Port Zero docs
Set every port to 0 and start your program. Port Zero gives it a stable
domain instead — no port to remember, no EADDRINUSE. These pages cover
the free, local overlay and the paid Cloud tunnels product.
Start here
Install Port Zero, tag a process or container, and see a stable URL.
- Getting started — Install Port Zero, tag a process or container, and open a stable URL.
- Tunnels & PZ_TUNNEL — The full-domain rule, template variables, and companion environment variables.
- Examples — Minimal, ready-to-run PZ_TUNNEL examples in several languages.
- How it works — What the background daemon does when PZ_TUNNEL is set, for Local and Cloud tunnels.
Cloud tunnels
Share a tunnel with reviewers and teammates over the internet.
- Cloud tunnels — Reach a local process from the internet, read tunnel status from scripts and CI, and understand the local view vs. the dashboard.
- Review apps — Build per-PR preview environments on top of Port Zero tunnel names — no orchestrator required.
- Review records — Tie reviewer feedback pinned on a tunneled app to the commit that fixes it.
- CI & agent credentials — Let CI jobs and coding agents mint short-lived, team-scoped Cloud tunnel credentials — no long-lived tokens to store.
- Teams & invitations — Invite teammates by email — they do not need an account first — and manage who is on your team.
AI agents
Let a coding agent drive Port Zero directly.
- AI agents & the MCP server — Let a coding agent read tunnel state and drive Port Zero directly, via portzero mcp.
Reference & safety
What the daemon can see, what needs elevated privileges, and how to fix common problems.
- Security model — What the daemon reads, what it sends, why it needs elevated privileges, and how the local certificate authority is constrained.
- Platform privileges — What the Local overlay needs elevated privileges for, per platform, and what happens without them.
- Troubleshooting — Fixes for the most common Port Zero problems.
- Known limitations — Specific, identified gaps in local certificate-authority trust, and the documented fallback for each.
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions about Port Zero's design decisions and remote coding-agent setup.
- Port Zero vs. ngrok — How Port Zero's flat-rate tunnels and local port-conflict fix compare to ngrok's metered model. Public facts as of July 2026 — verify current ngrok terms at ngrok.com.