diff --git a/dev/local/cli.ts b/dev/local/cli.ts
index 45c0d3e2a..70e444a69 100644
--- a/dev/local/cli.ts
+++ b/dev/local/cli.ts
@@ -142,7 +142,12 @@ async function cmdUp(targets: string[], repoRoot: string): Promise<void> {
   const SIDEBAR_WIDTH = 40;
 
   // --- Start capture services first (tunnel, stripe) and wait for output ---
-  const captureServiceSet = new Set(['kiloclaw-tunnel', 'kiloclaw-stripe', 'app-builder-tunnel']);
+  const captureServiceSet = new Set([
+    'kiloclaw-tunnel',
+    'kiloclaw-worker-tunnel',
+    'kiloclaw-stripe',
+    'app-builder-tunnel',
+  ]);
   const captureServices = serviceNames.filter(n => captureServiceSet.has(n));
   const otherServices = serviceNames.filter(n => !captureServiceSet.has(n));
 
diff --git a/dev/local/scripts/start-tunnel.ts b/dev/local/scripts/start-tunnel.ts
index 4bd70f469..341098a12 100644
--- a/dev/local/scripts/start-tunnel.ts
+++ b/dev/local/scripts/start-tunnel.ts
@@ -6,11 +6,29 @@ import * as path from 'node:path';
 const repoRoot = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../../..');
 const devVarsPath = path.join(repoRoot, 'kiloclaw/.dev.vars');
 
-type TunnelConfig = {
-  tunnelName: string;
-  tunnelHostname: string;
+type TunnelMode = {
+  nameKey: string;
+  hostnameKey: string;
+  onUrl: ((url: string) => void) | null;
 };
 
+const TUNNEL_MODES = {
+  nextjs: {
+    nameKey: 'TUNNEL_NAME',
+    hostnameKey: 'TUNNEL_HOSTNAME',
+    onUrl: (url: string) =>
+      updateEnvValue(devVarsPath, 'KILOCODE_API_BASE_URL', `${url}/api/gateway/`),
+  },
+  worker: {
+    nameKey: 'WORKER_TUNNEL_NAME',
+    hostnameKey: 'WORKER_TUNNEL_HOSTNAME',
+    onUrl: (url: string) =>
+      updateEnvValue(devVarsPath, 'KILOCLAW_CHECKIN_URL', `${url}/api/controller/checkin`),
+  },
+} satisfies Record<string, TunnelMode>;
+
+type ModeName = keyof typeof TUNNEL_MODES;
+
 function parseConfFile(filePath: string): Record<string, string> {
   if (!fs.existsSync(filePath)) return {};
   const result: Record<string, string> = {};
@@ -25,19 +43,10 @@ function parseConfFile(filePath: string): Record<string, string> {
   return result;
 }
 
-function loadTunnelConfig(): TunnelConfig {
+function loadConf(): Record<string, string> {
   const globalPath = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config/kiloclaw/dev-start.conf');
   const localPath = path.join(repoRoot, 'kiloclaw/scripts/.dev-start.conf');
-
-  const merged = {
-    ...parseConfFile(globalPath),
-    ...parseConfFile(localPath),
-  };
-
-  return {
-    tunnelName: merged['TUNNEL_NAME'] ?? '',
-    tunnelHostname: merged['TUNNEL_HOSTNAME'] ?? '',
-  };
+  return { ...parseConfFile(globalPath), ...parseConfFile(localPath) };
 }
 
 function updateEnvValue(filePath: string, key: string, value: string): void {
@@ -68,30 +77,33 @@ if (spawnSync('cloudflared', ['version'], { stdio: 'ignore' }).error) {
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
-const port = process.argv[2] ?? '3000';
-const config = loadTunnelConfig();
+const modeArg = process.argv[2];
+const modeName: ModeName = modeArg === 'worker' ? 'worker' : 'nextjs';
+// For worker mode: argv[2]='worker', argv[3]=port
+// For nextjs mode: argv[2]=port (no mode prefix)
+const port = modeName === 'worker' ? (process.argv[3] ?? '8795') : (modeArg ?? '3000');
+const mode = TUNNEL_MODES[modeName];
+const conf = loadConf();
+const tunnelName = conf[mode.nameKey] ?? '';
+const tunnelHostname = conf[mode.hostnameKey] ?? '';
 
-let command: string;
 let args: string[];
 let urlPattern: RegExp | null = null;
 
-if (config.tunnelName) {
-  command = 'cloudflared';
-  args = ['tunnel', 'run', config.tunnelName];
-  console.log(`Named tunnel: ${config.tunnelName} -> ${config.tunnelHostname}`);
+if (tunnelName) {
+  args = ['tunnel', 'run', tunnelName];
+  console.log(`Named tunnel: ${tunnelName} -> ${tunnelHostname}`);
 
-  if (config.tunnelHostname) {
-    const apiUrl = `https://${config.tunnelHostname}/api/gateway/`;
-    updateEnvValue(devVarsPath, 'KILOCODE_API_BASE_URL', apiUrl);
+  if (mode.onUrl && tunnelHostname) {
+    mode.onUrl(`https://${tunnelHostname}`);
   }
 } else {
-  command = 'cloudflared';
   args = ['tunnel', '--url', `http://localhost:${port}`];
   urlPattern = /https:\/\/[a-z0-9-]+\.trycloudflare\.com/;
   console.log(`Starting quick tunnel -> http://localhost:${port}...`);
 }
 
-const child = spawn(command, args, {
+const child = spawn('cloudflared', args, {
   stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
 });
 
@@ -103,11 +115,12 @@ function handleOutput(data: Buffer) {
   if (!match) return;
 
   const url = match[0];
-  const apiUrl = `${url}/api/gateway/`;
-  updateEnvValue(devVarsPath, 'KILOCODE_API_BASE_URL', apiUrl);
+  mode.onUrl?.(url);
 
   console.log(`\nTunnel URL: ${url}`);
-  console.log(`Set KILOCODE_API_BASE_URL=${apiUrl}`);
+  if (mode.onUrl) {
+    console.log(`Set KILOCODE_API_BASE_URL=${url}/api/gateway/`);
+  }
 
   // Only capture once
   urlPattern = null;
diff --git a/dev/local/services.ts b/dev/local/services.ts
index e63ba05a6..ba42edc38 100644
--- a/dev/local/services.ts
+++ b/dev/local/services.ts
@@ -100,8 +100,12 @@ const serviceMeta: Record<string, ServiceMeta> = {
   },
   // kiloclaw
   'kiloclaw-tunnel': { group: 'kiloclaw', dependsOn: [] },
+  'kiloclaw-worker-tunnel': { group: 'kiloclaw', dependsOn: [] },
   'kiloclaw-stripe': { group: 'kiloclaw', dependsOn: [] },
-  kiloclaw: { group: 'kiloclaw', dependsOn: ['postgres', 'kiloclaw-tunnel'] },
+  kiloclaw: {
+    group: 'kiloclaw',
+    dependsOn: ['postgres', 'kiloclaw-tunnel', 'kiloclaw-worker-tunnel'],
+  },
   // observability
   'cloudflare-o11y': { group: 'observability', dependsOn: ['nextjs'] },
   'cloudflare-ai-attribution': { group: 'observability', dependsOn: [] },
@@ -250,6 +254,20 @@ function buildServiceDefs(): ServiceDef[] {
       continue;
     }
 
+    if (name === 'kiloclaw-worker-tunnel') {
+      const workerPort = readWranglerPort(path.join(repoRoot, 'kiloclaw')) + portOffset;
+      defs.push({
+        name,
+        type: 'process',
+        dir: '.',
+        port: 0,
+        dependsOn: meta.dependsOn,
+        command: ['tsx', 'dev/local/scripts/start-tunnel.ts', 'worker', String(workerPort)],
+        group: meta.group,
+      });
+      continue;
+    }
+
     if (name === 'kiloclaw-stripe') {
       defs.push({
         name,