How to use a proxy in n8n

Your proxy details

After you buy a plan, open My proxies. Choose the Proxy Type (Rotating or Sticky), the Protocol (HTTP or SOCKS5) and a Format, then copy a line. The generator offers three formats:

In the examples on this page, replace USERNAME, PASSWORD, HOST and PORT with the values from your line. SOCKS5_PORT is the port the generator shows when you pick SOCKS5.

Residential lines are either rotating (a new IP on new connections) or sticky (one IP for the time you choose). Datacenter and ISP plans give you a list of dedicated IPs, one per line as IP:PORT:USERNAME:PASSWORD, and each line is one fixed IP.

To test a line, open https://ipinfo.io/json through it: it shows the exit IP and country. For HTTP lines you can also use the free proxy checker.

Set the proxy on an HTTP Request node

1. 1Open the HTTP Request node. To test, set Method to GET and URL to https://ipinfo.io/json.
2. 2Under Options, click Add option and choose Proxy.
3. 3Enter the line in URL format: http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT.
4. 4Run the node. The output shows the exit ip and country.

Note: Include the http:// prefix. n8n users have reported that a line without it was silently ignored and the request went out from the server’s own IP.

Slow down large runs

When the node runs for many items, use Options → Batching to set Items per Batch and a Batch Interval in milliseconds, and Options → Timeout to give slow pages time. Spreading requests out lowers the chance of blocks.

Rotating or sticky?

A rotating line suits independent requests, such as one page per item. When several nodes must act as the same visitor, for example a login followed by requests, use the same sticky line in each of those nodes. To make sticky lines, open the generator, set Proxy Type to Sticky, choose a Sticky Duration if your plan offers one, set how many lines you want in Sticky Amount, then copy or download them. Each line keeps its IP for the chosen time. The session part of a sticky username differs by plan, so always generate sticky lines instead of editing usernames by hand.

Target a country

On residential plans, add -country- and a two-letter country code to the end of the username, for example USERNAME-country-us or USERNAME-country-gb. To combine a country with a state, a city or a sticky session, build the line in the generator, which shows only the options your plan supports. Datacenter and ISP IPs have a fixed location that you choose when you buy them.

A proxy for the whole instance

On self-hosted n8n you can set HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY or ALL_PROXY for the n8n process. A proxy set on a node takes priority over them. A global proxy routes every outgoing call through ZenProxy, including API calls to other services, so per-node proxies are usually the better choice.

Troubleshooting

• The output still shows your server’s IP

  Add http:// to the start of the proxy line.

• 407 Proxy Authentication Required

  Copy a fresh line and URL-encode special characters in the password.More on this error →

• Timeouts

  Set an explicit timeout of 30–60 seconds, retry on a new connection, and lower concurrency.More on this error →

• 403 or 429 from the site

  Use Batching to slow down, and residential lines for protected sites.More on this error →

Seeing another error? Read proxy errors and how to fix them, or contact support.

Questions