Static Tunnel

Static tunnels serve files straight from a directory on your machine. Portr runs the file server inside its own process, so there is no separate local web server to start.

portr serve ./dist

That prints a public URL serving the contents of ./dist. Pin it to a subdomain with --subdomain:

portr serve ./dist --subdomain docs

Common Use Cases

• Sharing a production build with a teammate or client before deploying it
• Opening a static site on a phone or tablet for testing
• Handing over a folder of screenshots, PDFs, or reports

Directory Listings

Requesting a directory serves its index.html when one exists. When it does not, Portr renders a listing of the directory contents.

Symlinks

Symlinks inside the served directory are followed as long as they stay inside it. A symlink pointing anywhere outside returns 404, so a stray link cannot expose the rest of your filesystem.

Rebuilds

Portr reads files on each request, so a build tool that rewrites files in place (Vite, Hugo, esbuild, tsc) is picked up immediately with no restart.

If you delete and recreate the directory itself — rm -rf dist && npm run build — restart portr serve. Portr holds a handle to the original directory, and after it is removed every request returns 404.

Single-page Apps

Deep links into a single-page app return 404 today, because there is no file at that path. Only the entry route is served. Use portr http in front of your dev server if you need client-side routing.

Config File

Static tunnels can live in the client config alongside other tunnels:

tunnels:
  - name: site
    type: static
    subdomain: site
    dir: ./dist

dir in the config file is resolved relative to the config file. On the command line it is resolved relative to your current directory. A subdomain is generated when you do not set one.