diff --git a/cli/cli.ts b/cli/cli.ts
index b60d53d5e90e..a4251b627563 100644
--- a/cli/cli.ts
+++ b/cli/cli.ts
@@ -2854,7 +2854,8 @@ export function serveAsync(parsed: commandParser.ParsedCommand) {
             wsPort: parsed.flags["wsport"] as number || 0,
             hostname: parsed.flags["hostname"] as string || "",
             browser: parsed.flags["browser"] as string,
-            serial: !parsed.flags["noSerial"] && !globalConfig.noSerial
+            serial: !parsed.flags["noSerial"] && !globalConfig.noSerial,
+            noauth: parsed.flags["noauth"] as boolean || false,
         }))
 }
 
@@ -6922,6 +6923,10 @@ ${pxt.crowdin.KEY_VARIABLE} - crowdin key
                 aliases: ["w"],
                 type: "number",
                 argument: "wsport"
+            },
+            noauth: {
+                description: "disable localtoken-based authentication",
+                aliases: ["na"],
             }
         }
     }, serveAsync);
diff --git a/cli/server.ts b/cli/server.ts
index 68da538769dd..3ed577a0ac3e 100644
--- a/cli/server.ts
+++ b/cli/server.ts
@@ -808,6 +808,7 @@ export interface ServeOptions {
     hostname?: string;
     wsPort?: number;
     serial?: boolean;
+    noauth?: boolean;
 }
 
 // can use http://localhost:3232/streams/nnngzlzxslfu for testing
@@ -1089,7 +1090,7 @@ export function serveAsync(options: ServeOptions) {
                     })
             }
 
-            if (!isAuthorizedLocalRequest(req)) {
+            if (!options.noauth && !isAuthorizedLocalRequest(req)) {
                 error(403);
                 return null;
             }