Expiring sessions

By default a session lives until you stop it. For shares you would rather not leave open, Porthole can close itself automatically.

After a duration

porthole host --expire 30m

The session shuts down after the given duration whether or not anyone is connected. Durations accept Go-style units — 90s, 30m, 2h.

After the first viewer leaves

porthole host --once

The session closes as soon as the first viewer disconnects — ideal for a one-time "look at this and we're done" share.

Without --once, a disconnect is not the end

This is worth being clear about, because the default surprises people.

A viewer leaving does not end the session — your shell keeps running and Porthole goes back to waiting, so the same link works if they come back. That is deliberate: killing the shell on every network blip would destroy your working directory, your scrollback, and anything running, and a dropped connection is indistinguishable from someone closing a tab.

If you want the stricter behaviour, that is exactly what --once is for.

Ending it yourself

You are always in control regardless of these flags:

• Ctrl+] q — end the session
• exit or Ctrl+D — exit the shared shell