# Install tsnet-serve with Homebrew Expose HTTP applications to a Tailscale Tailnet network. Version 1.3.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-26. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:tsnet-serve ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install tsnet-serve ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:tsnet-serve - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 1.3.2 - **Source summary:** Expose HTTP applications to a Tailscale Tailnet network - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-26T00:51:28+02:00 - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - tsnet-serve (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 1.3.2 ## Project history and usage tsnet-serve was a standalone Go reverse proxy that embedded Tailscale via tsnet so an HTTP backend could appear as its own machine on a tailnet, roughly like `tailscale serve` without being tied to an existing node. ### Project history The README presents tsnet-serve as a lightweight reverse proxy for a tailnet: users give it a hostname, backend URL, and auth key, and the app joins the tailnet as a machine with Tailscale connectivity, TLS, and the same reverse proxy behavior as `tailscale serve`. The project belongs to the wave of tsnet tooling around Tailscale's Go library. Tailscale's official docs describe tsnet as a way to embed Tailscale inside a Go program so the program can make direct tailnet connections and appear like a separate device. tsnet-serve packaged that pattern as a CLI/container app for people who wanted a private service endpoint without writing Go. Development was explicitly wound down in July 2025. The repository was archived by its owner on July 5, 2025, and the linked winding-down issue says maintainers were switching to `tsnsrv` because it had the desired features and a complete Nix module. ### Adoption history Official release pages show a short but active release period, with versions such as v1.1.2 through v1.3.2 carrying Funnel fixes, path allow/deny features, request logging, Tailscale dependency bumps, Go toolchain updates, and GoReleaser-based binary releases. The README documents several distribution surfaces: prebuilt GitHub releases, OCI container images on GitHub Container Registry at `ghcr.io/shayne/tsnet-serve`, and Homebrew. That made the tool easy to use in homelab and package-manager workflows where a container or single binary could turn a local backend into a tailnet service. ### How it is used The primary usage model was `tsnet-serve -hostname ... -backend ...`, optionally setting listen port, Funnel mode, allow/deny path regular expressions, a state directory, and a custom control URL for Headscale. Environment variables such as `TSNS_HOSTNAME`, `TSNS_BACKEND`, `TSNS_LISTEN_PORT`, and `TSNS_FUNNEL` mirrored the flags. For containers, the README shows a persistent state volume, hostname/backend variables, optional Funnel and control URL variables, and `TS_AUTHKEY` for initial registration. Without an auth key, the app prints a registration link. ### Why package nerds care tsnet-serve matters in the package-nerd niche because it turned Tailscale's embedded-networking library into a one-command appliance: install the formula or run the container, provide a backend, and get a tailnet hostname and certificate. Its archival is also useful metadata. The project documents a real migration path from a small package-manager-friendly CLI to a successor (`tsnsrv`) once the surrounding Tailscale Serve/Funnel and tsnet tooling matured. ### Timeline - 2024-07-31: v1.1.2 release fixed Funnel mode and insecure HTTPS backend support. - 2024-08-29: v1.1.4 release moved to GoReleaser and bumped the Tailscale dependency. - 2025-04-19: v1.2.1 release moved the default state directory and added X-Forwarded headers in Funnel mode. - 2025-06-22: v1.3.0 added allow/deny paths and request logs; v1.3.2 followed with a Tailscale bump and signal-handling fix. - 2025-07-05: Winding-down issue opened and repository archived, with maintainers pointing users to `tsnsrv`. ### Related projects - The README links directly to Tailscale Funnel and to `tsnsrv` as the recommended successor. Tailscale's own docs for tsnet, Tailscale Serve, and Funnel explain the platform features that tsnet-serve wrapped. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/tsnet-serve.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/tsnet-serve.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - cross-ecosystem install command graph