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Overview

The ports channel provides real-time notifications when network ports open and close inside the workspace. This enables automatic preview URLs and port management without polling from the client.

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How It Works

Aether continuously monitors for new listening ports inside the workspace. When a new port appears, the server emits an open event and automatically makes it externally accessible. When a port stops listening, it emits a close event.

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Ignored Ports

These ports are excluded from detection:
PortReason
22SSH
2222Internal SSH
3001Reserved (internal)

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Server to Client Events

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open

A new listening port was detected. 
{
  "channel": "ports",
  "type": "open",
  "port": 3000,
  "pid": 12345,
  "process": "node"
}
FieldTypeDescription
portintegerPort number
pidinteger or nullProcess ID of the listener
processstring or nullProcess name

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close

A port is no longer listening. 
{
  "channel": "ports",
  "type": "close",
  "port": 3000
}
FieldTypeDescription
portintegerPort number that closed

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Client to Server Messages

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kill

Terminate the process listening on a port. 
{
  "channel": "ports",
  "type": "kill",
  "port": 3000
}
FieldTypeRequiredDescription
portintegerYesPort whose process should be terminated

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Preview URLs

When a port is detected, a preview URL is automatically available at: 
https://{port}-{projectIdPrefix}.{previewDomain}
For example, if your project ID starts with abc123 and the preview domain is preview.runaether.dev, a server on port 3000 would be accessible at: 
https://3000-abc123.preview.runaether.dev
Incoming requests on preview URLs are routed to the correct workspace and port. No client configuration is required — the URL is live as soon as the open event is emitted.

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Example Flow