Install

Get Private Connect running on macOS or Linux. Pick the method that fits your workflow.

Quick install

Installs the connect CLI and authenticates. Works on macOS and Linux.

curl -fsSL https://privateconnect.co/install.sh | bash
connect up

connect up authenticates you (opens browser), sets up the background service, and configures local DNS for *.connect domains. On headless servers, it shows a code to enter from any device.

Try without signup

Create temporary tunnels instantly. No account, no install. Tunnels expire after 2 hours.

# Expose a local web app
npx private-connect tunnel 3000
# Database? Auto-detects the protocol
npx private-connect tunnel 5432
# Share your entire local environment with a teammate, no signup
npx private-connect up 3000 5432 6379
# → npx private-connect join k7m2p9 (send this to your teammate)
# Discover local services and ports to expose
npx private-connect scan
# Webhook tunnel with provider-specific setup
npx private-connect stripe 3000
# Test connectivity to any service
npx private-connect test db.internal:5432

Known database ports (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, CouchDB, ArangoDB, Neo4j, Cassandra) are automatically tunneled over TCP. Everything else defaults to HTTP. Pass --tcp or --udp to override.

Manual download

Download the binary directly and install it yourself.

Download connect-darwin-arm64

After downloading:

# Make it executable
chmod +x connect-darwin-arm64
# Move to your PATH
sudo mv connect-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/connect
# Verify
connect --help

CI / automated install

For GitHub Actions, scripts, or VM provisioning where no browser is available.

curl -fsSL https://privateconnect.co/install.sh | bash -s -- \
--non-interactive \
--api-key=YOUR_KEY \
--daemon
--non-interactive Skip all prompts
--api-key=KEY Authenticate with an API key instead of browser login
--daemon Install and start the background service
--expose-openclaw Expose OpenClaw gateway on :18789 after install

GitHub Actions

Deploy to servers that aren't publicly accessible. No bastion hosts, no VPN.

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
- name: Connect to private infra
run: |
curl -fsSL https://privateconnect.co/install.sh | bash
connect up --api-key ${{ secrets.PRIVATECONNECT_KEY }}
connect reach deploy-server

Build from source

Clone the repo and build the binary yourself.

git clone https://github.com/treadiehq/private-connect.git
cd private-connect && pnpm install
cd apps/agent && pnpm run build:binary

Self-host the Hub

Run the entire stack on your own infrastructure for data residency or air-gapped environments.

git clone https://github.com/treadiehq/private-connect.git
cd private-connect
docker compose up -d
# Point agents at your hub
connect up --hub https://hub.yourcompany.com

Platform support

macOS Intel & Apple Silicon
Linux x64 & arm64
npx Anywhere Node.js runs (no signup)
Docker Self-host with docker compose

Need help?

View all releases on GitHub → Discord →