Overview Private Connect makes it easy to share your local services with teammates. Whether you need to collaborate on a feature, debug together, or give someone access to your environment, Private Connect provides multiple sharing methods to fit your workflow.
Environment Shares Share all your active services with a teammate using a simple join code.
Create a share
On your machine: Output: 🤝 Creating environment share... [ok] Environment share created! ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Share Code: x7k9m2 │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Your teammate can join with: connect join x7k9m2 Routes being shared: • prod-db → localhost:5432 • staging-api → localhost:8080 • redis → localhost:6379 Expires in 24 hours (Mon Mar 03 2026 23:44:00)
Teammate joins
Your teammate runs: They now have access to the same services on the same ports.
Both work together
You both can now access the same services: # You psql -h localhost -p 5432 # Teammate psql -h localhost -p 5432 # → Connected to the same database
Environment shares include all actively exposed services at the time of creation. Services exposed after creating the share are not included.
Custom Expiration Control how long the share is valid:
connect share --expires 1h # 1 hour connect share --expires 4h # 4 hours connect share --expires 7d # 7 days
Output: Expires in 1 hours (Mon Mar 02 2026 00:44:00)
Named Shares Give your share a descriptive name:
connect share --name "Bug #123 debugging"
Output: [ok] Environment share created! ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Share Code: x7k9m2 │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Name: Bug #123 debugging Expires in 24 hours
List Active Shares See all your active environment shares:
Output: 📋 Active Environment Shares x7k9m2 (Bug #123 debugging) Routes: 3 | Joined: 2 | Expires: 23h a4b8c1 Routes: 1 | Joined: 0 | Expires: 6h
Revoke a Share Remove access to a share:
connect share revoke x7k9m2
Output: [ok] Share x7k9m2 revoked.
Public Share Links Create public URLs that anyone can access - perfect for webhooks, demos, and external integrations.
Quick Share Create a temporary public URL when exposing a service:
connect expose localhost:3000 --link
Output: 📡 Service "my-app" is now accessible through the hub 🔗 Public URL: https://x7k9m2.privateconnect.co Expires: Mon Mar 03 2026 23:44:00
Persistent Public URLs Create a permanent public URL:
connect expose localhost:3000 --public
Output: 🌐 Public URL: https://abc123.privateconnect.co External services (Stripe, GitHub, etc.) can send webhooks to this URL 📡 Service "my-app" is now accessible through the hub Public URL: https://abc123.privateconnect.co Anyone can reach this service at the URL above
Custom Expiration connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 1h connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 7d
1 Hour
24 Hours (Default)
7 Days
connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 1h
Perfect for quick demos and testing. connect expose localhost:3000 --link
Good for day-long collaborations. connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 7d
Ideal for longer-term sharing. Webhook Integration Public share links are perfect for testing webhooks from external services:
Stripe Webhooks
GitHub Webhooks
Twilio Callbacks
# Expose your webhook endpoint connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 2h # → https://x7k9m2.privateconnect.co # Use in Stripe dashboard: # https://x7k9m2.privateconnect.co/webhooks/stripe
Public links expose your local service to the internet. Only use them for services designed to handle public traffic.
Clone Teammate Environment Copy a teammate’s service configuration to your machine:
# List available teammates connect clone --list
Output: Available teammates: • alice (4 services) • bob (2 services) • charlie (3 services)
Clone Services Output: ✓ Cloned 4 service(s) from alice → Generated: .env.pconnect Services cloned: • prod-db → localhost:5432 • staging-api → localhost:8080 • redis → localhost:6379 • mongo → localhost:27017 Connection strings saved to .env.pconnect Run: source .env.pconnect
Generated Environment File The .env.pconnect file contains connection strings:
DATABASE_URL = postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp REDIS_URL = redis://localhost:6379 MONGO_URL = mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp API_URL = http://localhost:8080
Load it in your shell:
Cloning is perfect for onboarding new team members. They get instant access to all the services they need.
Debug Session Sharing Share live traffic inspection with teammates for pair-debugging:
connect expose localhost:3000 --debug
Output: 🔍 Debug mode enabled Share this link: https://app.privateconnect.co/debug/abc123 Anyone with this link can see live traffic
With AI Assistance connect expose localhost:3000 --debug --ai
Output: 🔍 Debug mode enabled Share this link: https://app.privateconnect.co/debug/abc123 Anyone with this link can see live traffic AI Copilot: enabled
Debug Viewer Features Teammates with the debug link can:
See real-time request/response traffic
Inspect headers and payloads
View protocol-specific data (HTTP, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, Redis)
See who else is viewing (presence indicators)
Ask the AI copilot questions about traffic
Replay captured requests
Debug mode provides live traffic inspection and AI-powered debugging assistance.
Share Specific Services Instead of sharing your entire environment, share specific services:
Expose the service with a public URL
connect expose localhost:8080 --name api --public
Share the URL
Send the public URL to your teammate: https://abc123.privateconnect.co
Teammate accesses it
Your teammate can access it directly: curl https://abc123.privateconnect.co/health
Security Best Practices Database Services : Don’t use --public or --link with database services (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB). Use environment shares or connect reach instead.
Recommended Approach HTTP/API Services
Database Services
Safe to use public links: connect expose localhost:3000 --link --link-expires 1h
Perfect for:
Web apps
REST APIs
Webhook endpoints
Demo sites
Use environment shares: # You connect share # → Share code: x7k9m2 # Teammate connect join x7k9m2 psql -h localhost -p 5432
Safe for:
PostgreSQL
MySQL
MongoDB
Redis
Automatic Protection Private Connect prevents public URLs for database ports:
connect expose localhost:5432 --public
Output: [!] --public creates a public HTTP URL, which doesn't work for database/TCP services (port 5432). To access this service remotely, use: connect reach postgres
Protected ports:
5432 (PostgreSQL)3306 (MySQL)27017 (MongoDB)6379 (Redis)6380 (Redis)26257 (CockroachDB)9042 (Cassandra)8529 (ArangoDB)7687 (Neo4j)1433 (SQL Server)1521 (Oracle)50000 (DB2)
Command Reference Environment Shares # Create share connect share [options] Options: --name < nam e > Descriptive name for the share --expires < tim e > Expiration time: 1h, 4h, 24h, 7d --list List active shares # Revoke share connect share revoke < cod e > # Join share connect join < cod e >
Public Links # Quick share link connect expose < targe t > --link [options] Options: --link-expires < tim e > Link expiration: 1h, 24h, 7d # Persistent public URL connect expose < targe t > --public
Clone Environment # List teammates connect clone --list # Clone from teammate connect clone < teammat e >
Debug Sessions # Share debug session connect expose < targe t > --debug [--ai]
Examples Quick Team Collaboration
Webhook Testing
Demo Sharing
Pair Debugging
Onboarding
# Developer A: Share environment connect share --name "Feature X development" --expires 4h # → Share code: x7k9m2 # Developer B: Join connect join x7k9m2 # → Connected to all services # Both can work on same services psql -h localhost -p 5432
Next Steps
Monitoring Monitor and debug your services
Public Links Create public URLs for services
Project Dev Mode Share entire project environments with pconnect.yml
Security Security best practices and architecture