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Share a local dev server

You can expose your local dev server over a Cloudflare Quick Tunnel when you need to share a preview, test a webhook, or access your app from another device. This provides a random *.trycloudflare.com hostname for the current dev session.

This page covers tunnel support in Wrangler and the Cloudflare Vite plugin.

Start a tunnel

Wrangler

Run wrangler dev --tunnel:

npx wrangler dev --tunnel

Wrangler will print the public tunnel URL for the current dev session.

Cloudflare Vite plugin

Enable tunnel conditionally in the plugin config:

vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { cloudflare } from "@cloudflare/vite-plugin";


export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    cloudflare({
      tunnel: process.env.ENABLE_DEV_TUNNEL === "true",
    }),
  ],
});

Then enable the tunnel only for the sessions where you want a public URL:

Terminal window
ENABLE_DEV_TUNNEL=true vite dev # or "vite preview"

Once the tunnel opens:

  • The public tunnel URL is printed in the terminal for the current dev session.
  • The session expires after 1 hour by default.
  • A reminder is logged every 10 minutes while the tunnel is open.
  • You can extend the tunnel by 1 hour at a time, either by pressing t for Wrangler or t + Enter for Vite.
  • The tunnel can be extended up to 3 hours of remaining time.

Security considerations

Anyone with the tunnel URL can reach your dev server, so review what your app exposes before enabling a tunnel.

  • Pay special attention to ungated preview or admin endpoints.
  • Review any remote bindings connected to real resources.
  • Review any code that proxies requests to private or internal services.
  • If you are using the Cloudflare Vite plugin with vite dev, HMR and module serving may expose source files, file paths, or project structure over the tunnel. If you only need to share a built preview, prefer vite preview for public sharing.
  • Local dev-related routes, such as /cdn-cgi/*, remain restricted and are not exposed over the tunnel.
  • If you need a stable hostname or stricter access control, use a named tunnel protected by Cloudflare Access.