What it does

Shares files or directories via a public URL with zero accounts, zero configuration, and zero permanent infrastructure. The URL is ephemeral and disappears when you stop the server.

The pattern

Two components: a local HTTP server and a tunnel.

Step 1: Serve locally.

# Single file
python3 -m http.server 8080 --directory /path/to/dir

# Or use any static file server
npx serve /path/to/dir -p 8080

Step 2: Tunnel to the internet.

cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8080

Cloudflare Quick Tunnel assigns a random *.trycloudflare.com URL. No account needed. No DNS setup. No SSL configuration. The tunnel handles HTTPS automatically.

Step 3: Share the URL. Send it in chat, paste it in a document, or embed it in a message. The recipient opens it in any browser.

Step 4: Stop the server. The URL dies. No cleanup needed.

For sharing a single HTML file (like a report or prototype):

cd /tmp && cp /path/to/report.html index.html
python3 -m http.server 8080 &
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8080

Key decisions

Cloudflare Quick Tunnel over ngrok. Quick Tunnel requires no account and no auth token. ngrok requires signup and has bandwidth limits on the free tier. For ephemeral sharing, zero-auth wins.

Local server over upload services. Upload services (file.io, transfer.sh) store your data on someone else's server. A local server keeps data on your machine. The tunnel is just a pipe.

Ephemeral by design. The URL is not memorable, not permanent, and not indexed. This is a feature. You do not want prototype URLs showing up in search engines or lingering after the content is obsolete.

No authentication built in. Anyone with the URL can access the files. For sensitive content, either add basic auth to the server or just do not use this pattern. It is designed for low-sensitivity sharing: prototypes, reports, demos, build artifacts.

When to use it

When someone in a chat asks "can you share that?" and you want to send them a working link in 30 seconds. When you have an HTML report, a prototype, or a build artifact that needs to be viewed in a browser but does not warrant deploying to a hosting service. When you want to demo something live without committing to permanent hosting.