel LocalTunnel (Node)
Zero Signup Required ✅ Instant ❌ Mandatory account ❌ Mandatory account ✅ Instant
Single Static Binary ✅ (<10MB) ✅ (~30MB) ✅ (~50MB) ❌ (requires Node.js)
Open Source ✅ Apache 2.0 ❌ Proprietary ✅ Apache 2.0 ✅ MIT
Self-Hostable Relay ✅ expose server ❌ SaaS only ❌ Cloudflare network ⚠️ Legacy Node server
Language & Runtime Pure Go (zero CGO) Go / C Go daemon Node.js (V8 heap)
Free Custom Domains 🟡 Partial (Self-Hosted) 💲 Paid plan ✅ Cloudflare DNS ❌ Not supported
Memorable Subdomains ✅ Auto-assigned (swift-falcon-4821) ❌ Random hex (free tier) ❌ Random hex ⚠️ Limited words

⚡ Quickstart

Option A: Instant Public Tunnel (Zero Setup)

Expose your local development server in seconds without creating an account:

# Public relay (default)
expose tunnel 3000

# Or via Cloudflare Quick Tunnels
expose tunnel 3000 --provider=cloudflare

Option B: Sovereign Mode (Self-Hosted on Your VPS)

Want permanent custom subdomains, full privacy, and zero rate limits? Run your private relay on any $5 VPS:

# 1. On your VPS (Turnkey Docker + Caddy Auto-TLS)
git clone https://github.com/kernelshard/expose.git && cd expose/deploy
cp .env.example .env && docker compose up -d

# 2. On your laptop
expose tunnel 3000 --server=tunnel.yourdomain.com:7890 --subdomain=api

📦 Installation Options

1. Homebrew (macOS & Linux — Recommended)

brew install kernelshard/tap/expose

2. One-Line Shell Installer

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kernelshard/expose/main/install.sh | sh

Pin a specific version or install to a custom path:

# Pin version
VERSION=v0.6.1 curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kernelshard/expose/main/install.sh | sh

# Custom directory
BINDIR=~/.local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kernelshard/expose/main/install.sh | sh

3. Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest pre-compiled binary for your architecture (macOS, Linux, Windows) from the Releases Page.

4. Via Go Install (Go 1.22+)

go install github.com/kernelshard/expose/cmd/expose@latest

5. From Source

git clone https://github.com/kernelshard/expose.git
cd expose
go build -o expose ./cmd/expose
./expose --version

🏠 Self-Hosted Relay Server

Need complete privacy, permanent custom subdomains, and zero third-party relay dependence? Run your own private tunnel gateway on any $5 VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, AWS Lightsail).

Option 1: Turnkey Docker Compose + Caddy Auto-TLS (Recommended)

The fastest path to production with automated TLS termination and edge reverse-proxying:

git clone https://github.com/kernelshard/expose.git
cd expose/deploy
cp .env.example .env
# Set DOMAIN=tunnel.yourdomain.com in .env
docker compose up -d

See deploy/README.md for DNS setup and configuration options.

Option 2: Standalone Binary

Run the native compiled binary directly on bare metal:

# Start your private relay server
expose server --domain=tunnel.mysite.com --control-port=7890 --public-port=8080

Connect From Your Laptop

expose tunnel 3000 --server=tunnel.mysite.com:7890 --subdomain=my-app

⚙️ Project Configuration (.expose.yml)

Save defaults per project so you can just type expose tunnel:

# Create .expose.yml in current directory
$ expose init
✓ Config created: .expose.yml
project: expose
port: 3000

Manage and query configuration values:

expose config list
expose config get port

🏗 Architecture & Design Principles

expose/
├── cmd/expose/       # CLI entry point (Cobra)
├── internal/
│   ├── cli/          # Cobra subcommands & flag parsing
│   ├── config/       # YAML config management
│   ├── provider/     # Tunnel providers (LocalTunnel, Cloudflare, Self-Hosted)
│   ├── server/       # Self-hosted relay control & public server
│   ├── tunnel/       # Core service orchestration & lifecycle
│   └── version/      # Build metadata & version injection
└── .expose.yml       # Local project configuration
  • Interface-Driven: Extensible Provider interface makes adding new tunnel backends straightforward.
  • Clean Separation: CLI → Service → Provider (strict unidirectionality, zero circular dependencies).
  • Fully Testable: High test coverage (>80%) across packages with race detector validation (go test -race).

🧪 Development & Testing

# Run all unit tests with Go race detector
go test ./... -v -race -cover

# Package-specific coverage
go test ./internal/tunnel -cover
go test ./internal/server -cover
go test ./internal/provider -cover

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please check out CONTRIBUTING.md for branch strategy, test requirements, and code style guidelines.

📝 License

Distributed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Made with ❤️ by @kernelshard