Request to add http socks proxy as built-in feature

Use case or problem

In a restricted network (mostly in company), obsidian cannot connect to Internet. In this case, Sync feature won’t work, plugins cannot download / update.

Proposed solution

Add proxy settings as a built-in feature to allow ==http/socks5 proxy== to update plugins and sync.

Current workaround (optional)

No workaround:

  • Using OS proxy is NOT a workaround as it mess up all other running applications in the system (Windows).
  • Obsidian even doesn’t support http_proxy env variable in Linux.

Related feature requests (optional)

This feature is requested many times, you CANNOT just ignore it forever!!

6 Likes

+1, this would be extremely helpful if I could point obsidian at a ssh SOCKS proxy directly from within obsidian settings.

Or any proxy really setting (https) in Obsidian… at the least honor https_proxy environment variable… Love the product, paying member, but this is a big negative in my workflow/environment.

Use case or problem

When using Obsidian behind a firewall or in certain countries (where github is hard to access), it is impossible to browse or install plugins and themes.

I found out that I can add an startup argument like

--proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

to the obsidian executable file to enable proxy.

But it is not so friendly to new users especially non-engineer users.

Proposed solution

So, can dev team consider to expose this in obsidian settings page ?

Current workaround (optional)

Manually add an argument to obsidian.exe:

--proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

Related feature requests (optional)

7 Likes

How do you use chrome or edge?

Why not putting this in the system wise-proxy settings?

For national wide firewalls in some countries, just black-listed sites are blocked, such as github or youtube. Proxy servers always have limited bandwidth and they are only used for blocked sites.

Some companies, have also blocked github to prevent employee copying & pasting code from open-source projects.

System level proxy is usually not a good idea because it will decrease the speed of normal accessible sites. So I will never setup a system-wide proxy. But I am using a plugin named SwitchySharp in Chrome, it allows me initialize some rules to indicate which site need the proxy and which site can use direct link.

Github is indeed blocked in some countries, which will affect Obsidian’s plugin & theme installation experience.

Yes, there are some system-wide proxy switchers support a PAC rule file.

But a dedicated proxy option in the settings page is helpful, can prevent polluting system proxy settings.

ok, we’ll think about it.

1 Like

thanks

+1 for many.

As @skywind3000 it’s possible to pass proxy server as a command line option. The command line option doesn’t support username/pwd and this is a electron/chrome limitation.

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=615947

1 Like

There are 2 scenarios using proxy in a restricted network:

  1. install plugins
  2. insert a webpage in canvas

Adding proxy settings as a built-in feature is very helpful.

  1. Read the help/instruction of a plugin
  2. Get the download URL for the plugin
  3. Update a plugin
  4. Install Themes
  5. Read the help/instruction of a Theme
  6. Get the download URL for the Themes
  7. Update a Theme
  8. Activate the commercial version of Obsidian

any updates on this issue?

1 Like

I’m waiting for an update as well (waiting for socks5 support with username and password). It seemes to me that the developer of Obsidian do not know/understand how a company network and internet access in a (big) company works. Or they understand it and do not want companies as customer. In the latter case a clear statement would be helpfull. In the actual situation we cannot buy more licenses and cannot roll it out for a larger user base.

--proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 convention does not seem to work for me. Obviously I am putting my own proxy in that line, wondering if this is still supported somehow.

Hi there, The proxy setting of --proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 is very easy to use, but one thing is that the terminal output is not convenience. Is there any way to disable terminal output?

How do mac users add this parameter?

@evtok For mac users: open -a Obsidian --args --proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080

Try:

nohup open -a Obsidian --args --proxy-server=socks5://127.0.0.1:1080 &>/dev/null & disown

You can ask ChatGPT for an explanation