About proxlane
proxlane is an MCP server that lets AI agents fetch web pages through a Proxlane gateway. It returns readable page content or a classified failure, rather than presenting block pages as successful results.
Key features
- 01Fetch pages through a Proxlane gateway
- 02Optional JavaScript rendering and selector wait
- 03Text or HTML output with truncation notice
- 04Classified failures with retry guidance
Use cases
- 01Retrieve readable content from a website
- 02Wait for JavaScript-rendered page content
- 03Diagnose blocked requests before deciding whether to retry
MCP support
The MCP server exposes the `fetch_page` tool to MCP clients. It connects to a running Proxlane gateway using its URL and gateway API key.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
npx -y @proxlane/sdkPROXLANE_API_KEYSecretThe gateway's own PROXLANE_API_KEY, not a provider'sPROXLANE_URLWhere the gateway listensLocal servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.
Tools
1Saved tool list · updated 2d ago
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| url | string | Yes | The page to fetch, http or https. |
| format | enum | No | "text" (default) for readable text, "html" for the raw page.text | html |
| render | boolean | No | Run JavaScript before the snapshot. Costs several times more; use only when the page needs it. |
| country | string | No | Two-letter country to fetch from, e.g. "us" or "de". |
| wait_for | string | No | A CSS selector to wait for before the snapshot. Implies render. The page is a failure if it never appears. |
| max_chars | integer | No | Truncate the result to this many characters. |
Details
From the project README@proxlane/sdk
An MCP server that gives an AI agent a web-fetch tool that fails honestly.
A plain fetch hands an agent a 200 with a captcha in the body, and the agent summarises the captcha. This tool fetches through your own Proxlane gateway, which fails over between scraping APIs and checks every response for block pages. The agent gets the page as readable text, or a failure that says what happened and whether retrying is worth it. A block page is never returned as content.
Set up
You need a running gateway with at least one provider key. That is one container: proxlane.dev/docs/quickstart.
Then add the server to your MCP client. Claude Code:
claude mcp add proxlane --env PROXLANE_URL=http://localhost:8787 --env PROXLANE_API_KEY=your-gateway-key -- npx -y @proxlane/[email protected]
Claude Desktop, Cursor and other clients take the same three things in their JSON config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"proxlane": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@proxlane/[email protected]"],
"env": {
"PROXLANE_URL": "http://localhost:8787",
"PROXLANE_API_KEY": "your-gateway-key"
}
}
}
}
PROXLANE_API_KEY is the gateway's own key, not a provider's. Provider keys stay on the gateway.
Pin the version, as above: npx -y otherwise runs whatever was published last, with that key in
its environment.
Every call spends provider credits, several times more with render or wait_for. The tool
is deliberately not marked read-only, so clients that auto-approve read-only tools still ask.
The tool
fetch_page
| Argument | ||
|---|---|---|
url | required | http or https |
render | optional | run JavaScript first; costs several times more |
wait_for | optional | a CSS selector to wait for; implies render, and the page is a failure if it never appears |
country | optional | two-letter code, e.g. us |
format | text (default) or html | |
max_chars | default 20000 | longer results are truncated, and say so |
On failure the result is marked as an error and reads:
{ "ok": false, "outcome": "SOFT_BLOCK", "class": "blocked", "retryable": true, "chain": "scraperapi:SOFT_BLOCK>brightdata:SOFT_BLOCK" }
class is one of six that never grows, and retryable follows from it: the site's own answer
(target) and a bad request (client) are not worth retrying; a block or a provider problem may
be, later. The gateway has already tried every provider it could, so an immediate retry is not.
In your own process
import { createServer } from '@proxlane/sdk';
import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';
await createServer({ gatewayUrl: 'http://localhost:8787', apiKey: process.env.PROXLANE_API_KEY! })
.connect(new StdioServerTransport());
Apache-2.0.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.