Dev server port for hot-reloading environment with ngrok

✅ Step-by-Step Guide to Use Ngrok on macOS

🔹 1. Install Ngrok

If you have Homebrew:

brew install ngrok/ngrok/ngrok

Or download it manually from https://ngrok.com/download and follow the setup instructions.

🔹 2. Sign Up & Get an Auth Token

1. Go to https://dashboard.ngrok.com/signup
2. After signing in, you’ll find your authtoken under “Getting Started” or in the left menu → “Your Authtoken”.

🔹 3. Connect Your Ngrok Account

Replace YOUR_AUTHTOKEN_HERE with your token:

ngrok config add-authtoken YOUR_AUTHTOKEN_HERE

🔹 4. Start Your Node.js App

Make sure your Node.js development server is running locally (e.g., on port 3000):

gatsby develop
# or
ntl dev

🔹 5. Expose Your Local Server

Now tunnel your local port:

ngrok http 8000

You’ll see output like:

Forwarding                    https://abcd1234.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:8000

That https://abcd1234.ngrok.io is the link you can safely share with your client.

🛡 Security Tip

• Ngrok does not expose your files—just the server response.
• If your app has an admin area or sensitive routes, consider adding basic auth or password protection while previewing.