How To Set a Proxy in SuperAgent: The Ultimate Guide

If you‘re working with HTTP requests in JavaScript, chances are you‘ve used SuperAgent before. This lightweight and flexible HTTP client library makes it easy to send requests and handle responses, with support for promises, custom headers, query parameters, and more.

However, you may have run into issues when trying to use SuperAgent with a proxy server. By default, SuperAgent does not have built-in proxy support. This can be problematic if you need to hide your IP address, bypass restrictions, or access geo-blocked content.

Fortunately, there‘s an easy solution – the superagent-proxy extension. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll show you exactly how to set a proxy in SuperAgent, step-by-step. Whether you need to use an HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS proxy, we‘ve got you covered.

We‘ll also discuss some advanced topics like proxy authentication, environment variables, and IP rotation. Finally, we‘ll highlight why you should avoid free proxies and walk you through integrating SuperAgent with premium proxies from Bright Data for the most reliable results.

By the end of this article, you‘ll be a SuperAgent proxy expert ready to handle any request scenario! Let‘s dive in.

What Is SuperAgent and Why Do You Need a Proxy?

Before we get into the technical details, let‘s make sure we‘re on the same page about what SuperAgent is and why proxies are necessary.

SuperAgent is a popular HTTP client library for both client-side and Node.js JavaScript applications. It provides a clean, flexible API for making HTTP requests and handling responses. With SuperAgent, you can easily set headers, write data, handle errors, and more.

Here‘s a basic example of using SuperAgent to send a GET request:


const superagent = require(‘superagent‘);

superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.then(res => {
console.log(res.body);
})
.catch(err => {
console.error(err);
});


While SuperAgent is very useful on its own, there are situations where you may need to use a proxy server when sending requests. A proxy acts as an intermediary between your client application and the target server you‘re communicating with.

There are a few key reasons why you might want to use a proxy with SuperAgent:

1. To hide your original IP address for privacy and anonymity
2. To bypass restrictions or blocks imposed by the target server
3. To access geo-restricted or location-specific content
4. To distribute requests across multiple IPs to avoid rate limits
5. To improve performance by routing requests through a closer proxy

Without a proxy, all requests will originate directly from your client IP address. This means the target server can identify, track, and potentially block you based on your IP. By using a proxy, you can mask your real IP and make requests appear as if they are coming from the proxy server instead.

The problem is that SuperAgent does not have built-in proxy support. If you try to use a proxy directly with SuperAgent, you‘ll quickly run into errors. That‘s where superagent-proxy comes in to save the day!

What Is superagent-proxy?

superagent-proxy is an extension for SuperAgent that adds proxy support. It works by extending the SuperAgent Request class with a new .proxy() method that allows you to easily specify the URL of a proxy server.

Under the hood, superagent-proxy uses the proxy-agent library to create the appropriate HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS agent for the proxy protocol you specify. This agent is then used transparently by SuperAgent when making the actual request.

To use superagent-proxy, first you need to install it alongside SuperAgent:


npm install superagent superagent-proxy


Then, you need to require both the superagent and superagent-proxy modules in your code:


const superagent = require(‘superagent‘);
const proxy = require(‘superagent-proxy‘);

proxy(superagent);


This attaches the .proxy() method to all SuperAgent Request objects, allowing you to easily use a proxy on a per-request basis.

With that background in mind, let‘s look at some practical examples of how to set different types of proxies in SuperAgent using superagent-proxy.

Setting an HTTP/HTTPS Proxy in SuperAgent

The most common types of proxies you‘ll encounter are HTTP and HTTPS proxies. These proxies use the HTTP or HTTPS protocol to communicate with the target server.

To set an HTTP or HTTPS proxy in SuperAgent, you simply need to pass the full URL of the proxy server to the .proxy() method, including the protocol, IP or hostname, and port.

For example, let‘s say you have an HTTP proxy server running at http://12.34.56.78:1234. Here‘s how you would use it with SuperAgent:


const superagent = require(‘superagent‘);
const proxy = require(‘superagent-proxy‘);
proxy(superagent);

superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy(‘http://12.34.56.78:1234‘)
.then(res => {
console.log(res.body);
})
.catch(err => {
console.error(err);
});


In this example, the GET request to https://api.example.com/data will be routed through the HTTP proxy at http://12.34.56.78:1234. The proxy server will send the request to the target server, receive the response, and relay it back to your SuperAgent client.

Setting an HTTPS proxy is very similar – just use https:// instead of http:// in the proxy URL:


superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy(‘https://12.34.56.78:1234‘)
...


It‘s important to note that the HTTP or HTTPS protocol used by the proxy is independent of the protocol used by the target URL. In other words, you can use an HTTP proxy to send requests to an HTTPS URL, and vice versa.

Setting a SOCKS Proxy in SuperAgent

In addition to HTTP/HTTPS proxies, superagent-proxy also supports SOCKS proxies. SOCKS is a protocol that relays TCP connections through a proxy server. It supports multiple versions such as SOCKS4, SOCKS4a and SOCKS5.

To use a SOCKS proxy with SuperAgent, you again pass the full proxy URL to the .proxy() method. However, you need to explicitly specify the SOCKS protocol and version in the URL.

For example, to use a SOCKS5 proxy located at 12.34.56.78 on port 1234, you would do:


superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy(‘socks5://12.34.56.78:1234‘)
...


You can also use socks4:// or socks4a:// to specify SOCKS4 or SOCKS4a protocols respectively.

One advantage of SOCKS proxies is that they can proxy connections on any port and any protocol that uses TCP. This makes them more versatile than HTTP/HTTPS proxies in some situations.

However, SOCKS proxies generally do not support advanced features like proxy authentication or handling redirects – for those you‘ll want to stick with HTTP/HTTPS proxies.

Handling Proxy Authentication

Many proxy servers require authentication, usually in the form of a username and password. This helps prevent unauthorized users from accessing the proxy and controls usage.

To use a proxy that requires authentication in SuperAgent, you need to include the credentials in the proxy URL using the following format:


http://username:[email protected]:1234


Replace username and password with the actual credentials provided by your proxy service. For example:


superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy(‘http://johndoe:[email protected]:1234‘)
...


superagent-proxy will automatically extract the username and password from the URL and set the appropriate Proxy-Authorization header when connecting to the proxy server.

Be very careful not to leak or expose your proxy credentials publicly, especially if committing code to version control. One way to mitigate this is to load the credentials from environment variables instead of hardcoding them.

Using Environment Variables for Proxy Configuration

Hardcoding proxy URLs in your code is often not ideal, especially if you need to use different proxies across environments (development vs production) or share code publicly.

A better approach is to use environment variables to specify the proxy URL. This keeps your code generic while allowing customization of the proxy settings per environment.

superagent-proxy respects the HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY environment variables used by many tools to configure proxy settings.

To use these environment variables, first set them in your shell or system environment. For example, on Linux or Mac:


export HTTP_PROXY="http://johndoe:[email protected]:1234"
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://johndoe:[email protected]:5678"
export NO_PROXY="*.internal.com,localhost"


Then in your code, simply call .proxy() with no arguments:


superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy()
...


superagent-proxy will automatically detect and use the appropriate proxy based on the requested URL and NO_PROXY settings. Requests to *.internal.com or localhost will bypass the proxy.

This approach makes your code much more portable and easier to deploy across different environments. Just make sure to set the proxy environment variables correctly for each environment.

Why You Should Avoid Free Proxies

When searching for proxies to use with SuperAgent, you may be tempted to use free, public proxy servers. After all, why pay for a proxy when you can find free ones online?

The reality is that free proxies often come with a lot of hidden costs and risks that make them unsuitable for any serious usage. Some key issues include:

• Unreliability: Free proxies go offline frequently and are overloaded with traffic, leading to slow speeds and frequent timeouts. Many are active for only short periods.

• Lack of security: Free proxies rarely use encryption, and some may even snoop on or modify your traffic maliciously. Your sensitive data could be intercepted.

• Blocks and bans: Many sites and APIs automatically block or ban known free proxy IPs. This renders them unusable for a lot of purposes.

• Shady practices: Some free proxies engage in shady practices like injecting ads, referral spam, cryptocurrency mining via your browser, etc.

For these reasons, it‘s highly recommended to avoid free proxies and invest in a reputable paid proxy service instead. The small cost is well worth the peace of mind and reliability.

Rotating Proxies with Bright Data

One of the key benefits of using a professional proxy service like Bright Data is easy access to a large pool of reliable, secure proxies. This allows you to spread requests across many different IPs to improve success rates and avoid blocks.

Bright Data takes the concept of rotating proxies to the next level with automatic, configurable IP rotation that requires zero extra code in your SuperAgent application.

You simply make requests as usual via the Bright Data "Super Proxy" endpoint, and their smart proxy network will automatically route each request through a different backend IP address based on your configuration.

Here‘s an example of using Bright Data‘s rotating datacenter proxies with SuperAgent:


const superagent = require(‘superagent‘);
const proxy = require(‘superagent-proxy‘);
proxy(superagent);

const proxyUrl = ‘http://{username}:{password}@pr.oxylabs.io:7777‘

superagent
.get(‘https://api.example.com/data‘)
.proxy(proxyUrl)
...


Simply replace {username} and {password} with your Bright Data access credentials to authenticate to their proxy network.

Each request you send will automatically be routed through a different datacenter IP address, with no additional logic needed in your code. Bright Data handles the complexities of proxy rotation behind the scenes so you can focus on your application.

Bright Data also offers advanced configuration options like sticky sessions, country targeting, ASN filtering and more via their easy-to-use web dashboard and API. This allows you to fine-tune the proxy behavior to your specific use case.

If you‘re serious about production web scraping or large-scale API requests, investing in a premium proxy service like Bright Data will save you countless hours of frustration and boost the reliability of your SuperAgent code.

Conclusion

In this comprehensive guide, we covered everything you need to know about using proxies with the SuperAgent HTTP client library in Node.js.

We explained what proxies are and why they are useful for anonymity, bypassing restrictions, and more. We showed how the superagent-proxy extension allows you to easily configure HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS proxies on a per-request basis.

You learned how to handle proxies that require authentication by including the username and password in the proxy URL. We also discussed how to make your proxy configuration more secure and flexible by using environment variables.

We cautioned against the dangers of relying on free proxy services and instead recommend using a reliable, paid proxy provider like Bright Data for the best results.

Finally, we showed how Bright Data‘s rotating proxies allow you to automatically spread requests across a huge pool of IP addresses with no extra code changes to your SuperAgent application.

Whether you‘re building a web scraper, an API client, or any other application that relies on HTTP requests, mastering proxies is an essential skill. With the knowledge you‘ve gained from this guide, you‘re now equipped to use SuperAgent and proxies together in a powerful, reliable and safe manner.

So what are you waiting for? Pick a reputable proxy provider, grab your SuperAgent and superagent-proxy libraries, and start building amazing applications with the power of proxies!