Run any geo-blocked CLI tool through ProtonVPN on macOS — auto-connect, run, auto-disconnect

vpn-run.sh

#!/bin/bash
# vpn-run.sh — Connect VPN, run any command, disconnect on exit
# Usage: ./vpn-run.sh <command> [args...]
#
# Examples:
#   ./vpn-run.sh freebuff
#   ./vpn-run.sh curl https://some-blocked-api.com
#   ./vpn-run.sh npm start

VPN_ID=$(scutil --nc list | grep "protonvpn" | grep -oE '[0-9A-F-]{36}' | head -1)
WAS_CONNECTED=false

[[ -z "$VPN_ID" ]] && echo "ProtonVPN not found" && exit 1

# Disconnect on exit (only if we connected it)
cleanup() { [[ "$WAS_CONNECTED" = false ]] && scutil --nc stop "$VPN_ID" 2>/dev/null && echo "VPN disconnected"; }
trap cleanup EXIT

# Connect
if [[ "$(scutil --nc status "$VPN_ID" | head -1)" = "Connected" ]]; then
  WAS_CONNECTED=true
  echo "VPN already connected"
else
  echo -n "Connecting VPN..."
  scutil --nc start "$VPN_ID"
  until [[ "$(scutil --nc status "$VPN_ID" | head -1)" = "Connected" ]]; do sleep 1; echo -n "."; done
  echo " done ($(curl -s ipinfo.io/country))"
fi

# Run the command
"$@"