Do I need a public port to test something myself

No. Private exposure is enough and is the default.

Is public exposure available on every plan

Public exposure needs a subscription. Private and workspace levels do not.

Can I use my own domain

Not yet. Exposed containers get an idapt address.

Reaching a container

A container's ports are private until you expose one. Exposing gives it a URL you can share at three different levels.

Three levels

Level	Who can reach it	Use it for
Private	Only you	Checking your own work
Workspace	Signed-in members of the workspace	Sharing a preview with your team
Public	Anyone with the link	A demo, a webhook receiver

Public means unauthenticated. Anyone with the URL reaches the service, including crawlers. Only make something public when you have decided it can be.

Expose a port

Open the container and go to the Ports tab
Find the port and click Expose
Choose the level, then copy the URL

Discovered ports appear automatically once the container is listening. If one is missing, the container is not listening on it yet.

Moving a container changes its URL

An exposed port gets a new address after a migration. Update anything pointing at the old one: links, webhooks and bookmarks stop working.

Turning it off

Unexpose removes the route immediately. The URL stops resolving. Deleting the container does the same.

FAQs

Containers

Run a Docker image or a Compose stack on your computers, and know what survives a restart.

Ports and port forwarding

Forward a port on one of your computers to an authenticated public URL through a tunnel, then close it again.

Compose files

Bring your own Compose file, and fix the few settings idapt refuses.

Was this helpful?