Documentation
Python
Django

Use mekong-django to run manage.py runserver and expose it via a public tunnel — useful for testing webhooks (Stripe, GitHub, Slack), demonstrating to clients, or testing on mobile devices.

Quick Start

pip install mekong-tunnel django
# Same as: python manage.py runserver
mekong-django

Public URL: https://bright-moon-e5f6a7b8.mekongtunnel.dev — printed immediately.

Open in Browser

mekong-django --domain     # Opens tunnel URL
mekong-django --local      # Opens http://localhost:8000

Custom Port

mekong-django 8080
# Same as: python manage.py runserver 8080

Full Example

# From your Django project root (where manage.py lives)
cd myproject/
mekong-django --domain

All runserver arguments pass through:

mekong-django 0.0.0.0:8000 --settings=myproject.settings.dev

ALLOWED_HOSTS Configuration

Django's security check requires tunnel hostnames to be in ALLOWED_HOSTS. The easiest fix:

# settings.py
import os
 
ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
    'localhost',
    '127.0.0.1',
    '*.mekongtunnel.dev',   # Allow all tunnel subdomains
]
 
# Or use django-cors-headers for more control

For dynamic tunnel subdomains, you can also use a middleware:

# myapp/middleware.py
class AllowMekongTunnelMiddleware:
    def __init__(self, get_response):
        self.get_response = get_response
 
    def __call__(self, request):
        host = request.META.get('HTTP_HOST', '')
        if host.endswith('.mekongtunnel.dev'):
            request.META['SERVER_NAME'] = host.split('.')[0]
        return self.get_response(request)
# settings.py
MIDDLEWARE = [
    'myapp.middleware.AllowMekongTunnelMiddleware',
    ...
]

CSRF for Webhooks

Django's CSRF middleware will reject POST requests from external sources. For webhook endpoints, exempt them:

from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
from django.http import JsonResponse
import json
 
@csrf_exempt
def stripe_webhook(request):
    if request.method != 'POST':
        return JsonResponse({'error': 'POST required'}, status=405)
    payload = json.loads(request.body)
    print("Event:", payload.get("type"))
    return JsonResponse({"status": "ok"})
# urls.py
from django.urls import path
from . import views
 
urlpatterns = [
    path('webhooks/stripe/', views.stripe_webhook, name='stripe_webhook'),
]

Django REST Framework

Works perfectly via tunnel. Example:

# views.py
from rest_framework.decorators import api_view
from rest_framework.response import Response
 
@api_view(['GET'])
def hello(request):
    host = request.META.get('HTTP_HOST')
    return Response({
        "message": "Hello from Django!",
        "tunnel_host": host,
    })
mekong-django --domain
# API: https://your-tunnel.mekongtunnel.dev/api/hello/

Programmatic API

from mekong_tunnel import start_tunnel
import subprocess, sys
 
tunnel = start_tunnel(port=8000)
print("Public URL:", tunnel.url)
 
subprocess.run([sys.executable, 'manage.py', 'runserver', '8000'])

Static Files

Django's dev server serves static files automatically when DEBUG=True. These are proxied through the tunnel normally.

For media files (uploads), ensure MEDIA_URL is configured and DEBUG=True for dev.

Environment Variables

MEKONG_TOKEN=your_token DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=myproject.settings mekong-django --domain

Notes

  • Django's runserver auto-reloads on code changes; the tunnel stays connected during reloads
  • DEBUG=True must be set for Django's dev server to work properly
  • For production-grade serving, use mekong-gunicorn with gunicorn myproject.wsgi:application
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