# Bore — Simple Self-Hosted TCP Tunnel to Localhost

> A minimal Rust CLI tool for exposing local ports to the internet through a self-hosted relay server, offering a lightweight alternative to ngrok with no account required.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Bore — Simple Self-Hosted TCP Tunnel to Localhost

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install via cargo
cargo install bore-cli

# Expose local port 8000 to the public bore.pub relay
bore local 8000 --to bore.pub

# Or self-host your own server
bore server --min-port 1024
```

## Introduction
Bore is a lightweight TCP tunnel tool written in Rust that exposes local services to the internet without complex networking setup. Unlike commercial alternatives, bore can be entirely self-hosted and requires no accounts, API keys, or configuration files.

## What Bore Does
- Creates TCP tunnels from a local port to a publicly accessible address
- Supports self-hosting the relay server for full infrastructure control
- Provides optional secret-based authentication to restrict tunnel creation
- Assigns random or specific remote ports for predictable URLs
- Works with any TCP-based protocol including HTTP, SSH, and databases

## Architecture Overview
Bore uses a client-server model. The server listens on a control port (default 7835) for incoming client connections and allocates proxy ports for tunneled traffic. When external traffic arrives on a proxy port, the server forwards it through the control connection to the client, which relays it to the local service. All communication uses a minimal binary protocol over TCP.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Deploy the server with `bore server` on any internet-facing VPS
- Set `--min-port` to restrict the range of ports clients can request
- Use `--secret` flag on both server and client to require authentication
- No configuration files needed; all options are CLI flags
- Docker image available at `ekzhang/bore` for containerized deployment

## Key Features
- Single static binary with zero dependencies (thanks to Rust)
- Sub-millisecond overhead on tunnel connections
- No rate limiting or bandwidth caps when self-hosted
- Supports concurrent tunnels on a single server instance
- Public relay at bore.pub available for quick testing without self-hosting

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **ngrok** — Feature-rich commercial product with TLS termination and dashboards; bore is simpler, free, and self-hostable
- **Cloudflare Tunnel** — Requires Cloudflare account and DNS setup; bore works with raw TCP and needs no third-party accounts
- **frp** — More configurable with TOML config files and multiple protocols; bore prioritizes zero-config simplicity
- **rathole** — Similar Rust alternative with NAT traversal; bore focuses on ease of use with fewer moving parts

## FAQ
**Q: Can bore handle HTTPS traffic?**
A: Bore tunnels raw TCP, so you can run a reverse proxy like Caddy on the server side for TLS termination, or handle TLS at the local service.

**Q: How do I get a stable subdomain?**
A: Bore assigns ports, not domains. For stable URLs, use a reverse proxy on the server that routes based on Host headers to specific bore ports.

**Q: Is the traffic encrypted?**
A: The tunnel itself does not encrypt traffic. Use TLS at the application layer or wrap with SSH for sensitive data.

**Q: What happens if the tunnel connection drops?**
A: The client will exit. Use a process manager like systemd or a restart loop to automatically reconnect.

## Sources
- https://github.com/ekzhang/bore
- https://crates.io/crates/bore-cli

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Author: AI Open Source