# HTTP proxy service with libp2p This example shows how to create a simple HTTP proxy service with libp2p: ``` XXX XX XXXXXX X XX XXXXXXX XX XX XXXXXXXXXX +----------------+ +-----------------+ XXX XXX XXX XXX HTTP Request | | | | XX XX +-----------------> | libp2p stream | | HTTP X X | Local peer <----------------> Remote peer <-------------> HTTP SERVER - THE INTERNET XX <-----------------+ | | | Req & Resp XX X HTTP Response | libp2p host | | libp2p host | XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX +----------------+ +-----------------+ XXXXX ``` In order to proxy an HTTP request, we create a local peer which listens on `localhost:9900`. HTTP requests performed to that address are tunneled via a libp2p stream to a remote peer, which then performs the HTTP requests and sends the response back to the local peer, which relays it to the user. Note that this is a very simple approach to a proxy, and does not perform any header management, nor supports HTTPS. The `proxy.go` code is thoroughly commented, detailing what is happening in every step. ## Build From the `go-libp2p/examples` directory run the following: ``` > cd http-proxy/ > go build ``` ## Usage First run the "remote" peer as follows. It will print a local peer address. If you would like to run this on a separate machine, please replace the IP accordingly: ```sh > ./http-proxy Proxy server is ready libp2p-peer addresses: /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/12000/p2p/QmddTrQXhA9AkCpXPTkcY7e22NK73TwkUms3a44DhTKJTD ``` Then run the local peer, indicating that it will need to forward http requests to the remote peer as follows: ``` > ./http-proxy -d /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/12000/p2p/QmddTrQXhA9AkCpXPTkcY7e22NK73TwkUms3a44DhTKJTD Proxy server is ready libp2p-peer addresses: /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/12001/p2p/Qmaa2AYTha1UqcFVX97p9R1UP7vbzDLY7bqWsZw1135QvN proxy listening on 127.0.0.1:9900 ``` As you can see, the proxy prints the listening address `127.0.0.1:9900`. You can now use this address as a proxy, for example with `curl`: ``` > curl -x "127.0.0.1:9900" "http://ipfs.io/p2p/QmfUX75pGRBRDnjeoMkQzuQczuCup2aYbeLxz5NzeSu9G6" it works! ```