GitHub - copyleftdev/zgrok: Self-hosted ngrok alternative in Rust. Development in progress

A self-hosted ngrok alternative built in Rust. Expose your local services to the internet through secure tunnels.

Quick Start

Installation

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/copyleftdev/zgrok.git
cd zgrok
cargo build --release

# Binaries are in target/release/
ls target/release/zgrok target/release/zgrok-edge

Expose a Local Service

# Start a tunnel to your local server on port 8080
./target/release/zgrok http 8080

# With a custom subdomain
./target/release/zgrok http 8080 --subdomain myapp

# With authentication
./target/release/zgrok http 8080 --authtoken zg_your_token_here

Run Your Own Edge Server

# Generate TLS certificates (or use Let's Encrypt)
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -nodes

# Start the edge server
./target/release/zgrok-edge \
  --cert cert.pem \
  --key key.pem \
  --domain yourdomain.com \
  --https-port 443 \
  --http-port 80

Architecture

┌─────────────┐     HTTPS      ┌─────────────┐    Multiplexed    ┌─────────────┐
│   Browser   │ ──────────────▶│    Edge     │◀───────────────── │    Agent    │
│             │  subdomain.    │   Server    │     Tunnel        │    (CLI)    │
└─────────────┘  domain.com    └─────────────┘                   └──────┬──────┘
                                     │                                  │
                                     │                                  │ HTTP
                                     ▼                                  ▼
                               ┌─────────────┐                   ┌─────────────┐
                               │   Control   │                   │    Your     │
                               │    Plane    │                   │   Service   │
                               └─────────────┘                   └─────────────┘

Component	Crate	Description
Agent	`zgrok-agent`	CLI client that runs on your machine
Edge	`zgrok-edge`	Public server that terminates TLS and routes traffic
Control	`zgrok-control`	Authentication, sessions, subdomain allocation
Protocol	`zgrok-protocol`	Binary framing, stream multiplexing, keepalive
Common	`zgrok-common`	Shared utilities, observability, validation

Agent CLI Reference

zgrok - Expose local services via secure tunnels

USAGE:
    zgrok [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

COMMANDS:
    http      Start an HTTP tunnel
    tcp       Start a TCP tunnel
    config    Manage configuration
    status    Show tunnel status

OPTIONS:
    -c, --config <PATH>    Path to config file
    -v, --verbose          Increase verbosity (-v, -vv, -vvv)
        --no-color         Disable colored output

HTTP Tunnel Options

zgrok http [OPTIONS] <PORT>

ARGUMENTS:
    <PORT>    Local port to expose

OPTIONS:
        --host <HOST>            Local host to forward to [default: localhost]
    -s, --subdomain <SUBDOMAIN>  Request specific subdomain
        --authtoken <TOKEN>      API key for authentication
        --region <REGION>        Edge region to connect to
        --inspect                Enable request inspection UI

Configuration File

Create ~/.config/zgrok/config.toml:

authtoken = "zg_your_token_here"
region = "us-east"

[defaults]
inspect = true

[tunnels.webapp]
proto = "http"
addr = "8080"
subdomain = "myapp"

[tunnels.api]
proto = "http"
addr = "3000"
subdomain = "api"

Edge Server Reference

zgrok-edge - Edge/gateway server for zgrok tunneling service

OPTIONS:
        --https-port <PORT>      HTTPS listen port [default: 443]
        --http-port <PORT>       HTTP redirect port, 0 to disable [default: 80]
        --listen <ADDR>          Listen address [default: 0.0.0.0]
        --cert <PATH>            TLS certificate (PEM)
        --key <PATH>             TLS private key (PEM)
        --domain <DOMAIN>        Base domain for subdomains [default: zgrok.io]
        --control-url <URL>      Control plane URL
    -v, --verbose                Enable verbose logging

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`ZGROK_AUTHTOKEN`	Default authentication token
`ZGROK_CERT_PATH`	TLS certificate path
`ZGROK_KEY_PATH`	TLS private key path
`ZGROK_CONTROL_URL`	Control plane endpoint

Deployment

Docker

FROM rust:1.75 as builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN cargo build --release

FROM debian:bookworm-slim
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y ca-certificates && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
COPY --from=builder /app/target/release/zgrok-edge /usr/local/bin/
EXPOSE 443 80
ENTRYPOINT ["zgrok-edge"]

Systemd Service

# /etc/systemd/system/zgrok-edge.service
[Unit]
Description=zgrok Edge Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=zgrok
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/zgrok-edge \
    --cert /etc/zgrok/cert.pem \
    --key /etc/zgrok/key.pem \
    --domain example.com
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Wildcard DNS

Configure your DNS with a wildcard A record:

*.tunnel.example.com  A  <your-edge-server-ip>

Then run the edge server with --domain tunnel.example.com.

Features

Stream Multiplexing: Multiple logical streams over a single TCP connection
TLS Termination: Secure connections with automatic HTTPS
Subdomain Routing: Each tunnel gets a unique subdomain
Rate Limiting: Protection against abuse (per-IP, per-account, per-subdomain)
Connection Limits: Resource protection with configurable limits
Health Checks: Kubernetes-ready liveness and readiness probes
Prometheus Metrics: Built-in observability
Distributed Tracing: OpenTelemetry support
Graceful Shutdown: Clean connection draining

Development

# Run all tests
cargo test

# Run with verbose output
cargo test -- --nocapture

# Lint
cargo clippy -- -D warnings

# Format
cargo fmt

# Build release
cargo build --release

Project Structure

crates/
├── zgrok-protocol/          # Wire protocol, frame codec, multiplexer
├── zgrok-agent/             # CLI client with TUI
├── zgrok-edge/              # Public-facing gateway server
├── zgrok-control/           # Auth, sessions, subdomain allocation
├── zgrok-common/            # Shared types, observability, validation
└── zgrok-integration-tests/ # Cross-crate integration tests

License

MIT

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.