Receiver CLI Reference

cloud-share-receiver is the NuGet global tool that connects to a running sender via Dev Tunnel, displays the queue in a local web UI, and lets you download and verify items.

Synopsis 

  cloud-share-receiver [options]

Flags

FlagShortDefaultDescription
--port-p5001The local port for the receiver’s web server
--log-lwarningsLog level: verbose, warnings, or errors
--url-u(prompted)The full sender Dev Tunnel URL
--code-c(prompted)Tunnel shorthand: {id}.{region}:{port} (e.g. mtszwr0l.uks1:5000)
--secret-s(prompted)The session secret token from the sender
--no-promptSkip the interactive prompt; requires --url (or --code) and --secret
--no-auto-openDo not open the web UI in the browser on startup
--help-hShow help text
--versionShow the tool version

Flag details

--port / -p

Sets the local TCP port for the receiver’s HTTP server.

  # Use port 9001 instead of the default 5001
cloud-share-receiver --port 9001
cloud-share-receiver -p 9001

ℹ️ Info: If you are running both sender and receiver on the same machine (e.g. for testing), use different ports for each. The sender defaults to 5000, the receiver to 5001.

--log / -l

Controls console log verbosity.

LevelWhat is shown
verboseAll messages including request traces and event stream details
warningsWarning and error messages only (default)
errorsError messages only
  cloud-share-receiver --log verbose
cloud-share-receiver -l errors

--url / -u

Specifies the full sender Dev Tunnel URL directly, skipping the interactive prompts.

  cloud-share-receiver --url https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000
cloud-share-receiver -u https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000

--code / -c

A shorthand alternative to --url. Accepts {tunnel-id}.{region}:{port} format — the same components you enter in the interactive structured prompt, concatenated.

  # Equivalent to --url https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000
cloud-share-receiver --code mtszwr0l.uks1:5000
cloud-share-receiver -c mtszwr0l.uks1:5000

# Port is optional — defaults to 5000
cloud-share-receiver --code mtszwr0l.uks1

The tunnel ID and region come from what the sender displays:

  Tunnel URL: https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000
                     ^^^^^^^^  ^^^^              ^^^^
                     id        region            port

ℹ️ Info: --code and --url are mutually exclusive. If both are provided, --url takes precedence.

--secret / -s

Specifies the session secret directly, skipping the interactive prompt for that field.

  cloud-share-receiver --secret aB3kP9mQ2rTs
cloud-share-receiver -s aB3kP9mQ2rTs

⚠️ Warning: Passing the secret as a command-line flag will expose it in your shell history and process list. In sensitive environments, prefer the interactive prompt or use a secure environment variable piped to --secret.

--no-prompt

Skips the interactive startup prompt entirely. When this flag is set, --url (or --code) and --secret must both be provided (either as flags or from the saved session).

  # Fully non-interactive start
cloud-share-receiver --no-prompt --url https://abc123.devtunnels.ms --secret aB3kP9mQ2rTs

This is useful for:

  • Scripts and automation
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Environments where interactive input is not possible

--no-auto-open

Suppresses automatic browser launch on startup.

  cloud-share-receiver --no-auto-open

Environment variables

VariableDescription
CLOUDSHARE_SECRETIf set, the interactive startup prompt is skipped entirely. The receiver connects immediately using this value as the session secret.
  # Skip the prompt — receiver connects immediately
export CLOUDSHARE_SECRET="aB3kP9mQ2rTs"
cloud-share-receiver --url https://abc123.devtunnels.ms

When CLOUDSHARE_SECRET is set, the URL can still be provided via --url, from the saved session file, or from the prompt (the secret field is the only one that is skipped automatically).

⚠️ Warning: Run unset CLOUDSHARE_SECRET (or close the terminal) after the session to prevent the value persisting in the environment. The value is not saved to receiver-session.json when set via this variable.

Rate limiting

The receiver applies a fixed-window rate limiter of 30 requests per 10-second window to all proxied endpoints. If you are automating requests (e.g. in a script) and exceed this threshold, you will receive HTTP 429 Too Many Requests. In normal interactive use this limit is never reached.

Session memory

The receiver saves your last 5 tunnel connections to a session history file:

PlatformPath
Windows%APPDATA%\CloudShare\receiver-session.json
macOS / Linux~/.config/CloudShare/receiver-session.json

Each entry stores the tunnel ID, region, port, secret, and timestamp. Entries older than 7 days are automatically pruned.

History SelectionPrompt

On the next run, the startup prompt shows a selectable list of recent connections:

  Recent connections

Which tunnel would you like to connect to?

❯  mtszwr0l    ·  uks1    ·  :5000   (today 14:01)
   c84xl717    ·  usw2    ·  :5000   (yesterday 09:31)
   ✎  Connect to a new tunnel...

Use arrow keys to select a previous connection and press Enter. The saved secret is offered as a pre-filled default:

  Use saved secret for mtszwr0l.uks1:5000 (****rTs)? [Y/n]:

Clearing the session history

To clear all saved sessions, delete the file:

  # Windows
del "%APPDATA%\CloudShare\receiver-session.json"

# macOS / Linux
rm ~/.config/CloudShare/receiver-session.json

ℹ️ Info: Entries expire automatically after 7 days. You do not need to clear the file manually unless you want to remove sensitive URLs immediately.

Startup prompts

When you start the receiver without --no-prompt and no saved history exists, you will see the structured connection prompt:

  Enter just the short tunnel ID (e.g. mtszwr0l) — or paste the full URL to skip

Tunnel ID: mtszwr0l

Select the DevTunnel region:
❯ uks1    UK South
  usw2    West US 2
  use1    East US
  euw1    West Europe
  eas1    East Asia
  aue1    Australia East
  brs1    Brazil South
  can1    Canada Central
  ✎  Enter a custom region code...

Port (default: 5000): [Enter]

→ https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000

Enter the secret token: ************

Paste shortcut: If you paste a full URL (e.g. https://mtszwr0l.uks1.devtunnels.ms:5000) into the Tunnel ID field, the region and port sub-prompts are skipped automatically.

Enter the secret token provided by the sender.

After successful connection:

  [12:35:10] Connected to sender.
[12:35:10] Subscribed to event stream.
[12:35:10] Opening browser...
[12:35:10] Listening on http://localhost:5001

Receiver proxy behavior

The receiver proxies all API requests through to the sender. This means:

  • The receiver’s local server (localhost:5001) forwards requests to the tunnel URL
  • There are no CORS issues because the receiver handles the cross-origin requests server-side
  • The browser only ever talks to localhost:5001 — it never directly accesses the tunnel URL

Examples

Interactive start (default) 

  cloud-share-receiver

Provide URL and secret as flags (still shows prompt with pre-filled values) 

  cloud-share-receiver --url https://abc123.devtunnels.ms --secret aB3kP9mQ2rTs

Fully non-interactive (for scripts) 

  cloud-share-receiver \
  --no-prompt \
  --url https://abc123.devtunnels.ms \
  --secret aB3kP9mQ2rTs \
  --no-auto-open

Start on a custom port with verbose logging 

  cloud-share-receiver --port 9001 --log verbose

Start on a custom port without browser 

  cloud-share-receiver --port 9001 --no-auto-open