Change Your Browser's IP Address Using Proxies

Route browser traffic through a residential or datacenter proxy so target websites see a different IP. This is useful for geo-restricted content, rate-limit avoidance, and reducing bot-detection signals tied to datacenter ranges.

Prerequisites

• A Browserless API token from your account dashboard

Steps

Add proxy=residential (or proxy=datacenter) and optionally proxyCountry to your connection URL. The example navigates to an IP-check page and returns the proxy IP to confirm routing is working.

More proxy options

• proxy=datacenter — faster and cheaper (2 units/MB vs 6 units/MB for residential), but easier for sites to detect
• proxySticky=true — keep the same IP for the full browser session
• externalProxyServer=http://user:pass@host:port — route through your own proxy server instead
• proxyLocaleMatch=true — automatically set the browser locale to match the proxy country

REST API

Add proxy parameters to the /scrape endpoint URL. Browserless handles proxy negotiation server-side, so your request looks identical to a normal scrape. Only the egress IP changes.

cURL

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Send the request

curl -X POST \
  "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/scrape?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://api.ipify.org?format=json",
    "elements": [{ "selector": "body" }]
  }'

2. Check the output

The text field contains the JSON response from ipify showing the proxy IP. Confirm it differs from your local or datacenter IP:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "selector": "body",
      "results": [
        {
          "text": "{\"ip\": \"203.0.113.42\"}",
          "html": "{\"ip\": \"203.0.113.42\"}"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

JavaScript

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Send the request

const response = await fetch(
  'https://production-sfo.browserless.io/scrape?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      url: 'https://api.ipify.org?format=json',
      elements: [{ selector: 'body' }],
    }),
  }
);

const { data } = await response.json();
const ip = JSON.parse(data[0].results[0].text).ip;
console.log('Proxy IP:', ip);

2. Check the output

Run with node proxy.mjs. The logged IP is the residential proxy address, not the Browserless datacenter IP.

Python

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

pip install requests

2. Send the request

import requests
import json

response = requests.post(
    'https://production-sfo.browserless.io/scrape',
    params={
        'token': 'YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE',
        'proxy': 'residential',
        'proxyCountry': 'us',
    },
    json={
        'url': 'https://api.ipify.org?format=json',
        'elements': [{'selector': 'body'}],
    },
)

data = response.json()['data']
ip = json.loads(data[0]['results'][0]['text'])['ip']
print('Proxy IP:', ip)

3. Check the output

Run with python proxy.py. The logged IP is the residential proxy address, not the Browserless datacenter IP.

Java

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Send the request

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.*;

String token = "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE";
String endpoint = "https://production-sfo.browserless.io/scrape?token=" + token
    + "&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us";

String payload = "{\"url\": \"https://api.ipify.org?format=json\", \"elements\": [{\"selector\": \"body\"}]}";

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create(endpoint))
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(payload))
    .build();

HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(response.body());

2. Check the output

Compile and run the class. The response JSON contains the proxy IP inside the body text field. Confirm it differs from your local or datacenter IP.

C#

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Send the request

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.Json;

string token = "YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE";
string endpoint = $"https://production-sfo.browserless.io/scrape?token={token}&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us";

var payload = new
{
    url = "https://api.ipify.org?format=json",
    elements = new[] { new { selector = "body" } },
};

using (HttpClient httpClient = new HttpClient())
{
    var content = new StringContent(
        JsonSerializer.Serialize(payload), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
    var response = await httpClient.PostAsync(endpoint, content);
    string body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
    Console.WriteLine(body);
}

2. Check the output

Run the program. The response body contains the proxy IP inside the body text field. Confirm it differs from your local or datacenter IP.

Frameworks

Add proxy parameters to the WebSocket connection URL. Because the parameters attach at the session level, every page opened in that browser instance exits through the same proxy. You don't need to configure proxies inside Puppeteer or Playwright separately.

Puppeteer

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

npm install puppeteer-core

2. Connect and check the IP

import puppeteer from 'puppeteer-core';

const browser = await puppeteer.connect({
  browserWSEndpoint:
    'wss://production-sfo.browserless.io?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us',
});

try {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://api.ipify.org?format=json', { waitUntil: 'networkidle2' });
  const ip = await page.evaluate(() => JSON.parse(document.body.innerText).ip);
  console.log('Proxy IP:', ip);
} finally {
  await browser.close();
}

3. Check the output

Run with node proxy.mjs. The logged IP is the residential proxy address, not the Browserless datacenter IP.

Playwright

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Install dependencies

npm install playwright-core

2. Connect and check the IP

import { chromium } from 'playwright-core';

const browser = await chromium.connect(
  'wss://production-sfo.browserless.io/chromium/playwright?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE&proxy=residential&proxyCountry=us'
);

try {
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://api.ipify.org?format=json', { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
  const ip = await page.evaluate(() => JSON.parse(document.body.innerText).ip);
  console.log('Proxy IP:', ip);
} finally {
  await browser.close();
}

3. Check the output

Run with node proxy.mjs. The logged IP is the residential proxy address, not the Browserless datacenter IP.

BQL

View Full Code on GitHub

1. Write the mutation

Navigate to the IP-check endpoint and read the body text. Pass proxy parameters in the BQL endpoint URL query string. BQL itself has no proxy field, so the query string is the right place for them.

mutation CheckIP {
  goto(url: "https://api.ipify.org?format=json", waitUntil: domContentLoaded) {
    status
  }
  ip: innerText(selector: "body") {
    innerText
  }
}

2. Run it

Paste into the BQL IDE and click Run.

3. Check the output

{
  "data": {
    "goto": { "status": 200 },
    "ip": { "innerText": "{\"ip\": \"203.0.113.42\"}" }
  }
}

Next steps

• Solving Cloudflare Challenges — combine proxies with Cloudflare bypass for full bot-detection avoidance
• Scrape Etsy Product Listings — proxy-backed scraping of a real marketplace
• Solving reCAPTCHAs — use residential proxies to reduce CAPTCHA frequency