Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server • Hacker News Board

Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server

#1

Post by hrncode » Sat, Feb 21, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

Tired of localhost:3000 clashing with other projects. Built portname — a local proxy that gives every dev server a named URL instead of a port.

portname run dev → myapp.localhost:1999

Auto-detects Vite/Next/Nuxt, patches config automatically, proxies WebSocket so HMR works. Single binary, no dependencies.

https://github.com/hirendhola/portname

Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server
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Re: Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server

#2

Post by ebhn » Sat, Feb 21, 2026, 5:44 PM UTC

This is super useful. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server

#3

Post by hrncode » Sat, Feb 21, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC

ebhn wrote: post #2

This is super useful. Thanks for sharing!

glad it's useful! let me know if you run into any issues

Re: Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server

#4

Post by CoderNextDoor » Sat, Feb 21, 2026, 6:06 PM UTC

This looks really clean, thanks for sharing! Does it work with custom domains too, or is it localhost only? I've got a project that needs to test against a specific domain locally.

Re: Show HN: Portname – named localhost URLs for every dev server

#5

Post by hrncode » Sat, Feb 21, 2026, 6:12 PM UTC

CoderNextDoor wrote: post #4

This looks really clean, thanks for sharing! Does it work with custom domains too, or is it localhost only? I've got a project that needs to test against a specific domain locally.

localhost only for now — portname works with *.localhost subdomains which browsers resolve automatically so no config needed.

for custom domains like myapp.company.com you'd need to manually add it to your hosts file (/etc/hosts on Mac/Linux, C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts on Windows) pointing to 127.0.0.1.

custom domain support is something i'd like to add in future