Run your app with a named route

portless myapp next dev

=> http://myapp.localhost:1355

</quick_start>

<process>

**Step 1: Verify prerequisites**

Check Node.js version is 20+ and platform is macOS or Linux:

```bash
node --version
uname -s

If Node.js < 20, inform the user they need to upgrade before proceeding.

Step 2: Detect project context

Read package.json to understand:

Project name (use as default app name)
Existing dev scripts (to know what command to wrap)
Whether this is a monorepo (look for workspaces field, or pnpm-workspace.yaml, turbo.json, lerna.json)
Framework in use (Next.js, Vite, Express, etc.) from dependencies

Step 3: Install Portless

npm install -g portless

Step 4: Choose app name(s)

Ask the user what name they want for their app URL. Suggest based on project name.

For monorepos, suggest subdomain naming:

api.projectname for backend
web.projectname or projectname for frontend
docs.projectname for documentation

Step 5: Update package.json scripts

Wrap the existing dev script with portless. For example, if the current script is:

{ "dev": "next dev" }

Update to:

{ "dev": "portless myapp next dev" }

For monorepos, update each workspace's package.json similarly.

Step 6: Verify setup

Run the dev script and confirm the app is accessible at the named URL:

npm run dev

The proxy auto-starts if not already running. Confirm output shows the .localhost:1355 URL.

Verify routes are registered:

portless list

<common_patterns>

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "portless myapp next dev"
  }
}

Access at: http://myapp.localhost:1355

# In packages/web/package.json
"dev": "portless web.myapp next dev"

# In packages/api/package.json
"dev": "portless api.myapp node server.js"

# In packages/docs/package.json
"dev": "portless docs.myapp next dev"

Access at:

http://web.myapp.localhost:1355
http://api.myapp.localhost:1355
http://docs.myapp.localhost:1355

sudo portless proxy start -p 80
# Then: http://myapp.localhost (no port needed)

</common_patterns>

<environment_variables>

Variable	Purpose	Default
`PORTLESS=0` or `PORTLESS=skip`	Bypass portless, use default port	(not set)
`PORTLESS_PORT`	Override proxy port	`1355`
`PORTLESS_STATE_DIR`	Custom state directory	`~/.portless` or `/tmp/portless`

</environment_variables>

<cli_reference>

Command	Purpose
`portless <name> <cmd> [args...]`	Run app with named route
`portless list`	Show active routes
`portless proxy start`	Start daemon proxy on port 1355
`portless proxy start -p <port>`	Start on custom port
`portless proxy start --foreground`	Run in foreground (debugging)
`portless proxy stop`	Stop the proxy daemon

</cli_reference>

<anti_patterns>

</anti_patterns>

<success_criteria> Setup is complete when:

Portless is installed globally (portless --version succeeds)
Project package.json dev script(s) are wrapped with portless <name>
Running npm run dev (or equivalent) shows the app accessible at <name>.localhost:1355
For monorepos, each workspace has its own named route </success_criteria>

setup-portless