Using proxies with Selenium WebDriver (Chrome and Firefox)

Option 1: IP whitelisting (recommended for servers)#

Submit the server’s actual outbound public IPv4 in Access and wait for administrator activation. NAT or a VPN may change the address seen by the gateway. Password-free access works only after the entry is confirmed for the assigned service. Confirm country and session options separately; a source-IP allowlist does not send username parameters. whitelist

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

opts = Options()
opts.add_argument("--proxy-server=http://res.proxy-cyber.com:9000")
opts.add_argument("--headless=new")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=opts)
driver.get("https://api.ipify.org")
print(driver.find_element("tag name", "body").text)
driver.quit()

Option 2: WebDriver BiDi authentication #

The example uses Selenium’s maintained WebDriver BiDi API, with enable_bidi and network.add_auth_handler. Test an HTTP proxy challenge with the installed browser and driver before using it in a job. The handler is not restricted to one host, so use an isolated browser session without unrelated authentication prompts. If proxy authentication is unsupported in your version combination, use an activated IP allowlist.

import os
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options

options = Options()
options.enable_bidi = True
options.add_argument("--proxy-server=" + os.environ["PROXY_SERVER"])

with webdriver.Chrome(options=options) as driver:
    handler = driver.network.add_auth_handler(
        os.environ["PROXY_USER"], os.environ["PROXY_PASSWORD"]
    )
    try:
        driver.get("https://api.ipify.org")
        print(driver.find_element("tag name", "body").text)
    finally:
        driver.network.remove_auth_handler(handler)

Firefox#

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

opts = Options()
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.type", 1)
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.http", "res.proxy-cyber.com")
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.http_port", 9000)
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.ssl", "res.proxy-cyber.com")
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.ssl_port", 9000)
opts.set_preference("media.peerconnection.enabled", False)  # no WebRTC leak
driver = webdriver.Firefox(options=opts)  # whitelisted server, no prompt

Practical rules#

• Use a distinct session identifier for each independent workflow, where the assigned gateway supports it. Confirm the permitted duration and location parameters in your connection details. A residential device can disconnect before the requested duration; a sticky session is not a guarantee of the same IP for days. For a fixed address, compare a dedicated static product.
• Use --headless=new in Chrome; the old headless mode has a distinctive fingerprint.
• Separate session identifiers isolate routing preferences, not the browser’s cookies or application state. Start with a small number of workers, measure errors and traffic, and increase gradually within the limits confirmed for your order and the destination. A narrow city or carrier selection can reduce available capacity.

Questions people ask#