Send Only Cursor Through a Proxy, Not the Whole System

What stays inside Cursor

Cursor is built on VS Code, and http.proxy is a VS Code setting, so it is stored in Cursor's own settings file. It does not change the operating system's proxy. Your browser, your package manager and every other program keep using your normal connection.

Cursor's own documentation does not describe http.proxy, and the VS Code page calls it a legacy setting. So treat the setup as working only after the check below shows it does.

• Cursor proxy settings

• Sources:
• VS Code documentation: network connections

Set it up in 5 steps

1. Step 1

   Buy a static ISP IP with the HTTP protocol and open My assets. Copy host, port, username and password.

   • Static ISP proxies

2. Step 2

   In Cursor open the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P, or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and run Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

3. Step 3

   Add the two lines from the example below. If the password has special characters, percent-encode them (@ becomes %40, : becomes %3A).

4. Step 4

   Quit Cursor completely and open it again. If chat or the agent hangs, open Cursor Settings > Network and set HTTP Compatibility Mode to HTTP/1.1, then restart.

5. Step 5

   Open Cursor Settings > Network and click Run Diagnostics.

   Expected result The checks complete without proxy errors.

Cursor user settings (JSON)

{
  "http.proxy": "http://LOGIN:PASSWORD@HOST:2222",
  "http.proxySupport": "override"
}

Example only. Replace LOGIN, PASSWORD and HOST with the values from My assets.

Prove that only Cursor uses it

Run the curl check below. It shows the IP of the proxy, which proves the address and login work. Then open https://ipinfo.io/json in your normal browser: it should still show your own connection, because the browser is not using the proxy.

Run Diagnostics inside Cursor tells you whether Cursor can reach its servers with the new setting.

Check the proxy itself

curl -x http://LOGIN:PASSWORD@HOST:2222 https://ipinfo.io/json

Example only. It should print the proxy's IP details.

If your IP is SOCKS5, or you do not want the password in the file

The VS Code page says SOCKS5 proxy authentication is not implemented yet, so a SOCKS5 address with a login does not work as http.proxy. You can run a local forwarder on your own computer: it logs in to the proxy, and Cursor only sees http://127.0.0.1:8080 with no login.

This also keeps the password out of settings.json. The price is one more program that must be running while you use Cursor.

• Local forwarder with gost or 3proxy

• Sources:
• VS Code documentation: network connections
• gost documentation (go-gost/docs)

Forwarder and the matching Cursor setting

gost -L http://127.0.0.1:8080 -F socks5://LOGIN:PASSWORD@HOST:3333

# settings.json then holds:
# "http.proxy": "http://127.0.0.1:8080"

Example only. Keep the forwarder on 127.0.0.1 and replace HOST, LOGIN and PASSWORD.

Cursor user settings with the forwarder

{
  "http.proxy": "http://127.0.0.1:8080",
  "http.proxySupport": "override"
}

Example only. No login in the file, because the forwarder holds it.

Direct address or local forwarder

From the VS Code network page and the gost documentation, read 13 November 2026.

• Sources:
• VS Code documentation: network connections
• gost documentation (go-gost/docs)

What a proxy does not change

Cursor's regions page says some model providers have location-based restrictions, those models do not appear in Cursor, and calls may fail even with your own key if the provider blocks your region. A proxy changes the address Cursor connects from; it does not change what the providers offer. Use an IP in the country where you really are.

• Sources:
• Cursor documentation: regions

If Cursor ignores the proxy or hangs

FAQ

Further reading

Cursor proxy setup

Set a proxy in Cursor with http.proxy, handle special characters in the password, switch to HTTP/1.1 when streaming hangs, and verify with Run Diagnostics.

Local forwarder: gost and 3proxy

One gost line on 127.0.0.1 lets a tool with only host and port fields use a proxy with a login (SOCKS5 port 3333, HTTP port 2222).

Fix ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED

The ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED error appears in Chrome and Edge when the browser cannot establish a connection with a proxy server.

ISP proxies (static residential)

Fixed static ISP proxies: a residential-grade IP that stays the same for the whole term. For social accounts, stores and AI tools. HTTP and SOCKS5.

View options and pricing