Setup Portless

Requirements: Node.js 20+, macOS or Linux.

# Install globally
npm install -g portless

# Start the proxy daemon
portless proxy start

# Run your app with a named route
portless myapp next dev
# => http://myapp.localhost:1355

Step 1: Verify prerequisites

Check Node.js version is 20+ and platform is macOS or Linux:

node --version
uname -s

If Node.js < 20, inform the user they need to upgrade before proceeding.

Step 2: Detect project context

Read package.json to understand:

• Project name (use as default app name)
• Existing dev scripts (to know what command to wrap)
• Whether this is a monorepo (look for workspaces field, or pnpm-workspace.yaml, turbo.json, lerna.json)
• Framework in use (Next.js, Vite, Express, etc.) from dependencies

Step 3: Install Portless

npm install -g portless

Step 4: Choose app name(s)

Ask the user what name they want for their app URL. Suggest based on project name.

For monorepos, suggest subdomain naming:

• api.projectname for backend
• web.projectname or projectname for frontend
• docs.projectname for documentation

Step 5: Update package.json scripts

Wrap the existing dev script with portless. For example, if the current script is:

{ "dev": "next dev" }

Update to:

{ "dev": "portless myapp next dev" }

For monorepos, update each workspace's package.json similarly.

Step 6: Verify setup

Run the dev script and confirm the app is accessible at the named URL:

npm run dev

The proxy auto-starts if not already running. Confirm output shows the .localhost:1355 URL.

Verify routes are registered:

portless list

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "portless myapp next dev"
  }
}

Access at: http://myapp.localhost:1355

# In packages/web/package.json
"dev": "portless web.myapp next dev"

# In packages/api/package.json
"dev": "portless api.myapp node server.js"

# In packages/docs/package.json
"dev": "portless docs.myapp next dev"

Access at:

• http://web.myapp.localhost:1355
• http://api.myapp.localhost:1355
• http://docs.myapp.localhost:1355

sudo portless proxy start -p 80
# Then: http://myapp.localhost (no port needed)