How to Make Your Localhost Server Available Online
SMRTR summary
A developer's sanctuary, once confined to the digital island of localhost, can now reach across the internet with a simple command. That's the promise of Tunnelmole, an open-source tool transforming how developers share their work-in-progress.
"With a single command, it provides a unique public URL that forwards all incoming traffic directly to your local application," allowing for real-time collaboration without deploying to staging servers.
For webhook testing alone, this solves a persistent headache. Services like Stripe or GitHub need public endpoints to send notifications, which localhost can't provide—until now.
Mobile testing becomes effortless too. Instead of relying on browser emulators, developers can see their applications on actual devices by simply sharing their Tunnelmole-generated URL.
The tool works by establishing a WebSocket connection between your machine and Tunnelmole's servers, which then assigns you a public subdomain. All traffic to that domain gets tunneled directly to your local server.
Free to use and cross-platform compatible, Tunnelmole represents a new paradigm where the line between development and deployment blurs, allowing for smoother workflows and faster feedback cycles.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Dev.to.
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