# vercel-labs/portless

Replace port numbers with stable, named local URLs. For humans and agents.

Repository: https://github.com/vercel-labs/portless
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/portless
Homepage: https://portless.sh
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T22:31:08+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 82/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 14
- inputs: {"age_days": 199, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 9, "gap_med": 1, "n_releases_24m": 40}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 11327, forks 369 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:46.741531+00:00)

## What it is
A TypeScript CLI that replaces port numbers with stable, named .localhost URLs for local development, wrapping dev server commands behind an auto-started local proxy with HTTPS/HTTP2 by default. It targets both human developers and AI agents, with agent-readable Markdown docs and llms.txt.

## Use cases
- access local dev server via a named https url instead of localhost:3000
- run next dev with a stable myapp.localhost domain
- give AI agents predictable local URLs for dev servers
- set up trusted local HTTPS certificates automatically
- proxy multiple local projects with custom TLDs
- auto-inject port flags for vite or astro dev scripts

## When to choose
- you juggle many local dev servers and want memorable, stable URLs
- you need trusted local HTTPS with HTTP/2 and WebSocket support
- you want agents or scripts to reach dev servers via fixed hostnames
- you use frameworks that ignore the PORT env variable

## When to avoid
- you need a production-grade reverse proxy or API gateway
- you require a fully stable 1.0 tool - it is pre-1.0 with changing state formats
- you only run a single simple dev server and don't mind port numbers

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: proxy, http-server, developer-tools, cli
- domain: developer-tools, web-development
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: localhost, local-development, https, reverse-proxy, dev-server, agent-friendly, tls, command-line, automation, macos, linux, nodejs

## Member repositories
- vercel-labs/portless (main) score 82

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:46.741531+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:15:57.268150+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/vercel-labs/portless (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:46.741531+00:00, sha 507a3b6f654a)
  - homepage: https://portless.sh (fetched 2026-08-29T08:14:53.275045+00:00, sha 2d781570e90f)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/portless (fetched 2026-08-29T08:14:53.487993+00:00, sha f81c0b74fa01)
  - site_page: https://portless.sh/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T08:14:53.369009+00:00, sha 5a0fd968c455)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.