# rustunnel (MCP server)

> rustunnel is an MCP server that gives AI agents public HTTPS/TCP/UDP URLs for any localhost service. It has 660 GitHub stars, is released under the AGPL-3.0 license and runs locally with docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5. It works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code.

The open-source tunnel that scales with you. Don't pay for idle time. Secure, Rust-fast, and Pay-as-you-go. Expose local services through a public server over encrypted WebSocket connections with TLS termination, HTTP/TCP proxying, a live dashboard, Prometheus metrics, and audit logging.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/joaoh82/rustunnel |
| GitHub stars | 660 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | docker: ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5 |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | no |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Cloud & DevOps |
| Latest release | v0.8.5 (Sep 3, 2026) |
| Last commit | Sep 3, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.joaoh82/rustunnel |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rustunnel": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --transport stdio rustunnel -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rustunnel": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "rustunnel": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "ghcr.io/joaoh82/rustunnel-mcp:0.8.5"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Tools

- `create_tunnel`: Open a tunnel and return the public URL — HTTP/TCP/UDP, P2P, and load-balanced pools with health checks
- `list_tunnels`: List all active tunnels
- `close_tunnel`: Force-close a tunnel by ID
- `list_regions`: List available server regions
- `get_connection_info`: Return the CLI command for cloud/sandbox agents
- `get_tunnel_history`: Retrieve past tunnel activity

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---

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