Axios Proxy Setup

Axios is one of the most popular HTTP clients for Node.js and browser environments. In Node.js, Axios supports proxy configuration through both its built-in `proxy` option and external proxy agents. For HTTPS targets, using a proxy agent is the recommended approach with Hex Proxies.

Installation

npm install axios https-proxy-agent

Recommended: Proxy Agent for HTTPS

import axios from 'axios';

const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://user:pass@gate.hexproxies.com:8080');

const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/ip', { httpsAgent: agent, timeout: 30000, }); console.log(res.data); ```

IP Whitelist Authentication

Whitelist your server IP in the Hex Proxies dashboard and omit credentials:

const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://gate.hexproxies.com:8080');

Using Axios Built-in Proxy Config (HTTP only)

Axios has a built-in `proxy` option, but it only works reliably for HTTP (not HTTPS) targets:

const res = await axios.get('http://httpbin.org/ip', {
  proxy: {
    host: 'gate.hexproxies.com',
    port: 8080,
    auth: { username: 'user', password: 'pass' },
  },
});

For HTTPS targets, always use the `httpsAgent` approach shown above.

SOCKS5 Proxy Support

npm install socks-proxy-agent

const agent = new SocksProxyAgent('socks5://user:pass@gate.hexproxies.com:1080'); const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/ip', { httpsAgent: agent }); ```

Global Proxy Configuration

Apply a proxy to all Axios requests using defaults:

const proxyAgent = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://user:pass@gate.hexproxies.com:8080');
axios.defaults.httpsAgent = proxyAgent;

// All subsequent requests use the proxy const res = await axios.get('https://httpbin.org/ip'); ```

Best Practices

• **Prefer proxy agents** over the built-in `proxy` option for HTTPS requests — the agent approach handles TLS correctly.
• **Set timeouts** on every request to avoid hanging calls: `timeout: 30000`.
• **Reuse the agent** for sticky sessions or create a new agent per request for IP rotation.
• **Handle errors** with Axios interceptors for centralized retry logic.

Troubleshooting

• **ECONNREFUSED**: Verify proxy host and port. Check firewall rules for outbound port 8080.
• **403 responses**: The target site is blocking your request. Switch to residential proxies and add realistic headers.
• **Proxy auth failures**: Ensure credentials are correct. URL-encode special characters in the password.
• **HTTPS not working with built-in proxy**: Use `httpsAgent` with `https-proxy-agent` instead of the `proxy` config option.