Proxy setup in Node.js

A step-by-step guide to connecting Prokso proxies in Node.js. It takes a few minutes.

Step 1. Get the proxy details from your dashboard

Open your plan and copy the host gw.prokso.com, port, username and password. Port 823 is HTTP and 824 is SOCKS5 (both give a new IP for every request); ports 10000–20000 keep one IP (sticky session) for up to 120 minutes and work as both HTTP and SOCKS5 (each port is a separate address). Set the country in the username: username__cr.ua.

Step 2. Install the packages

You'll need axios and https-proxy-agent: npm i axios https-proxy-agent.

Step 3. Create a proxy agent

Pass the proxy URL to HttpsProxyAgent and attach it to the request. Keep proxy: false so axios doesn't apply its own settings.

// npm i axios https-proxy-agent
import axios from "axios";
import { HttpsProxyAgent } from "https-proxy-agent";

const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent("http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@gw.prokso.com:823");
const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.ipify.org?format=json", { httpsAgent: agent, proxy: false });
console.log(data);

Save it as check.mjs and run node check.mjs.

Step 4. Switch between modes

Port 823 gives a new IP per request, 10000–20000 a stable IP for a session. For SOCKS5 use the socks-proxy-agent package and port 824 (rotation) or the same sticky 10000–20000 port.

Step 5. Check the script output

Run the example from step 3: axios calls https://api.ipify.org through the proxy agent and logs { ip: '…' }. That's the address the website sees, and it should differ from yours. A 407 error means the username or password is wrong. The My IP page in your browser won't show anything useful here, as the browser goes direct.

One agent for the whole app

Create the proxy agent once and reuse it in all requests. A new agent for every request opens a new connection to the proxy, and the script runs slower. The most convenient way is to build an axios instance with the settings you need:

import axios from "axios";
import { HttpsProxyAgent } from "https-proxy-agent";

const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent("http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@gw.prokso.com:823");
// one client for the whole app: proxy, timeout, no built-in axios proxy
const http = axios.create({ httpAgent: agent, httpsAgent: agent, proxy: false, timeout: 30000 });

const { data } = await http.get("https://prokso.com/ip");
console.log(data);

Set the timeout explicitly: by default axios waits for a response forever, and a single hung request will stop the queue.

What the errors mean

• Response 407. The proxy did not accept the username or password. Check the string and the remaining traffic on your plan.
• ECONNREFUSED. Nothing is responding on the host and port you entered: there is a typo in the address or the port.
• ETIMEDOUT or ECONNRESET. The connection dropped or was never established. Retry the request: on port 823 it will go out from a new IP.
• The request went out from your own IP. Either proxy: false is missing and axios applied its own settings, or the agent was not passed for the right protocol.

Codes 403 and 429 come from the site, not from the proxy. What to do about them is described on the proxy error codes page.

Parallel requests

Promise.all starts all the requests at once. With hundreds of addresses, this overloads both the site and your script. Limit the number of simultaneous requests with a queue: ten to twenty is usually enough, and if you get 429 responses, lower it.