rustunnel Claude Code Plugin

April 3, 2026 · View on GitHub

The rustunnel Claude Code plugin lets AI agents manage tunnels directly from Claude Code with zero manual MCP configuration.

How it works

The plugin packages the rustunnel-mcp MCP server with a skill definition and user configuration prompts. When you enable the plugin, Claude Code:

Prompts you for your server address and API token (stored securely, entered once)
Starts the rustunnel-mcp MCP server in the background
Makes 6 tunnel management tools available to the agent

From that point on you can ask Claude things like "expose port 3000" and it will create a tunnel and return the public URL — no manual setup needed.

Installation

From the plugin marketplace

/plugin install rustunnel

Manual install from source

Clone the repository and point Claude Code at the plugin directory:

git clone https://github.com/joaoh82/rustunnel.git
claude --plugin-dir rustunnel/plugins/claude-code/

To load it permanently, add it to your Claude Code settings:

claude plugin install --path rustunnel/plugins/claude-code/

During development, use /reload-plugins inside Claude Code to pick up file changes without restarting.

Setup prompts

When you enable the plugin you will be asked for three values:

Prompt	Example (hosted)	Example (self-hosted)
Server address	`eu.edge.rustunnel.com:4040`	`localhost:4040`
API URL	`https://eu.edge.rustunnel.com:8443`	`http://localhost:4041`
API token	`rt_live_abc123...`	your admin token

These are persisted by Claude Code — you won't be asked again until you reconfigure or reinstall.

Reconfiguring

To change your configuration after installation:

/plugin configure rustunnel

Run /reload-plugins after reconfiguring for changes to take effect.

Note: The MCP server will not start until all three values are set. If you see a "Missing required user configuration value" error, run /plugin configure rustunnel to provide the missing values.

Prerequisites

The rustunnel CLI binary must be installed and in your PATH. The plugin's MCP server spawns it as a subprocess when create_tunnel is called.

# Homebrew
brew tap joaoh82/rustunnel
brew install rustunnel

# Or from GitHub releases
# https://github.com/joaoh82/rustunnel/releases/latest

# Or build from source
cargo install --path crates/rustunnel-client

Available tools

Tool	Auth	Description
`create_tunnel`	yes	Open a tunnel and get a public URL
`close_tunnel`	yes	Close a tunnel by UUID
`list_tunnels`	yes	List all active tunnels
`list_regions`	no	Show available server regions
`get_tunnel_history`	yes	View past tunnel activity
`get_connection_info`	yes	Get the CLI command string (cloud sandbox fallback)

See the MCP Server documentation for full parameter tables and example responses.

Plugin structure

plugins/claude-code/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json        # Manifest (name, version, userConfig)
├── skills/
│   └── rustunnel/
│       └── SKILL.md        # Agent instructions and tool reference
├── .mcp.json               # MCP server config (uses userConfig substitution)
└── README.md

Comparison with standalone MCP setup

Aspect	Plugin	Manual `.mcp.json`
Setup	`/plugin install rustunnel`	Edit `.mcp.json` by hand
Token storage	Secure, entered once	Hardcoded in config or passed every call
Updates	`/plugin update rustunnel`	Manual git pull
Namespacing	`/rustunnel:expose`	N/A
Agent guidance	Built-in SKILL.md	Must add instructions yourself

Self-hosted servers

The plugin works with self-hosted rustunnel instances. When prompted for the server address and API URL, enter your own server's values instead of the hosted defaults.

See the Self-Hosting guide for server setup instructions.

Security

The API token is stored securely by Claude Code's plugin system (sensitive: true in userConfig)
Tokens are transmitted over HTTPS to the rustunnel server
Tunnel subprocesses are cleaned up when the MCP server exits
Use --insecure only in local dev with self-signed certificates