---
description: Manage tunnels from the command line without the Cloudflare dashboard.
title: Locally-managed tunnels
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/og.png?v=935854cfaae50577
---

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# Locally-managed tunnels

Last updated Sep 11, 2026|Copy as Markdown| [View as Markdown](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/index.md)| [Agent setup](https://developers.cloudflare.com/agent-setup/)

Cloudflare recommends creating a [remotely-managed tunnel](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/get-started/) for most use cases. Remotely-managed tunnels store their configuration on Cloudflare, which allows you to manage the tunnel from any machine using the dashboard, API, or Terraform.

As an alternative workflow, you can create a locally-managed tunnel by running `cloudflared tunnel create <NAME>` on the command line. Tunnel configuration is stored in your local `cloudflared` directory. Locally-managed tunnels are intended for specific scenarios such as local development, testing, or legacy configurations.

- [Create a locally-managed tunnel](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/create-local-tunnel/)
- [Configuration file](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/configuration-file/)
- [Run as a service](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/as-a-service/)
- [Useful commands](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/tunnel-useful-commands/)
- [Tunnel permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/tunnel-permissions/)
- [Useful terms](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/features/locally-managed-tunnels/local-tunnel-terms/)

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