2extract Developer Documentation

To use our proxy network, every request you send to the proxy gateway must be authenticated. This ensures that only authorized users can access the service and that we can correctly attribute traffic usage to your account. We offer two methods for authentication:

Username & Password

The most common method. You include your proxy’s unique credentials in every request.

IP Whitelisting (Coming Soon)

A more seamless method for servers. You pre-authorize your server’s IP address, allowing it to connect without sending credentials.

1. Username & Password Authentication

This is the standard and most flexible authentication method. Each proxy you create in your dashboard has its own unique username and password.

How it Works

You need to include these credentials in your proxy connection string in the following format: protocol://username:password@host:port Use https as the protocol. It encrypts the link between your program and our gateway, so your proxy password is never sent in readable form. See HTTPS vs. HTTP for the details and for the short list of tools that cannot do this.

Example

Let’s say your credentials are:

Username: 2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam
Password: a_very_secure_password
Host & Port: proxy.2extract.net:5555

Your connection string would look like this:

https://2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam:a_very_secure_password@proxy.2extract.net:5555

# Using the credentials with cURL
curl "https://api.ipify.org" \
  --proxy "https://2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam:a_very_secure_password@proxy.2extract.net:5555"

# Using the credentials with Python's Requests library
import requests

proxy = "https://2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam:a_very_secure_password@proxy.2extract.net:5555"

proxies = {
    "http": proxy,
    "https": proxy,
}

response = requests.get("https://api.ipify.org", proxies=proxies)
print(response.text)

// Using the credentials with Axios
const axios = require('axios');

const { data } = await axios.get("https://api.ipify.org", {
  proxy: {
    protocol: 'https',
    host: 'proxy.2extract.net',
    port: 5555,
    auth: {
      username: '2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam',
      password: 'a_very_secure_password',
    },
  },
});

console.log(data);

Remember, you can dynamically add parameters like -country-de to your username to control the proxy’s behavior. Learn more in the Geo-Targeting Parameters guide.

Passwords with Special Characters

If your proxy password contains @, :, #, / or ?, putting it directly into the connection string breaks URL parsing and the request fails with a misleading error. Pass the credentials separately instead:

curl "https://api.ipify.org" \
  --proxy "https://proxy.2extract.net:5555" \
  --proxy-user "2xt-customer-a1b2-proxy-steam:a_very_secure_password"

Most libraries offer an equivalent: a dedicated auth argument, or percent-encoding the password before building the URL (urllib.parse.quote in Python, encodeURIComponent in JavaScript).

2. IP Whitelisting (Authorized IPs) (Coming Soon)

This method is ideal for servers or any machine with a static IP address. By whitelisting your IP, you can send requests without embedding credentials in your code. Nothing is transmitted that could be intercepted, which makes it the most secure option available.

How it Works

Add your IP: In your proxy’s settings page, go to the “Advanced Settings” section and add your server’s IP address (e.g., 34.123.45.67) to the Authorized IPs list.
Connect without credentials: Now, any request coming from that IP address to your proxy’s host:port will be automatically authenticated.

Example

Assuming your server’s IP 34.123.45.67 has been whitelisted for the proxy at proxy.2extract.net:5555.

# No username or password needed!
curl "https://api.ipify.org" \
  --proxy "https://proxy.2extract.net:5555"

# The proxies dictionary is now much simpler
import requests

proxy = "https://proxy.2extract.net:5555"

proxies = {
    "http": proxy,
    "https": proxy,
}

response = requests.get("https://api.ipify.org", proxies=proxies)
print(response.text)

Important: IP Whitelisting only works for IPv4 addresses. If your server has a dynamic IP, you must use the Username & Password method.

Which Method Should I Use?

Scenario	Recommended Method
Running scripts from your local machine (dynamic IP)	Username & Password
Running scripts on a cloud server (static IP)	IP Whitelisting
Using a tool that doesn’t support proxy authentication	IP Whitelisting
Needing maximum flexibility and control	Username & Password

3. Troubleshooting

When the gateway rejects a connection it returns an X-Proxy-Error header explaining exactly why. Run your request with verbose output and read that header before changing anything else:

curl -v "https://api.ipify.org?format=json" \
  --proxy "https://proxy.2extract.net:5555" \
  --proxy-user "YOUR_USERNAME:YOUR_PASSWORD"

What you see	What it means
`407` with `X-Proxy-Error: all parameters missing`	No credentials reached the gateway. Check that your client actually sends proxy authentication.
`X-Proxy-Error: parameter missing` or `invalid parameter` or `unknown parameter`	A targeting parameter in your username is missing, malformed or misspelled. See Geo-Targeting Parameters.
`X-Proxy-Error: dependency missing`	A parameter requires another one. For example, `city` requires `country`.
`X-Proxy-Error: parameter conflict`	Two parameters cannot be combined. For example, `asn` cannot be used with `country`.
A TLS or protocol error immediately after connecting	Your client does not support HTTPS proxies. Switch the protocol to `HTTP` - see HTTPS vs. HTTP.
The request times out with no response at all	Outbound traffic to the port is blocked by your network. See Timeouts and Connection Refused.

If requests succeed for some targets but fail for others, check the Authorized hosts and Authorized IPs lists on the proxy: when either one is filled in, everything outside it is rejected.

Getting Started

Guides & Concepts

Proxy Products

Geo Reference

Troubleshooting & Help

Legal

Release Notes

Authentication Methods

Username & Password

IP Whitelisting (Coming Soon)

1. Username & Password Authentication

How it Works

Example

Passwords with Special Characters

2. IP Whitelisting (Authorized IPs) (Coming Soon)

How it Works

Example

Which Method Should I Use?

3. Troubleshooting

Username & Password

IP Whitelisting (Coming Soon)

​1. Username & Password Authentication

​How it Works

​Example

​Passwords with Special Characters

​2. IP Whitelisting (Authorized IPs) (Coming Soon)

​How it Works

​Example

​Which Method Should I Use?

​3. Troubleshooting

1. Username & Password Authentication

How it Works

Example

Passwords with Special Characters

2. IP Whitelisting (Authorized IPs) (Coming Soon)

How it Works

Example

Which Method Should I Use?

3. Troubleshooting