Forwarding ports in your codespace

When an application running inside a codespace prints output to the terminal that contains a localhost URL, such as http://localhost:PORT or http://127.0.0.1:PORT, the port is automatically forwarded. If you're using GitHub Codespaces in the browser or in Visual Studio Code, the URL string in the terminal is converted into a link that you can click to view the web page on your local machine. By default, GitHub Codespaces forwards ports using HTTP.

You can also forward a port manually, label forwarded ports, share forwarded ports with members of your organization, share forwarded ports publicly, and add forwarded ports to the codespace configuration.

Forwarding a port

You can manually forward a port that wasn't forwarded automatically.

1. In your codespace, under the text editor, click "Ports".

2. Under the list of ports, click Add port.

   

3. Type the port number or address, then press enter.

   

Using HTTPS forwarding

By default, GitHub Codespaces forwards ports using HTTP but you can update any port to use HTTPS, as needed. If you update a port with public visibility to use HTTPS, the port's visibility will automatically change to private.

1. In your codespace, under the text editor, click "Ports".
2. Right click the port you want to update, then hover over Change Port Protocol.
3. Select the protocol needed for this port. The protocol that you select will be remembered for this port for the lifetime of the codespace.

Sharing a port

If you want to share a forwarded port with others, you can either make the port private to your organization or make the port public. After you make a port private to your organization, anyone in the organization with the port's URL can view the running application. After you make a port public, anyone who knows the URL and port number can view the running application without needing to authenticate.

1. In your codespace, under the text editor, click "Ports".
2. Right click the port that you want to share, select the "Port Visibility" menu, then click Private to Organization or Public.
3. To the right of the local address for the port, click the copy icon.
4. Send the copied URL to the person you want to share the port with.

Labeling a port

When you open a codespace in the browser, or in the VS Code desktop application, you can label a forwarded port to make it easier to identify in a list.

1. In your codespace, under the text editor, click "Ports".
2. Hover over the port you want to label, then click the label icon.
3. Type a label for your port, then press enter.

Adding a port to the codespace configuration

You can add a forwarded port to the GitHub Codespaces configuration for the repository, so the port will automatically be forwarded for all codespaces created from the repository. After you update the configuration, any previously created codespaces must be rebuilt for the change to apply. For more information, see "Introduction to dev containers."

You can manually configure forwarded ports in a .devcontainer.json file using the forwardPorts property, or you can use the "Ports" panel in a codespace that you've opened in the browser or the VS Code desktop application.

1. In your codespace, under the text editor, click "Ports".
2. Right click the port you want to add to the codespace configuration, then click Set Label and Update devcontainer.json.
3. Type a label for your port, then press enter.