Using requests behind a proxy

Setting proxy in Python code

If your code is running behind a proxy and you know the end point, you can set this information in your code.

requests accepts a proxies parameter. This should be a dictionary that maps protocol to the proxy URL.

proxies = {
  'http': 'https://proxy.example.com:8080',
  'https': 'https://secureproxy.example.com:8090',
}

Notice that in the dictionary we have defined the proxy URL for two separate protocols: HTTP and HTTPS. Each maps to an individual URL and port. This does not mean that the two can’t be the same, though. This is also acceptable:

proxies = {
  'http': 'https://secureproxy.example.com:8090',
  'https': 'https://secureproxy.example.com:8090',
}

Once your dictionary is defined, you pass it as a parameter.

requests.get('https://example.org', proxies=proxies)

Using proxy environment variables

requests uses specific environment variables automatically for proxy detection.

HTTP_PROXY will define the proxy URL to use for HTTP connections
HTTPS_PROXY will define the proxy URL to use for HTTPS connections

Once these environment variables are set, the Python code does not need to pass anything to the proxies parameter.

requests.get('https://example.com')