Porthoster
Public ports, self-hosted. The filename is the port.
port/
echo.tcp.7000.port.js → TCP :7000 public
metrics.udp.9125.port.js → UDP :9125 public
relay.tcp.4000.port.js → TCP :4000 public
_scratch.tcp.7001.port.js → ignored (leading _ = local only)How it works
The same drop-a-folder idea as localhoster, but the payload is a live network service. Keep a folder of plain JavaScript on your machine; name a file for the protocol and port it serves and a stateless client mirrors the folder to your own server, where a broker opens that port and routes traffic to your handler.
The name is the port
A top-level file called <name>.tcp.7000.port.js or
<name>.udp.9125.port.js serves that protocol on that port. The number in the
name is exactly what gets opened to the internet.
A broker out front
One broker owns the listening sockets. It accepts the connection, applies your access rules, then hands the ready socket to your handler — so a handler only ever sees traffic it should.
Handlers, not servers
You write the logic for a connection, not the plumbing. No listen(), no TLS setup,
no accept loop — the broker did that. You get a socket and say what to do with it.
Just a folder of JavaScript
The only special files are the port handlers — everything else in the folder is yours to organise.
Shared, in-memory state
Handlers aren't expected to touch disk. When several connections — or several handlers — need to see the same data, the broker offers a shared in-memory store they can read and write.
Develop in place
Prefix a file with _ and the broker ignores it — no port is opened — so you can
write and test a service locally before exposing it. Drop the underscore when it's ready.
Better together
On its own, porthoster moves bytes on a port. Pair it with its siblings when a service needs data, identity, a clock or a web front.
+ Cronhoster →
The other half of the server family: where porthoster keeps a service listening, cronhoster runs work on a clock. Same folder-per-server workflow.
+ Datahoster →
Back a port service with durable records when its in-memory state needs to outlive the process — without the handler writing to disk itself.
+ Gamehoster →
Gamehoster handles rooms and state over WebSockets; porthoster is for the raw TCP and UDP cases its higher-level model doesn't cover.
+ Localhoster →
Serve a website with sitehoster and its custom protocol with porthoster, from the same family of one-folder-per-server tools.