Integration · HTTP clients

How to use a proxy in Postman

Q: How do I use a proxy with Newman?

Set HTTPS_PROXY and HTTP_PROXY (and NO_PROXY for exceptions) in the environment before newman run. Put the credentials in the URL: http://user:pass@host:port.

In the Postman desktop app, open Settings, go to the Proxy tab and turn on Use custom proxy configuration: enter the gateway host and port, turn on Proxy auth and paste the ARC username and password. Postman then sends every request through the gateway. Because the setting is app-wide, changing country or session means changing the username in that one place.

Reviewed 30 Oct 2026

your proxy, as a URL1 line

http://USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-de:PASSWORD@proxy.arcproxies.io:8000

The short answer

Settings → Proxy → Use custom proxy configuration; host and port without a protocol prefix.
Proxy auth takes the username and password; Postman supports Basic authentication for the proxy.
If both the system proxy and the custom proxy are on, Postman uses the custom one.
Newman, Postman's command-line runner, reads HTTPS_PROXY, HTTP_PROXY and NO_PROXY.

Setup

Set up Postman with a proxy, step by step

01
Open the proxy settings
Open Settings from the settings icon in the header (or ⌘/Ctrl + comma) and select the Proxy tab. These settings are in the desktop app; under Proxy configurations for sending requests, turn on Use custom proxy configuration.

Enter the gateway and credentials

Leave HTTP and HTTPS selected under Use proxy for. Choose HTTP as the proxy type and type the host and port without http://. Turn on Proxy auth and enter the username and password from the dashboard. Hosts listed under Proxy bypass are reached directly.

Proxy tab7 lines

Use custom proxy configuration   onUse proxy for                    HTTP, HTTPSProxy server                     HTTP   proxy.arcproxies.io : 8000Proxy auth                       on  Username                       USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-de  Password                       PASSWORDProxy bypass                     localhost,127.0.0.1

03
Send a request and check the exit IP
Create a GET request to an IP echo service and send it. The response is the address the target sees; a second send may show a different one, because the rotating username lets each new connection take a new exit.
Request4 lines
```
GET https://api.ipify.org?format=json→ 200 OK{"ip":"…"}
```
04
Switch to a sticky session or another country
Edit the Username field. Add _session-<handle>_sesstime-<minutes> to hold one exit while you step through a flow, or change _country- and _city- to test another market. Cities come from the published list, lowercased without spaces.
Username field3 lines
```
USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-de_session-k3f9a1x2_sesstime-10USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-gb_city-leedsUSERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-jp
```

Run the same collection with Newman

Newman does not read the desktop app's settings. Give it the proxy through environment variables, credentials included; percent-encode special characters in the password.

shell6 lines

npm install -g newmanHTTPS_PROXY="http://USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-de:PASSWORD@proxy.arcproxies.io:8000" \HTTP_PROXY="http://USERNAME_pool-arcfast_country-de:PASSWORD@proxy.arcproxies.io:8000" \NO_PROXY="localhost,127.0.0.1" \newman run my-collection.json

Custom proxy, system proxy and environment variables

Setting	What Postman does	Use it when
Default proxy	Uses the proxy configured for your operating system	Your network already requires a corporate proxy
Use system proxy	Sends requests through the system proxy; optionally reads `HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, `NO_PROXY`	The proxy is already set system-wide
Use custom proxy configuration	Sends requests through the host, port and credentials you enter	Testing through the gateway, as here

If both the system and the custom proxy are on, Postman uses the custom proxy. Postman's troubleshooting notes add that proxy environment variables on your machine can take over from the app's settings, so clear stray HTTP_PROXY values if requests do not reach the gateway.

SOCKS5 in Postman

The Proxy server dropdown also offers SOCKS, and Postman lists SOCKS5, SOCKS5H, SOCKS4 and SOCKS4A as supported, for HTTP and HTTPS requests only. The gateway takes SOCKS5 on the same port with the same credentials. HTTP is the simpler default; with SOCKS, prefer SOCKS5H so the gateway resolves hostnames.

What Postman is good for here

Postman is the quick way to see how an endpoint answers from another country, or to replay a request inside one sticky session while you inspect headers and cookies. For the location check itself, testing a proxy's location explains what an IP lookup can and cannot prove. Once a request works, the same username moves unchanged into code, for example Python requests or curl.

The problem

Common pitfalls

Typing http:// in the host field

Postman's docs say not to include the protocol before the hostname. Choose the type in the dropdown and enter the bare host.

Proxy auth turned off

Without Proxy auth, the gateway answers every request with 407. Rotating plans have no IP allowlisting, so the credentials are required.

Expecting Newman to inherit the app's proxy

Newman reads environment variables only. In our test with Newman 6.2 on Node 22, rejected credentials aborted the run with a stack trace rather than a readable 407, so check the username with a single request first.

Forgetting the setting is global

Every request in every workspace now goes through the proxy and is billed per GB. Add internal hosts to Proxy bypass, and switch the custom proxy off when you are done.

FAQ

Questions

Something not covered? Write to contact@arcproxies.io.

How do I set up a proxy with authentication in Postman?

Open Settings, select the Proxy tab, turn on Use custom proxy configuration, choose HTTP, enter host and port, then turn on Proxy auth and enter the username and password. Every request Postman sends then goes through that proxy.

Does Postman support SOCKS5 proxies?

Yes. The custom proxy settings support SOCKS5, SOCKS5H, SOCKS4 and SOCKS4A for HTTP and HTTPS requests, with username and password under Proxy auth.

How do I use a proxy with Newman?

Set HTTPS_PROXY and HTTP_PROXY (and NO_PROXY for exceptions) in the environment before newman run. Put the credentials in the URL: http://user:pass@host:port.

Can I use a different proxy per request in Postman?

Not in the proxy settings, which apply to the whole app. Change the username between requests, or run separate Newman processes with different HTTPS_PROXY values.

Sources & review

Last reviewed 30 October 2026 by the ARC Proxies team. Prices are read from the live catalog at build time.

[1]Postman: Configure Postman to use a proxy server
[2]postmanlabs/newman: Newman README: Configuring Proxy

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