---
title: Start Tunnel
description: "Start a Cloudflare tunnel to expose Mudabbir's local server with a public HTTPS URL. Required for WhatsApp Business webhooks and remote dashboard access without port forwarding."
api: POST /api/remote/start
baseUrl: http://localhost:8888
layout: '@/layouts/APIEndpointLayout.astro'
auth: bearer
section: API Reference
ogType: article
keywords: ["start tunnel", "cloudflare", "public access", "https tunnel"]
tags: ["api", "tunnel"]
---

## Overview

Starts a Cloudflare quick tunnel that exposes the local dashboard to the internet. No Cloudflare account is required — uses the free `trycloudflare.com` domain.

<Callout type="warning">
  When a tunnel is active, localhost auth bypass is disabled. All requests must include a valid token.
</Callout>

## Response (Success)

<ResponseField name="url" type="string">The public tunnel URL</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="active" type="boolean">`true`</ResponseField>

## Response (Failure)

<ResponseField name="error" type="string">Error message</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="active" type="boolean">`false`</ResponseField>

<RequestExample>
<Tabs items={["cURL", "JavaScript", "Python"]}>
  <Tab title="cURL">
    ```bash
    curl -X POST "http://localhost:8888/api/remote/start" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="JavaScript">
    ```javascript
    const response = await fetch("http://localhost:8888/api/remote/start", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    });
    const data = await response.json();
    console.log(data);
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Python">
    ```python
    import requests

    response = requests.post(
        "http://localhost:8888/api/remote/start",
        headers={"Authorization": "Bearer <token>"}
    )
    print(response.json())
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
<Tabs items={["200"]}>
  <Tab title="200">
    ```json
    {
      "url": "https://steep-mountain-abc123.trycloudflare.com",
      "active": true
    }
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>
</ResponseExample>

<Callout type="info">
  Requires `cloudflared` to be installed on the system. Install via `brew install cloudflared` or `apt install cloudflared`.
</Callout>
