Proxy Settings

Configure proxy servers, user agents, headers, and request timeouts

Overview

Social Analyzer supports advanced network configuration including proxy servers, custom HTTP headers, user-agent strings, and request timeouts. These settings are essential for avoiding rate limits, bypassing restrictions, and integrating with existing security infrastructure.

Proxy Configuration

Setting Up a Proxy (Node.js)

In Node.js, the proxy is configured in modules/helper.js:

// modules/helper.js
const proxy = 'http://your-proxy-server:8080'

The proxy can also be set dynamically through the web API:

// API endpoint: POST /change_settings
{
  "proxy": "http://your-proxy-server:8080",
  "user_agent": "Custom User Agent String"
}

Proxy Support (Python)

Python version uses the requests library with session-based connections. To configure a proxy, you’ll need to modify the session configuration:

# Proxy configuration is handled through environment variables
export HTTP_PROXY="http://your-proxy-server:8080"
export HTTPS_PROXY="https://your-proxy-server:8080"

python app.py --username "johndoe"

HTTPS Proxy Agent

The Node.js implementation uses https-proxy-agent for secure proxy connections:

import HttpsProxyAgent from 'https-proxy-agent'

if (helper.proxy !== '') {
  helper.header_options.agent = HttpsProxyAgent(helper.proxy)
}

User Agent Configuration

Default User Agents

Node.js:

const header_options = {
  headers: {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0'
  }
}

Python:

self.headers = {
    "User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:86.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/86.0"
}

Custom User Agent (Python CLI)

headers · dict · default: "{}"

Custom HTTP headers including User-Agent.

python app.py --username "johndoe" \
  --headers '{"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7)"}'

Custom User Agent (Node.js API)

curl -X POST http://localhost:9005/change_settings \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "user_agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36"
  }'

Request Timeout Configuration

Timeout Settings (Python)

timeout · integer · default: "0"

Delay in seconds between each request to avoid rate limiting.

Default: 0 (no delay)

# Add 2-second delay between requests
python app.py --username "johndoe" --timeout 2

Setting a timeout helps avoid rate limits and reduces the chance of being blocked by websites.

The timeout is applied between requests:

if self.timeout:
    sleep(self.timeout)

Connection Timeout (Node.js)

Node.js uses dynamic timeouts based on site configuration:

const timeout = (time !== 0) ? time * 1000 : 5000
request.setTimeout(timeout, function() {
  // Handle timeout
})

Default timeout: 5 seconds per request

Timeout in Slow Mode

For browser-based slow scanning, timeouts are configured per site:

const timeout = (site.timeout !== 0) ? site.timeout * 1000 : 5000

const timeouts = {
  implicit: timeout,
  pageLoad: timeout,
  script: timeout
}

Custom Headers

Python Implementation

headers · dict · default: "{}"

Custom HTTP headers as a JSON dictionary.

python app.py --username "johndoe" \
  --headers '{
    "User-Agent": "Custom Agent",
    "Accept-Language": "en-US,en;q=0.9",
    "Referer": "https://google.com"
  }'

Headers are applied to all requests:

session.headers.update(self.headers)
response = session.get(url, timeout=5, verify=False)

Node.js Implementation

Headers are configured in helper.js and can be modified programmatically:

const header_options = {
  headers: {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 ...',
    'Accept': 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml',
    'Accept-Language': 'en-US,en;q=0.9'
  }
}

Logging Configuration

logs · boolean · default: "false"

Enable detailed logging for debugging and analysis.

python app.py --username "johndoe" --logs

logs_dir · string · default: ""

Custom directory for log files.

python app.py --username "johndoe" --logs --logs_dir "/var/log/social-analyzer"

silent · boolean · default: "false"

Disable output to screen (useful for automation).

python app.py --username "johndoe" --silent --output json > results.json

SSL/TLS Configuration

Certificate Verification

Python implementation disables SSL verification by default for compatibility:

response = session.get(url, timeout=5, verify=False)

Disabling SSL verification can expose you to security risks. Only use this in controlled environments.

Custom Certificate (Node.js)

The Node.js implementation supports custom certificate files:

let tecert_file = '/path/to/cert.pem'

Complete Examples

Python with Proxy and Custom Headers

# Set proxy via environment
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://proxy.company.com:8080"

# Run with custom headers and timeout
python app.py \
  --username "johndoe" \
  --headers '{"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)"}' \
  --timeout 2 \
  --logs \
  --output json

Node.js Web API Configuration

// Start the server
node app.js

// Configure settings via API
fetch('http://localhost:9005/change_settings', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    proxy: 'http://proxy.company.com:8080',
    user_agent: 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)'
  })
})

Avoiding Rate Limits

# Use timeout to slow down requests
python app.py \
  --username "johndoe" \
  --websites "instagram twitter facebook" \
  --timeout 3 \
  --mode fast

FAQ

Why do I need a proxy?

Proxies are useful for:

• Avoiding IP bans: Distribute requests across multiple IP addresses
• Bypassing geo-restrictions: Access region-locked websites
• Corporate networks: Route traffic through required proxy servers
• Privacy: Hide your real IP address

What timeout value should I use?

Recommended timeout values:

• Fast searches: 1-2 seconds
• Avoiding rate limits: 2-3 seconds
• Conservative approach: 5+ seconds

Higher timeouts reduce the risk of being blocked but increase total scan time.

Can I use SOCKS5 proxies?

Node.js implementation supports HTTPS proxies via https-proxy-agent. For SOCKS5 support, you may need to use a SOCKS-to-HTTP proxy converter or modify the proxy agent configuration.

How do I rotate user agents?

For user agent rotation, you’ll need to:

1. Create a script that runs Social Analyzer multiple times
2. Change the --headers parameter for each run
3. Use different user agent strings from a list

# Example rotation script
agents=(
  "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) Firefox/102.0"
  "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) Safari/537.36"
  "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) Chrome/108.0.0.0"
)

for agent in "${agents[@]}"; do
  python app.py --username "johndoe" --headers "{\"User-Agent\": \"$agent\"}"
done

Are requests logged?

When --logs is enabled, Social Analyzer creates detailed logs in the logs directory. Use --silent to suppress console output while still logging to files.

See Also

• CLI Options - All available command-line options
• Website Selection - Filter websites by country, type, or popularity
• Integration Guide - Integrate Social Analyzer with other tools