When you're running Puppeteer for web scraping or automation, your requests go out from the same IP every time. Sites with bot detection will catch on quickly and block you before you get far. Adding a proxy routes your traffic through a different IP, keeping your sessions alive and your data flowing.
In this article, we'll explore how to set up a proxy in Puppeteer, the different ways to configure it, and how to pair it with rotating proxies for large-scale scraping.
How to Set Up a Proxy in Puppeteer
Setting up a proxy in Puppeteer is straightforward. You pass the proxy server as an argument in the launch options:
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
args: ['--proxy-server=http://your-proxy-ip:port']
\});If your proxy requires authentication, handle credentials at the page level:
await page.authenticate({
username: 'your-username',
password: 'your-password'
});Every request the browser makes will go through that proxy until you close the instance. For any serious scraping, though, you'll need rotating proxies.
Also Read: How to Scrape LinkedIn Jobs
How to Use Rotating Proxies with Puppeteer
A static proxy gets blocked fast on repeated requests. Rotating proxies fix this by assigning a new IP to each session, so the target site never sees the same source twice.
The cleanest approach is to open a new browser instance per session. Most providers give you a single endpoint that handles rotation automatically:
onst browser = await puppeteer.launch({
args: ['--proxy-server=http://rotating-proxy-endpoint:port']
\});
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.authenticate({
username: 'your-username',
password: 'your-password'
\});
await page.goto('https://target-site.com');
await browser.close();Closing the browser after each session forces a fresh connection and triggers a new IP from the pool. Residential proxies work best here since they're assigned by real ISPs and are nearly impossible for sites to flag. Residential proxies start at $1.75/GB with no subscription required.
How to Test Your Proxy Setup
Before running your scraper, it's worth confirming your proxy is actually working. The quickest way is to make a request to an IP-checking service and log the response:
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
args: ['--proxy-server=http://your-proxy-ip:port']
\});
const page = await browser.newPage();
await page.authenticate({
username: 'your-username',
password: 'your-password'
\});
await page.goto('https://api.ipify.org?format=json');
const content = await page.content();
console.log(content);
await browser.close();$If the IP in the response is different from your real IP, the proxy is working. If it matches your real IP, something in your configuration is off. Check that the proxy URL and port are correct and that your credentials are being passed at the page level, not in the launch URL.
For rotating proxies, run this a few times and check that the IP changes between sessions. If you're getting the same IP every time, the browser instance isn't being closed and reopened between requests.
Also Read: Best Residential Proxy Providers
Final Words
Setting up a proxy in Puppeteer takes just a few lines of code. Match your proxy type to your target, close browser instances between sessions, and pace your requests. Proxyon's residential proxies start at $1.75/GB with no subscription required, deposit $5, and start scraping in minutes at Proxyon.
