# rustunnel

> rustunnel is an open-source, self-hosted tunnel server written in Rust. Expose local HTTP, TCP, and UDP services to the internet through the managed cloud (rustunnel.com) or your own server — a self-hostable ngrok alternative. The same CLI client works against both.

Every page below is also available as raw markdown by fetching the `.md` URL shown. The complete documentation in a single file: https://rustunnel.com/docs/llms-full.txt

## Getting started

- [rustunnel docs — open-source, self-hosted tunnel server](https://rustunnel.com/docs/index.md): What rustunnel is, managed cloud vs self-hosted, and where to start.
- [rustunnel Quickstart — expose localhost in three steps](https://rustunnel.com/docs/quickstart.md): Install the client, sign in with an API token, and expose your first local service over HTTPS.

## AI tools and agents

- [Using rustunnel from an AI agent or LLM harness](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/agent-integration.md): Copy-paste MCP config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and any custom MCP client, plus a programmatic JSON-RPC example.
- [MCP Tunnel Server](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/mcp-server.md): rustunnel-mcp lets any MCP-compatible agent create, list, and close tunnels with six dedicated tools.
- [Claude Code Tunnel Plugin — one-command MCP install](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/claude-plugin.md): Install the rustunnel Claude Code plugin in one command; tunnels are cleaned up automatically on session exit.

## Guides

- [rustunnel CLI Client Guide — every flag, command, and config option](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/client-guide.md): Complete reference for the CLI client: installation, authentication, HTTP/TCP/UDP/P2P tunnel commands, region selection, config file format, and troubleshooting.
- [Self-Host the rustunnel Tunnel Server on Ubuntu](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/self-hosting.md): Production-ready walkthrough for a Linux VPS with systemd, Let's Encrypt TLS, and PostgreSQL.
- [Deploy rustunnel-server with Docker](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/docker-deployment.md): Local-development setup with a self-signed certificate and a production VPS deployment with real TLS.
- [rustunnel Architecture — control plane, data plane, and yamux multiplexing](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/architecture.md): Control protocol (JSON over WebSocket), data plane (yamux multiplexed binary), Tokio concurrency model, and crate structure.

## Reference

- [Tunnel Load Balancing with Multiple Backends and Health Checks](https://rustunnel.com/docs/reference/load-balancing.md): Run multiple backends behind one subdomain or TCP port with automatic health-based rotation.
- [P2P Tunnels — direct peer-to-peer connections without an exit node](https://rustunnel.com/docs/reference/p2p-tunnels.md): NAT hole punching over QUIC, relay vs direct mode, NAT classification, and automatic fallback.
- [UDP Tunnels in rustunnel](https://rustunnel.com/docs/reference/udp-tunnels.md): Forward datagrams to local UDP services — game servers, DNS resolvers, QUIC endpoints, VoIP.

## Contributing

- [Contributing](https://rustunnel.com/docs/contribute.md): How to contribute to rustunnel — repo layout, dev setup, and PR conventions.

## Optional

- [rustunnel.com](https://rustunnel.com/llms.txt): The product site index — landing page, pricing, and engineering blog.
- [rustunnel on GitHub](https://github.com/joaoh82/rustunnel): Source code for the tunnel server, CLI client, and MCP server.