http-proxy-middleware vs http-proxy vs express-http-proxy
HTTP Proxy Libraries
http-proxy-middlewarehttp-proxyexpress-http-proxySimilar Packages:
HTTP Proxy Libraries

HTTP Proxy Libraries in Node.js are tools that allow developers to create proxy servers or middleware that can forward HTTP requests to other servers. These libraries are useful for tasks such as load balancing, API gateway implementation, and handling cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) issues. They provide functionalities to intercept, modify, and forward requests and responses between clients and servers, enabling more control over the communication process. These libraries help streamline the development of proxy servers, improve performance, and enhance security by managing how requests are routed and handled.

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http-proxy-middleware20,557,86011,10582.9 kB1177 months agoMIT
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Feature Comparison: http-proxy-middleware vs http-proxy vs express-http-proxy

Integration with Express.js

  • http-proxy-middleware:

    http-proxy-middleware is built as middleware for Express.js and other Connect-based frameworks, providing seamless integration. It allows you to define proxy rules directly within your Express app, making it easy to manage multiple proxy endpoints.

  • http-proxy:

    http-proxy is a standalone library that can be used with any Node.js HTTP server, including Express. However, it does not provide built-in integration with Express, so you need to handle the integration manually.

  • express-http-proxy:

    express-http-proxy is designed specifically for Express.js applications, making it easy to integrate and use within your existing Express routes. It allows you to proxy requests by simply adding a middleware function to your Express app.

Configuration and Customization

  • http-proxy-middleware:

    http-proxy-middleware allows you to configure proxy rules using a simple API, including support for path rewriting, header modification, and error handling. It is designed to be easy to configure while providing enough flexibility for most use cases.

  • http-proxy:

    http-proxy provides extensive configuration options, including support for custom routing, load balancing, and WebSocket proxying. It allows you to create highly customizable proxy servers, but this flexibility comes with increased complexity.

  • express-http-proxy:

    express-http-proxy offers a simple API for configuring the proxy target and allows you to customize the request and response handling through hooks. You can modify headers, handle errors, and transform data as needed, but it is designed to be straightforward and easy to use.

WebSocket Support

  • http-proxy-middleware:

    http-proxy-middleware supports WebSocket proxying as well, but it requires explicit configuration. It is a good option for applications that need to proxy WebSocket connections within an Express.js middleware setup.

  • http-proxy:

    http-proxy has built-in support for proxying WebSocket connections, making it a good choice for applications that need to handle both HTTP and WebSocket traffic. This feature allows you to create proxy servers that can manage real-time communication alongside traditional HTTP requests.

  • express-http-proxy:

    express-http-proxy does not natively support WebSocket proxying. It is primarily focused on HTTP requests and responses, making it less suitable for applications that require real-time communication over WebSockets.

Ease of Use: Code Examples

  • http-proxy-middleware:

    Proxy middleware with http-proxy-middleware

    const express = require('express');
    const { createProxyMiddleware } = require('http-proxy-middleware');
    const app = express();
    
    app.use('/api', createProxyMiddleware({ target: 'https://api.example.com', changeOrigin: true }));
    
    app.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
    });
    
  • http-proxy:

    Basic proxy server with http-proxy

    const http = require('http');
    const httpProxy = require('http-proxy');
    
    const proxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer({ target: 'https://api.example.com' });
    
    const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
      proxy.web(req, res);
    });
    
    server.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Proxy server is running on port 3000');
    });
    
  • express-http-proxy:

    Simple proxy with express-http-proxy

    const express = require('express');
    const proxy = require('express-http-proxy');
    const app = express();
    
    app.use('/api', proxy('https://api.example.com'));
    
    app.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
    });
    
How to Choose: http-proxy-middleware vs http-proxy vs express-http-proxy
  • http-proxy-middleware:

    Choose http-proxy-middleware if you need a middleware solution for Express.js or other Connect-based frameworks that allows you to create proxy endpoints with minimal configuration. It is particularly useful for setting up proxies in development environments, such as forwarding API requests to a backend server while working on a frontend application.

  • http-proxy:

    Choose http-proxy if you need a low-level, highly configurable proxy server that can handle both HTTP and WebSocket connections. It is suitable for applications that require fine-grained control over the proxying process, including custom routing, load balancing, and handling complex scenarios.

  • express-http-proxy:

    Choose express-http-proxy if you are working within an Express.js application and need a simple way to proxy requests to another server. It is ideal for scenarios where you want to forward requests while having the ability to modify them or the responses easily.

README for http-proxy-middleware

http-proxy-middleware

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Node.js proxying made simple. Configure proxy middleware with ease for connect, express, next.js and many more.

Powered by the popular Nodejitsu http-proxy. GitHub stars

⚠️ Note

This page is showing documentation for version v3.x.x (release notes)

See MIGRATION.md for details on how to migrate from v2.x.x to v3.x.x

If you're looking for older documentation. Go to:

TL;DR

Proxy /api requests to http://www.example.org

:bulb: Tip: Set the option changeOrigin to true for name-based virtual hosted sites.

// typescript

import * as express from 'express';
import type { Request, Response, NextFunction } from 'express';

import { createProxyMiddleware } from 'http-proxy-middleware';
import type { Filter, Options, RequestHandler } from 'http-proxy-middleware';

const app = express();

const proxyMiddleware = createProxyMiddleware<Request, Response>({
  target: 'http://www.example.org/api',
  changeOrigin: true,
});

app.use('/api', proxyMiddleware);

app.listen(3000);

// proxy and keep the same base path "/api"
// http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/foo/bar -> http://www.example.org/api/foo/bar

All http-proxy options can be used, along with some extra http-proxy-middleware options.

Table of Contents

Install

npm install --save-dev http-proxy-middleware

Basic usage

Create and configure a proxy middleware with: createProxyMiddleware(config).

const { createProxyMiddleware } = require('http-proxy-middleware');

const apiProxy = createProxyMiddleware({
  target: 'http://www.example.org',
  changeOrigin: true,
});

// 'apiProxy' is now ready to be used as middleware in a server.

Express Server Example

An example with express server.

// include dependencies
const express = require('express');
const { createProxyMiddleware } = require('http-proxy-middleware');

const app = express();

// create the proxy
/** @type {import('http-proxy-middleware/dist/types').RequestHandler<express.Request, express.Response>} */
const exampleProxy = createProxyMiddleware({
  target: 'http://www.example.org/api', // target host with the same base path
  changeOrigin: true, // needed for virtual hosted sites
});

// mount `exampleProxy` in web server
app.use('/api', exampleProxy);
app.listen(3000);

app.use(path, proxy)

If you want to use the server's app.use path parameter to match requests. Use pathFilter option to further include/exclude requests which you want to proxy.

app.use(
  createProxyMiddleware({
    target: 'http://www.example.org/api',
    changeOrigin: true,
    pathFilter: '/api/proxy-only-this-path',
  }),
);

app.use documentation:

Options

http-proxy-middleware options:

pathFilter (string, []string, glob, []glob, function)

Narrow down which requests should be proxied. The path used for filtering is the request.url pathname. In Express, this is the path relative to the mount-point of the proxy.

  • path matching

    • createProxyMiddleware({...}) - matches any path, all requests will be proxied when pathFilter is not configured.
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '/api', ...}) - matches paths starting with /api
  • multiple path matching

    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: ['/api', '/ajax', '/someotherpath'], ...})
  • wildcard path matching

    For fine-grained control you can use wildcard matching. Glob pattern matching is done by micromatch. Visit micromatch or glob for more globbing examples.

    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '**', ...}) matches any path, all requests will be proxied.
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '**/*.html', ...}) matches any path which ends with .html
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '/*.html', ...}) matches paths directly under path-absolute
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '/api/**/*.html', ...}) matches requests ending with .html in the path of /api
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: ['/api/**', '/ajax/**'], ...}) combine multiple patterns
    • createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: ['/api/**', '!**/bad.json'], ...}) exclusion

    Note: In multiple path matching, you cannot use string paths and wildcard paths together.

  • custom matching

    For full control you can provide a custom function to determine which requests should be proxied or not.

    /**
     * @return {Boolean}
     */
    const pathFilter = function (path, req) {
      return path.match('^/api') && req.method === 'GET';
    };
    
    const apiProxy = createProxyMiddleware({
      target: 'http://www.example.org',
      pathFilter: pathFilter,
    });
    

pathRewrite (object/function)

Rewrite target's url path. Object-keys will be used as RegExp to match paths.

// rewrite path
pathRewrite: {'^/old/api' : '/new/api'}

// remove path
pathRewrite: {'^/remove/api' : ''}

// add base path
pathRewrite: {'^/' : '/basepath/'}

// custom rewriting
pathRewrite: function (path, req) { return path.replace('/api', '/base/api') }

// custom rewriting, returning Promise
pathRewrite: async function (path, req) {
  const should_add_something = await httpRequestToDecideSomething(path);
  if (should_add_something) path += "something";
  return path;
}

router (object/function)

Re-target option.target for specific requests.

// Use `host` and/or `path` to match requests. First match will be used.
// The order of the configuration matters.
router: {
    'integration.localhost:3000' : 'http://127.0.0.1:8001',  // host only
    'staging.localhost:3000'     : 'http://127.0.0.1:8002',  // host only
    'localhost:3000/api'         : 'http://127.0.0.1:8003',  // host + path
    '/rest'                      : 'http://127.0.0.1:8004'   // path only
}

// Custom router function (string target)
router: function(req) {
    return 'http://127.0.0.1:8004';
}

// Custom router function (target object)
router: function(req) {
    return {
        protocol: 'https:', // The : is required
        host: '127.0.0.1',
        port: 8004
    };
}

// Asynchronous router function which returns promise
router: async function(req) {
    const url = await doSomeIO();
    return url;
}

plugins (Array)

const simpleRequestLogger = (proxyServer, options) => {
  proxyServer.on('proxyReq', (proxyReq, req, res) => {
    console.log(`[HPM] [${req.method}] ${req.url}`); // outputs: [HPM] GET /users
  });
},

const config = {
  target: `http://example.org`,
  changeOrigin: true,
  plugins: [simpleRequestLogger],
};

ejectPlugins (boolean) default: false

If you're not satisfied with the pre-configured plugins, you can eject them by configuring ejectPlugins: true.

NOTE: register your own error handlers to prevent server from crashing.

// eject default plugins and manually add them back

const {
  debugProxyErrorsPlugin, // subscribe to proxy errors to prevent server from crashing
  loggerPlugin, // log proxy events to a logger (ie. console)
  errorResponsePlugin, // return 5xx response on proxy error
  proxyEventsPlugin, // implements the "on:" option
} = require('http-proxy-middleware');

createProxyMiddleware({
  target: `http://example.org`,
  changeOrigin: true,
  ejectPlugins: true,
  plugins: [debugProxyErrorsPlugin, loggerPlugin, errorResponsePlugin, proxyEventsPlugin],
});

logger (Object)

Configure a logger to output information from http-proxy-middleware: ie. console, winston, pino, bunyan, log4js, etc...

Only info, warn, error are used internally for compatibility across different loggers.

If you use winston, make sure to enable interpolation: https://github.com/winstonjs/winston#string-interpolation

See also logger recipes (recipes/logger.md) for more details.

createProxyMiddleware({
  logger: console,
});

http-proxy events

Subscribe to http-proxy events with the on option:

createProxyMiddleware({
  target: 'http://www.example.org',
  on: {
    proxyReq: (proxyReq, req, res) => {
      /* handle proxyReq */
    },
    proxyRes: (proxyRes, req, res) => {
      /* handle proxyRes */
    },
    error: (err, req, res) => {
      /* handle error */
    },
  },
});
  • option.on.error: function, subscribe to http-proxy's error event for custom error handling.

    function onError(err, req, res, target) {
      res.writeHead(500, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
      });
      res.end('Something went wrong. And we are reporting a custom error message.');
    }
    
  • option.on.proxyRes: function, subscribe to http-proxy's proxyRes event.

    function onProxyRes(proxyRes, req, res) {
      proxyRes.headers['x-added'] = 'foobar'; // add new header to response
      delete proxyRes.headers['x-removed']; // remove header from response
    }
    
  • option.on.proxyReq: function, subscribe to http-proxy's proxyReq event.

    function onProxyReq(proxyReq, req, res) {
      // add custom header to request
      proxyReq.setHeader('x-added', 'foobar');
      // or log the req
    }
    
  • option.on.proxyReqWs: function, subscribe to http-proxy's proxyReqWs event.

    function onProxyReqWs(proxyReq, req, socket, options, head) {
      // add custom header
      proxyReq.setHeader('X-Special-Proxy-Header', 'foobar');
    }
    
  • option.on.open: function, subscribe to http-proxy's open event.

    function onOpen(proxySocket) {
      // listen for messages coming FROM the target here
      proxySocket.on('data', hybridParseAndLogMessage);
    }
    
  • option.on.close: function, subscribe to http-proxy's close event.

    function onClose(res, socket, head) {
      // view disconnected websocket connections
      console.log('Client disconnected');
    }
    

http-proxy options

The following options are provided by the underlying http-proxy library.

  • option.target: url string to be parsed with the url module

  • option.forward: url string to be parsed with the url module

  • option.agent: object to be passed to http(s).request (see Node's https agent and http agent objects)

  • option.ssl: object to be passed to https.createServer()

  • option.ws: true/false: if you want to proxy websockets

  • option.xfwd: true/false, adds x-forward headers

  • option.secure: true/false, if you want to verify the SSL Certs

  • option.toProxy: true/false, passes the absolute URL as the path (useful for proxying to proxies)

  • option.prependPath: true/false, Default: true - specify whether you want to prepend the target's path to the proxy path

  • option.ignorePath: true/false, Default: false - specify whether you want to ignore the proxy path of the incoming request (note: you will have to append / manually if required).

  • option.localAddress : Local interface string to bind for outgoing connections

  • option.changeOrigin: true/false, Default: false - changes the origin of the host header to the target URL

  • option.preserveHeaderKeyCase: true/false, Default: false - specify whether you want to keep letter case of response header key

  • option.auth : Basic authentication i.e. 'user:password' to compute an Authorization header.

  • option.hostRewrite: rewrites the location hostname on (301/302/307/308) redirects.

  • option.autoRewrite: rewrites the location host/port on (301/302/307/308) redirects based on requested host/port. Default: false.

  • option.protocolRewrite: rewrites the location protocol on (301/302/307/308) redirects to 'http' or 'https'. Default: null.

  • option.cookieDomainRewrite: rewrites domain of set-cookie headers. Possible values:

    • false (default): disable cookie rewriting

    • String: new domain, for example cookieDomainRewrite: "new.domain". To remove the domain, use cookieDomainRewrite: "".

    • Object: mapping of domains to new domains, use "*" to match all domains.
      For example keep one domain unchanged, rewrite one domain and remove other domains:

      cookieDomainRewrite: {
        "unchanged.domain": "unchanged.domain",
        "old.domain": "new.domain",
        "*": ""
      }
      
  • option.cookiePathRewrite: rewrites path of set-cookie headers. Possible values:

    • false (default): disable cookie rewriting

    • String: new path, for example cookiePathRewrite: "/newPath/". To remove the path, use cookiePathRewrite: "". To set path to root use cookiePathRewrite: "/".

    • Object: mapping of paths to new paths, use "*" to match all paths. For example, to keep one path unchanged, rewrite one path and remove other paths:

      cookiePathRewrite: {
        "/unchanged.path/": "/unchanged.path/",
        "/old.path/": "/new.path/",
        "*": ""
      }
      
  • option.headers: object, adds request headers. (Example: {host:'www.example.org'})

  • option.proxyTimeout: timeout (in millis) when proxy receives no response from target

  • option.timeout: timeout (in millis) for incoming requests

  • option.followRedirects: true/false, Default: false - specify whether you want to follow redirects

  • option.selfHandleResponse true/false, if set to true, none of the webOutgoing passes are called and it's your responsibility to appropriately return the response by listening and acting on the proxyRes event

  • option.buffer: stream of data to send as the request body. Maybe you have some middleware that consumes the request stream before proxying it on e.g. If you read the body of a request into a field called 'req.rawbody' you could restream this field in the buffer option:

    'use strict';
    
    const streamify = require('stream-array');
    const HttpProxy = require('http-proxy');
    const proxy = new HttpProxy();
    
    module.exports = (req, res, next) => {
      proxy.web(
        req,
        res,
        {
          target: 'http://127.0.0.1:4003/',
          buffer: streamify(req.rawBody),
        },
        next,
      );
    };
    

WebSocket

// verbose api
createProxyMiddleware({ pathFilter: '/', target: 'http://echo.websocket.org', ws: true });

External WebSocket upgrade

In the previous WebSocket examples, http-proxy-middleware relies on a initial http request in order to listen to the http upgrade event. If you need to proxy WebSockets without the initial http request, you can subscribe to the server's http upgrade event manually.

const wsProxy = createProxyMiddleware({ target: 'ws://echo.websocket.org', changeOrigin: true });

const app = express();
app.use(wsProxy);

const server = app.listen(3000);
server.on('upgrade', wsProxy.upgrade); // <-- subscribe to http 'upgrade'

Intercept and manipulate requests

Intercept requests from downstream by defining onProxyReq in createProxyMiddleware.

Currently the only pre-provided request interceptor is fixRequestBody, which is used to fix proxied POST requests when bodyParser is applied before this middleware.

Example:

const { createProxyMiddleware, fixRequestBody } = require('http-proxy-middleware');

const proxy = createProxyMiddleware({
  /**
   * Fix bodyParser
   **/
  on: {
    proxyReq: fixRequestBody,
  },
});

Intercept and manipulate responses

Intercept responses from upstream with responseInterceptor. (Make sure to set selfHandleResponse: true)

Responses which are compressed with brotli, gzip and deflate will be decompressed automatically. The response will be returned as buffer (docs) which you can manipulate.

With buffer, response manipulation is not limited to text responses (html/css/js, etc...); image manipulation will be possible too. (example)

NOTE: responseInterceptor disables streaming of target's response.

Example:

const { createProxyMiddleware, responseInterceptor } = require('http-proxy-middleware');

const proxy = createProxyMiddleware({
  /**
   * IMPORTANT: avoid res.end being called automatically
   **/
  selfHandleResponse: true, // res.end() will be called internally by responseInterceptor()

  /**
   * Intercept response and replace 'Hello' with 'Goodbye'
   **/
  on: {
    proxyRes: responseInterceptor(async (responseBuffer, proxyRes, req, res) => {
      const response = responseBuffer.toString('utf8'); // convert buffer to string
      return response.replace('Hello', 'Goodbye'); // manipulate response and return the result
    }),
  },
});

Check out interception recipes for more examples.

Node.js 17+: ECONNREFUSED issue with IPv6 and localhost (#705)

Node.js 17+ no longer prefers IPv4 over IPv6 for DNS lookups. E.g. It's not guaranteed that localhost will be resolved to 127.0.0.1 – it might just as well be ::1 (or some other IP address).

If your target server only accepts IPv4 connections, trying to proxy to localhost will fail if resolved to ::1 (IPv6).

Ways to solve it:

  • Change target: "http://localhost" to target: "http://127.0.0.1" (IPv4).
  • Change the target server to (also) accept IPv6 connections.
  • Add this flag when running node: node index.js --dns-result-order=ipv4first. (Not recommended.)

Note: There’s a thing called Happy Eyeballs which means connecting to both IPv4 and IPv6 in parallel, which Node.js doesn’t have, but explains why for example curl can connect.

Debugging

Configure the DEBUG environment variable enable debug logging.

See debug project for more options.

DEBUG=http-proxy-middleware* node server.js

$ http-proxy-middleware proxy created +0ms
$ http-proxy-middleware proxying request to target: 'http://www.example.org' +359ms

Working examples

View and play around with working examples.

Recipes

View the recipes for common use cases.

Compatible servers

http-proxy-middleware is compatible with the following servers:

Sample implementations can be found in the server recipes.

Tests

Run the test suite:

# install dependencies
$ yarn

# linting
$ yarn lint
$ yarn lint:fix

# building (compile typescript to js)
$ yarn build

# unit tests
$ yarn test

# code coverage
$ yarn cover

# check spelling mistakes
$ yarn spellcheck

Changelog

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Steven Chim