> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.blink.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Try Tunnel

> A built-in tunnel for trying Blink without setup. Should be disabled in production.

When running `blink-server` locally, it connects to a tunnel service to get a public URL. This lets external services like Slack and GitHub reach your local server.

This feature exists to make it easy to try Blink without any setup. For production deployments, disable the tunnel and configure your own public URL.

## How It Works

1. Server generates a persistent secret (stored in `~/.config/blink-server/tunnel-secret.txt` on Linux, path may differ on other OSes)
2. Connects to the tunnel service with this secret
3. Receives a public URL that proxies requests to your local server
4. The same secret gives you the same URL across restarts

## Configuration

| Option                | Environment Variable      | Default                  | Description                        |
| --------------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------- |
| `--tunnel-server-url` | `BLINK_TUNNEL_SERVER_URL` | `https://try.blink.host` | Tunnel service URL                 |
| `--access-url`        | `BLINK_ACCESS_URL`        | -                        | Skip tunnel, use this URL directly |

## Production

In production, disable the tunnel and provide your own public URL:

```bash theme={null}
blink-server --access-url https://blink.example.com
```