Remote Tunnels API

The Remote Tunnels API enables you to programmatically create secure tunnels that expose local ports via Cloudflare. This allows QA.tech to access locally-running applications for testing without deploying them to a public server.

Base URL: https://api.qa.tech/v1
Authentication: Bearer token (project API token)
Content-Type: application/json

Prerequisites

Before using the Remote Tunnels API, you need:

cloudflared – Cloudflare’s tunnel client must be installed on your machine or CI runner

# macOS
brew install cloudflared

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
curl -L --output cloudflared.deb https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i cloudflared.deb

# See https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-apps/install-and-setup/installation/

Your application running locally – The tunnel exposes local ports, so your app must be running

Tunnel Expiration

Tunnels expire 12 hours after creation. The expiresAt field in the response indicates when the tunnel will be automatically torn down. For long-running development, you’ll need to create a new tunnel when the current one expires.

When to Use Remote Tunnels

Local development testing – Test your local environment without deploying
CI/CD pipelines – Expose ephemeral test servers during build processes
Preview environments – Create temporary public URLs for testing
Firewall-protected environments – Access applications behind corporate firewalls

For CLI-based tunnel management, see the tunnel command documentation. The CLI provides a simpler interface for common tunnel operations.

Authentication

Include your project’s API token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN

Find your API token in the QA.tech dashboard: Settings → Integrations → API.

Create Remote Tunnel

Create a new tunnel that exposes one or more local ports via Cloudflare. Returns a tunnelToken to start the cloudflared daemon. Endpoint: POST /remote-tunnels

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
`ports`	array	Yes	Array of port mappings to expose (see below)
`public`	boolean	No	If `true`, tunnel is publicly accessible without auth

Port Mapping Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`localPort`	integer	Yes	Local port number to expose
`protocol`	string	No	Protocol: `"http"` (default) or `"https"`
`subdomain`	string	No	Optional subdomain label (e.g. `"api"` → `r-{id}-api.quack.run`)

Response (200)

{
  "runnerId": "tunnel_abc123",
  "hostnames": [
    {
      "localPort": 3000,
      "url": "https://r-tunnel_abc123-app.quack.run"
    },
    {
      "localPort": 8080,
      "url": "https://r-tunnel_abc123-api.quack.run"
    }
  ],
  "tunnelToken": "eyJhIjoiYWJjMTIzLi4uIiwidCI6Ii4uLiJ9",
  "expiresAt": "2026-05-04T22:30:00.000Z"
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`runnerId`	string	Tunnel identifier for subsequent API calls
`hostnames`	array	Public hostnames mapped to local ports
`tunnelToken`	string	Token to start the cloudflared daemon
`expiresAt`	string	ISO 8601 timestamp when the tunnel expires

Hostname Fields

Field	Type	Description
`localPort`	integer	Local port this hostname maps to
`url`	string	Public HTTPS URL for this port

Example: Single Port

curl -X POST "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ports": [
      { "localPort": 3000 }
    ]
  }'

Example: Multiple Ports with Subdomains

curl -X POST "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ports": [
      { "localPort": 3000, "subdomain": "app" },
      { "localPort": 8080, "subdomain": "api", "protocol": "http" }
    ]
  }'

Starting the Tunnel

After creating a tunnel, start the cloudflared daemon with the returned token:

cloudflared tunnel run --token YOUR_TUNNEL_TOKEN

The tunnel will remain active as long as cloudflared is running and has not expired (12-hour maximum lifetime).

For simpler tunnel management, consider using the CLI tunnel command which handles cloudflared automatically: qatech tunnel start --port 3000

List Remote Tunnels

List all active tunnels for your project. Endpoint: GET /remote-tunnels

Response (200)

{
  "tunnels": [
    {
      "runnerId": "tunnel_abc123",
      "hostnames": [
        { "localPort": 3000, "url": "https://r-tunnel_abc123.quack.run" }
      ],
      "createdAt": "2026-05-04T10:30:00.000Z",
      "expiresAt": "2026-05-04T22:30:00.000Z",
      "isExpired": false
    },
    {
      "runnerId": "tunnel_def456",
      "hostnames": [
        { "localPort": 8080, "url": "https://r-tunnel_def456.quack.run" }
      ],
      "createdAt": "2026-05-03T14:00:00.000Z",
      "expiresAt": "2026-05-04T02:00:00.000Z",
      "isExpired": true
    }
  ]
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`tunnels`	array	Array of tunnel summary objects

Tunnel Summary Fields

Field	Type	Description
`runnerId`	string	Tunnel identifier
`hostnames`	array	Public hostnames for the tunnel
`createdAt`	string	ISO 8601 creation timestamp
`expiresAt`	string	ISO 8601 expiration timestamp
`isExpired`	boolean	Whether the tunnel has expired

Example

curl "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Get Tunnel Status

Check the live health status of a tunnel via Cloudflare. Endpoint: GET /remote-tunnels/{runnerId}/status

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`runnerId`	string	Yes	Tunnel identifier

Response (200)

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "connections": 4,
  "hostnames": [
    { "localPort": 3000, "url": "https://r-tunnel_abc123.quack.run" }
  ]
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`status`	string	`"inactive"`, `"degraded"`, or `"healthy"`
`connections`	integer	Number of active Cloudflare edge connections
`hostnames`	array	Public hostnames for the tunnel

Status Values

Status	Connections	Description
`inactive`	0	No active connections
`degraded`	1-3	Tunnel is running but not optimal
`healthy`	4+	Tunnel is fully operational

Example

curl "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels/tunnel_abc123/status" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Delete Remote Tunnel

Tear down a tunnel and remove its DNS records. Endpoint: DELETE /remote-tunnels/{runnerId}

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`runnerId`	string	Yes	Tunnel identifier

Response (200)

{
  "deleted": true
}

Example

curl -X DELETE "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels/tunnel_abc123" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Complete Workflow Example

Here’s a complete example of creating a tunnel, using it for testing, and cleaning up:

# 1. Create the tunnel
TUNNEL_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"ports": [{"localPort": 3000}]}')

RUNNER_ID=$(echo "$TUNNEL_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.runnerId')
TUNNEL_TOKEN=$(echo "$TUNNEL_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.tunnelToken')
PUBLIC_URL=$(echo "$TUNNEL_RESPONSE" | jq -r '.hostnames[0].url')

echo "Tunnel created: $PUBLIC_URL"

# 2. Start cloudflared in the background
cloudflared tunnel run --token "$TUNNEL_TOKEN" &
CLOUDFLARED_PID=$!

# 3. Wait for tunnel to become healthy
sleep 5
STATUS=$(curl -s "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels/$RUNNER_ID/status" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" | jq -r '.status')
echo "Tunnel status: $STATUS"

# 4. Run tests against the tunnel URL
curl -X POST "https://api.qa.tech/v1/run" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"testPlanShortId\": \"pln_abc123\",
    \"applications\": [{
      \"applicationShortId\": \"app_gXeBl2\",
      \"environment\": {
        \"url\": \"$PUBLIC_URL\",
        \"name\": \"Local Tunnel\"
      }
    }]
  }"

# 5. Clean up
kill $CLOUDFLARED_PID
curl -X DELETE "https://api.qa.tech/v1/remote-tunnels/$RUNNER_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Error Responses

Status	Description
400	Validation error or malformed request
401	Missing or invalid API key
403	Invalid token or organization suspended
404	Tunnel or project not found
500	Server error

Error responses include a body: { "message": "Error description" }.

Tunnel CLI Command – CLI interface for tunnel management
SSH Tunnel – Alternative tunneling via SSH
Start Run API – Use tunnel URLs as environment overrides
API Introduction – Authentication and ID reference

API Reference

Applications

Application Builds

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Infrastructure

Remote Tunnels

Runs

Test Cases

Prerequisites

Tunnel Expiration

When to Use Remote Tunnels

Authentication

Create Remote Tunnel

Request Body

Port Mapping Fields

Response (200)

Response Fields

Hostname Fields

Example: Single Port

Example: Multiple Ports with Subdomains

Starting the Tunnel

List Remote Tunnels

Response (200)

Response Fields

Tunnel Summary Fields

Example

Get Tunnel Status

Path Parameters

Response (200)

Response Fields

Status Values

Example

Delete Remote Tunnel

Path Parameters

Response (200)

Example

Complete Workflow Example

Error Responses

​Prerequisites

​Tunnel Expiration

​When to Use Remote Tunnels

​Authentication

​Create Remote Tunnel

​Request Body

​Port Mapping Fields

​Response (200)

​Response Fields

​Hostname Fields

​Example: Single Port

​Example: Multiple Ports with Subdomains

​Starting the Tunnel

​List Remote Tunnels

​Response (200)

​Response Fields

​Tunnel Summary Fields

​Example

​Get Tunnel Status

​Path Parameters

​Response (200)

​Response Fields

​Status Values

​Example

​Delete Remote Tunnel

​Path Parameters

​Response (200)

​Example

​Complete Workflow Example

​Error Responses

​Related

Prerequisites

Tunnel Expiration

When to Use Remote Tunnels

Authentication

Create Remote Tunnel

Request Body

Port Mapping Fields

Response (200)

Response Fields

Hostname Fields

Example: Single Port

Example: Multiple Ports with Subdomains

Starting the Tunnel

List Remote Tunnels

Response (200)

Response Fields

Tunnel Summary Fields

Example

Get Tunnel Status

Path Parameters

Response (200)

Response Fields

Status Values

Example

Delete Remote Tunnel

Path Parameters

Response (200)

Example

Complete Workflow Example

Error Responses

Related