How to Use Plain-Text Proxy API Feeds

Plain-text proxy feeds strip away JSON ceremony: one ip:port per line, ready for shell scripts, curl, and pipeline importers. They are the fastest path from provider to rotator — which is why proxies.st exposes free bulk endpoints alongside authenticated JSON APIs.

Why plain-text feeds

• Zero parsing overhead — split on newlines and go.
• Works with Unix tools: curl | wc -l, grep, sort -u.
• Language-agnostic — same feed for Python, Node, Go, or cron jobs.
• Easy to diff snapshots and track pool size over time.

Endpoint patterns

A typical free tier exposes protocol-specific paths returning text/plain:

GET /api/v1/free/HTTP     -> HTTP proxies, one per line
GET /api/v1/free/SOCKS5   -> SOCKS5 proxies
GET /api/v1/free/SOCKS4   -> SOCKS4 proxies
GET /api/v1/free/ANY      -> mixed pool

Each line is host:port without scheme. Map to client URLs per protocol — see HTTP vs SOCKS5.

Consuming feeds in code

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://proxies.st/api/v1/free/HTTP", timeout=30)
resp.raise_for_status()
lines = [ln.strip() for ln in resp.text.splitlines() if ln.strip()]
print(f"Loaded {len(lines)} proxies")

Pipe into bulk list pipelines, then test before production use.

Caching and refresh

Pool contents change frequently. Schedule refreshes (e.g. every 15–60 minutes) rather than fetching per request. Cache to disk with timestamps; invalidate when success rates drop. Free pools especially need ongoing health maintenance.

Authenticated JSON APIs

For production workloads, authenticated endpoints return structured JSON with metadata — protocol, country, last-checked timestamps. See the API documentation for GET /api/proxies and API key setup via the dashboard. Compare tiers in free vs paid pools.