By setting proxy_server to "self", Smooth creates a secure tunnel and routes all browser traffic through your machine’s IP address. This is useful for:
- Avoiding bot detection — Many websites trust residential IPs more than datacenter IPs
- Geo-localized automations — Access location-specific content based on your actual location
- Location-aware queries — Run searches like “restaurants near me” that rely on IP geolocation
- Accessing region-restricted content — Browse content only available in your region
Usage
from smooth import SmoothClient
client = SmoothClient()
# Simple task using your IP
task = client.run(
task="Search for 'coffee shops near me' and get the top 5 results",
proxy_server="self"
)
print(task.result().output)
With Sessions
from smooth import SmoothClient
client = SmoothClient()
with client.session(proxy_server="self") as session:
session.run_task(
task="Search for nearby Italian restaurants",
url="https://www.google.com/maps"
)
results = session.extract(
schema={
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"name": {"type": "string", "description": "Restaurant name"},
"rating": {"type": "number", "description": "Star rating"},
"address": {"type": "string", "description": "Street address"}
}
}
},
prompt="Extract the top 5 restaurants from the results"
)
for restaurant in results.output:
print(f"{restaurant['name']} - {restaurant['rating']} stars")
How It Works
When you set proxy_server="self":
- Smooth establishes a secure tunnel between the remote browser and your machine
- All browser traffic is routed through your local network
- Websites see your IP address instead of Smooth’s datacenter IP
- The tunnel is automatically closed when the task or session ends
Pro Tip: Using your own IP is the most effective way to avoid captchas. Websites see the same IP they would see if you were browsing manually.
This feature is most useful when running automations from a local machine with a residential IP. If your code is running from a datacenter, the tunnel will still use a datacenter IP.
