Cloudflare Tunnel Local Preview

Date: 2026-06-24
Status: Working
System: Cloudflare Tunnel, Cloudflare DNS, MkDocs
Sensitive data: Masked

Goal

Expose a website running on a local machine to the public internet without opening router ports or assigning a public IP address to the machine.

In this example, the local website runs at:

http://127.0.0.1:8001/

The public test URL is:

https://test.saashq.in/

When to Use This

Use this when a developer or tester needs to quickly share a local website with another person, test a webhook callback, verify a mobile-device flow against a reachable URL, or preview a local documentation site from outside the machine.

This setup is temporary. The tunnel runs only while the cloudflared tunnel run command is active.

Final Configuration

• Local website: http://127.0.0.1:8001/
• Public hostname: test.saashq.in
• Cloudflare Tunnel name: local
• DNS record type shown by Cloudflare: Tunnel
• Proxy status: Proxied
• Runtime mode: temporary command, not a macOS service

Prerequisites

• Domain is managed in Cloudflare DNS.
• cloudflared is installed on the local machine.
• A Cloudflare Tunnel exists, or a new one can be created.
• The local website is already running.

For this test, the local MkDocs site was already running:

curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8001/

Expected result:

HTTP/1.0 200 OK

Install Cloudflared

On macOS with Homebrew:

brew install cloudflared
cloudflared --version

Do not start the Homebrew service if the goal is only a temporary preview.

Create or Reuse a Tunnel

If a tunnel already exists, list it:

cloudflared tunnel list

If a tunnel does not exist, authenticate and create one:

cloudflared tunnel login
cloudflared tunnel create local

This creates tunnel credentials under:

~/.cloudflared/

Keep the credential JSON file private.

Add the Public Hostname

Create a DNS route from the public hostname to the tunnel.

If CLI authentication works:

cloudflared tunnel route dns local test.saashq.in

If the CLI cannot create the route, use the Cloudflare dashboard:

1. Open Cloudflare dashboard.
2. Open the domain.
3. Go to DNS records.
4. Add a record for test.saashq.in.
5. Point it to the tunnel named local.
6. Keep proxy enabled.

The DNS table should show one record for test.saashq.in, with type Tunnel, content local, and proxy status Proxied.

Create a Temporary Config

Create a temporary config outside the repository:

cat > /tmp/saashq-test-tunnel.yml <<'EOF'
tunnel: <tunnel-id>
credentials-file: ~/.cloudflared/<tunnel-id>.json

ingress:
  - hostname: test.saashq.in
    service: http://127.0.0.1:8001
  - service: http_status:404
EOF

Use the real tunnel ID and credential path from cloudflared tunnel list.

Run the Tunnel

Start the tunnel manually:

cloudflared tunnel --config /tmp/saashq-test-tunnel.yml run local

Successful startup shows registered tunnel connections and Cloudflare connectivity checks passing.

Leave this terminal running while the public preview is needed.

Verify the Public URL

Check DNS and HTTP from another terminal:

dig +short test.saashq.in @1.1.1.1
curl -I -L https://test.saashq.in/

Expected result:

HTTP/2 200

Open the public URL in a browser and confirm it shows the same local site.

Stop the Tunnel

Stop the running cloudflared command with Ctrl+C.

After stopping, the public hostname should no longer serve the local site:

curl -I -L https://test.saashq.in/

Expected result when the tunnel is stopped:

HTTP/2 530

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check	Fix
Public URL returns 530	Is cloudflared tunnel run active?	Start the tunnel again.
Public URL returns 404	Does the temporary config include the hostname?	Add hostname: test.saashq.in under ingress.
Local URL fails	Is the local website running?	Start the local dev server first.
DNS route command fails	Is CLI auth valid?	Add the tunnel hostname from the Cloudflare dashboard instead.
Browser shows stale content	Is another site using the same hostname?	Check the Cloudflare DNS record and tunnel route.

Maintenance Notes

• Keep this page focused on temporary tunnel previews.
• Keep tunnel credential files out of the repository.
• Keep screenshots redacted before publishing.
• Do not document personal Cloudflare account usernames or mailbox names.