Connect a Local WordPress Site

WPVibe runs in the cloud, so it can only reach WordPress sites that are available over the internet. A site in Local by Flywheel, Herd, Valet, MAMP, XAMPP, or Docker only exists on your computer, so WPVibe cannot see it.

You can still connect one. Expose it with a free Cloudflare Tunnel, then connect the public address the tunnel prints.

The quick way: let your AI do it

If you use an AI client that can run commands on your computer, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Gemini CLI, paste this into a new conversation and let it do the work:

My WordPress site runs locally and WPVibe cannot reach it. Please:
1. Tell me the URL that opens my local site if you cannot work it out yourself.
2. Install cloudflared if it is missing.
3. Start a quick tunnel with:
   cloudflared tunnel --url <MY_LOCAL_URL> --http-host-header <MY_LOCAL_HOST>
   where MY_LOCAL_HOST is the host and port of my local URL, with no scheme.
   Keep it running in the background and tell me the trycloudflare.com address.
4. Use WPVibe to connect that trycloudflare.com address, then tell me to approve the
   WordPress screen while logged in as an administrator.
The --http-host-header part is required. Without it the tunnel returns 404 or redirects
to an address that does not work.

The Claude and ChatGPT web and desktop apps have no terminal, so they cannot start the tunnel for you. Follow the manual steps below, then connect.

Doing it manually

1. Find your site’s local URL

In Local by Flywheel it is on the site’s Overview tab. Depending on how the site was set up it will look like either:

• http://mysite.local
• http://localhost:10003 (Local uses a port like this when the site domain is already taken)

Use whichever one Local actually shows you. Other tools work the same way: use the address that opens the site in your browser.

2. Install cloudflared

On a Mac:

brew install cloudflared

On Windows or Linux, download it from Cloudflare’s install page.

3. Start the tunnel

Run this, putting your own site address in both places. The second one is the host and port only, with no http://:

cloudflared tunnel --url http://mysite.local --http-host-header mysite.local

Or, if your site runs on a port:

cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:10003 --http-host-header localhost:10003

The terminal prints a public address like https://something-random.trycloudflare.com. Leave that window open. Closing it takes the tunnel down.

The --http-host-header part is not optional. Without it, WordPress does not recognise the address the request arrives on, and one of two things happens: your local web server answers every request with a 404, or WordPress redirects to an address that does not exist. Either way the connection fails.

4. Check Application Passwords are allowed

WPVibe authorizes using WordPress Application Passwords, and WordPress only offers those over HTTPS or on a site marked as a local environment.

Local by Flywheel handles this for you. It sets WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE in your site’s wp-config.php automatically, so you can skip to the next step.

On other tools (Herd, Valet, MAMP, XAMPP, Docker) you may need to set it yourself. Open your site’s wp-config.php and, above the line that says /* That's all, stop editing! */, add:

define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'local' );

If that line is already there, leave it alone. This only affects the copy on your computer. Never set it on a live site.

5. Connect

Make sure the free WPVibe plugin is installed and active on the site. In wp-admin go to Plugins, Add New, and search for WPVibe.

Then ask your AI client:

Use WPVibe to connect my WordPress site at https://something-random.trycloudflare.com

Use the address your own tunnel printed. Approve the WordPress screen while you are logged into wp-admin as an administrator, and the site is connected.

Every time you come back

A free Cloudflare Tunnel gets a new address each time you start it. When you restart the tunnel the old address stops working, and you connect the new one the same way. Remove the old entries from your WPVibe account when they pile up.

If you want an address that stays the same, a named tunnel on your own domain keeps one URL permanently.

If it still will not connect

• The tunnel address returns 404: the --http-host-header part is missing, or it does not match your site address exactly. It takes the host and port with no http://.
• The tunnel address redirects somewhere broken: same cause. WordPress is sending visitors to the address it thinks it lives at.
• The tunnel address returns 530: the tunnel is not running any more. Check the terminal window is still open.
• The authorization screen fails or loops: you are not logged into wp-admin as an administrator, or the site is not marked as a local environment (step 4).
• Local’s Live Link: this puts a password in front of the whole site, and WPVibe cannot get through it. Use a Cloudflare Tunnel instead.

Still stuck? Email [email protected] with the address your tunnel printed and what the screen said, and we will work it out.