Solutions
Show someone a dev server without deploying it
Updated
Forkbench's Live Link puts the server already running on your machine behind a temporary HTTPS address on its own hostname, so the person you invited opens the real thing, live, without you deploying, building or uploading anything.
Something is running on your machine right now, a page, an API, whatever an agent just finished, and another person needs to look at it or click around in it. Deploying it means a build and somewhere to host the result. Uploading it means it stops being only on your machine. Most of the time neither is worth doing for a look that takes two minutes.
The address resolves from anywhere, the way any web address does. What is behind it does not open for just anyone: a visitor has to be signed in to Forkbench and an active member of the Thread the link came from, checked on every request before it ever reaches your machine. That is the actual difference from a general tunnel, not a leftover restriction. A tunnel like ngrok exists to let anything reach your machine, including another machine, and Live Link refuses exactly that case: a webhook from Stripe or GitHub cannot sign in, so it gets nothing back. Live Link is for showing a running app to a specific named person. Live Link is on every plan, including free. What a plan changes is how many links you can have open at once and how long each one lasts before it expires on its own, not whether you get one at all.
How it works
- 1In the Thread that owns the work, point Live Link at the port your dev server is running on.
- 2Forkbench hands back an HTTPS address on its own random hostname. Send it to the person who needs to look.
- 3If they are not already a member of that Thread, invite them first, since membership is the whole access check.
- 4They sign in to Forkbench and open the link. Reloading shows whatever changed a second ago, because the page is served live from your machine, not a snapshot.
- 5Let it expire on its own clock, or revoke it the moment you are done.
Straight about the guarantee: A webhook or any other machine caller cannot use a Live Link. It has to sign in, and a machine cannot, so point webhook testing at a general tunnel instead. The link also only answers while your machine is awake and the server is still running, and nothing served through it is copied or stored anywhere else.
Frequently asked
Can I send a Live Link to someone who doesn't use Forkbench?
They need a Forkbench account and an invite to the Thread the link came from. Signing up and participating in someone else's Thread both cost nothing, but there's no way to open a Live Link without signing in.
Will a webhook from Stripe or GitHub work with a Live Link?
No. Every visitor has to sign in and be a member of the Thread, and a webhook cannot sign in. Live Link is for showing a running app to a person, not for wiring up a machine caller.
Related: Live Link against ngrok, feature by feature, What else that person can see once they're in the Thread