Using a proxy inside n8n — where the setting actually lives, and the sticky-session trap https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-to-use-a-proxy-in-n8n/

README.md

Proxies in n8n

Where the setting lives, what breaks, and the two patterns worth copying.

Gateways and the username syntax: QuanticData proxies · guide: how to use a proxy in n8n

1. HTTP Request node

The proxy setting is not in the main tab. Open the node → Options → Add Option → Proxy, then paste a full URL with the credentials in it:

http://USER-country-us:PASS@pr.quanticdata.io:7777

Targeting goes in the username, not in a header:

Username	Effect
USER-country-us	rotating US exit — a new IP per request
USER-country-de-city-berlin	city-level targeting
USER-country-gb-session-{{$json.runId}}-sessTime-30	one IP for this whole run

2. The trap: rotation inside a loop

An n8n loop makes one request per item. Without a session token every item exits from a different IP — which is correct for scraping and wrong for anything stateful. If your workflow logs in, adds to a cart, or walks a paginated session, pin the session per run:

USER-country-us-session-{{ $execution.id }}-sessTime-30

$execution.id is stable for the whole run and different between runs, which is exactly the property a session token needs.

3. Cheaper alternative: skip the proxy layer

If the goal is "get me this page's content", the Web Scraping API is one HTTP Request node with no proxy configuration at all — rendering, retries and exit selection happen server-side and you are billed only for successes:

• Method POST · URL https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scrape
• Header Authorization: Bearer qd_live_your_key
• Body (JSON)

{ "url": "={{ $json.url }}", "format": "markdown", "contentMode": "article", "country": "us" }

The Markdown comes back at payload.markdown, the cost at payload.usage.cost_usd. See n8n-scrape-node.json in this gist for a node you can paste straight into a canvas.

4. Debugging

• 407 — credentials wrong, or the plan does not cover that gateway.
• Same IP every time — a -session- token left in the username.
• Wrong country — the code must be ISO 3166-1 alpha-2: gb, not uk.

n8n-scrape-node.json

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "parameters": {
        "method": "POST",
        "url": "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scrape",
        "sendHeaders": true,
        "headerParameters": {
          "parameters": [
            { "name": "Authorization", "value": "Bearer qd_live_your_key_here" },
            { "name": "Content-Type", "value": "application/json" }
          ]
        },
        "sendBody": true,
        "specifyBody": "json",
        "jsonBody": "={{ JSON.stringify({ url: $json.url, format: \"markdown\", contentMode: \"article\", country: \"us\" }) }}",
        "options": {}
      },
      "name": "QuanticData scrape",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
      "typeVersion": 4.2,
      "position": [640, 300]
    }
  ],
  "connections": {}
}