Explanation
Understand how a request reaches your app
A visitor reaches your local app through InstaWormhole's edge and a connection your own computer opens, without you opening a port.
- Applies to
- All plans
- Time
- About 5 minutes to read
- What it changes
- None. This page explains; it changes nothing.
- Last reviewed
- , by Product documentation
The path of a request
A visitor opens your tunnel's address, for example https://example.instawormhole.site. The request travels over HTTPS to InstaWormhole's edge. The edge checks the tunnel's rules: whether it is blocked, its request limits, its IP list and its password or token.
If the request passes, the relay passes it to your connector over the connection the connector opened. The connector hands the request to your app on your own computer and sends the answer back along the same path.
What runs on your computer
The connector connects out to InstaWormhole. You do not open a port on your router and you do not change your firewall for incoming traffic.
The connector only forwards to the local address you give it, and only to loopback addresses such as 127.0.0.1, localhost and ::1.
Durable tunnels and quick addresses
| Durable tunnel | Quick address | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Create it in the dashboard, then connect with its tunnel id | Run the connector with only a port |
| Address | Stays the same across reconnects, sleep and network changes | A temporary random address |
| Access choice | Everyone, or a password or token on plans that include them | Everyone |
| Request inspector | Yes | No: only durable tunnels are recorded |
| Good for | Webhooks, demos and anything you want to keep stable or protect | A quick look from your phone |
Why tunnel traffic uses a separate domain
Tunnel addresses live under instawormhole.site. Your account, sign-in and dashboard live under instawormhole.com. They are different domains on purpose, so an app behind a tunnel cannot read your InstaWormhole session.
What to do next
Related
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