cURL

cURL is the quickest way to test a proxy, and every check in these docs starts with it. This page covers the options you need with NyxonProxies, from a first request to sessions, SOCKS5 and debugging.

Basic request#

Pass the proxy with -x (or --proxy), with the username and password inside the URL:

curl -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 https://api.ipify.org

The output is the IP the website sees. The proxy URL starts with http:// even for HTTPS sites: cURL asks the gateway to open a tunnel and runs TLS to the site inside it, end to end.

Use the host and port of your product, see Endpoints and ports.

Credentials in their own option#

-U (or --proxy-user) keeps the credentials out of the proxy URL, which is easier to read once the username carries parameters:

curl -x http://geo.gw.nyxon.sh:8080 -U "USERNAME-country-de:PASSWORD" https://ipinfo.io/json

This asks for a German exit and prints the location details of the IP. Keep the quotes, so the shell does not split the value.

Keep the same IP#

Add a session to the username. Every request with the same session ID leaves from the same IP:

curl -x http://geo.gw.nyxon.sh:8080 -U "USERNAME-country-de-session-a1b2c3d4-time-10:PASSWORD" https://api.ipify.org

Run it twice and both runs print the same address. Change a1b2c3d4 to get a new one. time-10 holds the IP for up to 10 minutes, see Rotating and sticky sessions.

Rotating IPs#

Each cURL run opens a new connection to the gateway, so without a session every run gets a new IP. One command that fetches several URLs from the same site reuses its connection, so those requests share one IP:

curl -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 https://api.ipify.org https://api.ipify.org

Run separate commands, or use a sticky session per job, when you need control over which requests share an IP.

SOCKS5#

Use the SOCKS5 port with the socks5h:// scheme:

curl -x socks5h://USERNAME:[email protected]:1080 https://api.ipify.org

With socks5h://, the gateway resolves the hostname, so your DNS lookups do not leave from your own network. With socks5://, cURL resolves the name itself and sends only the IP.

Use the proxy for every command#

Set the proxy in the environment and every cURL command in that shell uses it:

export https_proxy="http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080"
export http_proxy="$https_proxy"
curl https://api.ipify.org

cURL reads http_proxy only in lower case. See Environment variables for the rules other tools follow.

You can also keep the settings in a config file and load it with -K:

proxy = "http://geo.gw.nyxon.sh:8080"
proxy-user = "USERNAME-country-us:PASSWORD"

curl -K nyxon.curlrc https://api.ipify.org

Saved as .curlrc in your home folder (%USERPROFILE%\.curlrc on Windows), the file applies to every command without -K.

Skip the proxy for some hosts#

--noproxy takes a comma-separated list of hosts that go direct:

curl -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 --noproxy "localhost,127.0.0.1,.example.com" https://api.ipify.org

A leading dot, as in .example.com, matches the domain and its subdomains.

Windows#

cURL ships with Windows 10 and 11. In Windows PowerShell, curl is an alias for Invoke-WebRequest, which takes different options, so type curl.exe:

curl.exe -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 https://api.ipify.org

In Command Prompt, wrap values in double quotes, not single quotes.

Debug a request#

-v prints the tunnel request and the gateway's answer, which is the fastest way to spot a 407. To see the gateway's status and the website's status side by side:

curl -s -o /dev/null -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 -w "proxy: %{http_connect}  site: %{http_code}\n" https://api.ipify.org

proxy: 200 means the gateway opened the tunnel. proxy: 407 means it refused the credentials, and the site was never contacted. To see where the time goes:

curl -s -o /dev/null -x http://USERNAME:[email protected]:8080 -w "connect %{time_connect}s  tls %{time_appconnect}s  first byte %{time_starttransfer}s  total %{time_total}s\n" https://api.ipify.org

The Error codes page lists cURL's proxy errors and what each one means.