What Houseguest is
Houseguest™ lets a named person use an app on your private network, on their own time: a prospect’s evaluation, a client’s review, a vendor’s check. Access is time-limited and confirmed by email. Viewers install nothing and need no VPN, and nothing in your network is reachable while nothing is shared.
The problem it solves
Section titled “The problem it solves”Internal apps are easy to build and hard to show to someone outside. The usual options each fall short:
- A VPN account gives an outsider a network, not an app, and takes days to approve.
- A screen share needs you there, at their time.
- A quick tunnel renames the app to a random URL. Apps that span several hostnames (an app, its API and its sign-in) break, because cookies, redirects and cross-origin calls are tied to the real names.
- Exposing it publicly is the thing you were avoiding.
What Houseguest does instead
Section titled “What Houseguest does instead”- An agent inside your network dials out. It is a small container (or a systemd service) that opens one connection out to the Houseguest edge on port 443. Nothing connects in, so there are no firewall changes.
- The agent’s host sets the ceiling. The agent forwards only the hostnames listed in its own allow-list. The console can choose among them, never add to them.
- A preview opens access for a set time. In the console, a sharer picks hostnames, people and a length: 4 hours to 7 days for invites, up to a year for standing access.
- Viewers prove their inbox. They open the app’s address, enter a 6-digit code sent to their email, and use the app with its own login, as they would on your network.
- It closes on time. At the end, or when someone presses End, every new request is refused at once. One person can be revoked at any moment, with the same effect. TCP and terminal connections already open run until they close. The request log shows who opened what, and when.
One preview can cover several hostnames with a single sign-in, so an app, its API and its sign-in page keep working together on their real names. A preview can also include SSH and other TCP services.
Who uses it
Section titled “Who uses it”| Person | Has | Does |
|---|---|---|
| Admin (Owner or Admin role) | A console account | Connects agents, verifies domains, invites members, sets workspace policy |
| Sharer (usually the Member role) | A console account | Opens previews, invites viewers, watches requests, extends or ends previews |
| Viewer | No account: an email address | Opens a link, enters a code, uses the app until the preview ends |
The console is at console.houseguest.dev on the hosted service, or at
console.<your domain> on a self-hosted edge.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- How it works: the parts, and what happens on each request.
- Hosted or self-hosted: which edge fits.
- Getting started for admins: set up a workspace.
© 2026 Houseguest Technologies LLC. Houseguest™ is its trademark.7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Box #119, West Chester, OH 45069