Tencent/WeKnora · error

invalid proxy_url: %w

Error message

invalid proxy_url: %w

What it means

Returned by NewSearchHTTPClient when the supplied proxyURL (after trimming) fails Validate — i.e. it is not a well-formed proxy URL with an acceptable scheme. The client refuses to build an outbound search HTTP client with an untrusted proxy, so all providers created with this proxy fail at construction.

Source

Thrown at internal/infrastructure/web_search/proxy.go:40

// NewSearchHTTPClient builds an http.Client for outbound web search requests.
// It uses utils.SSRFSafeDialContext, optional explicit or environment proxy, and
// redirect validation consistent with utils.NewSSRFSafeHTTPClient.
func NewSearchHTTPClient(timeout time.Duration, proxyURL string) (*http.Client, error) {
	proxyURL = strings.TrimSpace(proxyURL)
	def, ok := http.DefaultTransport.(*http.Transport)
	if !ok {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("default HTTP transport is not *http.Transport")
	}
	t := def.Clone()
	t.DialContext = utils.SSRFSafeDialContext

	if proxyURL != "" {
		if err := ValidateProxyURL(proxyURL); err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		u, err := url.Parse(proxyURL)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid proxy_url: %w", err)
		}
		if u.Scheme == "" || u.Host == "" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid proxy_url: scheme and host are required")
		}
		t.Proxy = http.ProxyURL(u)
	} else {
		t.Proxy = http.ProxyFromEnvironment
	}

	cfg := utils.DefaultSSRFSafeHTTPClientConfig()
	cfg.Timeout = timeout
	return utils.NewSSRFSafeHTTPClientWithTransport(cfg, t), nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 988cbb0330)

Solutions

1. Correct the proxy_url to a full absolute URL with http/https scheme
2. Clear the proxy setting to use direct/environment proxy resolution

Example fix

// before
proxyURL := "http://[fe80::1:8080" // malformed IPv6
// after
proxyURL := "http://[fe80::1]:8080"

func checkProxyURL(raw string) error {
    raw = strings.TrimSpace(raw)
    if raw == "" {
        return nil
    }
    if _, err := url.Parse(raw); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("proxy_url unparseable: %w", err)
    }
    return nil
}

client, err := web_search.NewSearchHTTPClient(timeout, proxyURL)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "invalid proxy_url") {
        return fmt.Errorf("config error in proxy_url %q: %w", proxyURL, err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: NewSearchHTTPClient called with a proxyURL string that url.Parse rejects, e.g. "http://[bad-ipv6", or strings containing invalid percent-escapes like "http://host:port%x".

Common situations: Typos in the proxy config, copy-pasted proxy strings with stray characters or spaces in unusual positions, environment-specific config files with corrupted values.

Related errors

• invalid proxy_url: scheme and host are required
• create request: %w
• failed to create request: %w
• invalid SearXNG base_url: must be an absolute http(s) URL
• invalid SearXNG base_url: must not contain query or fragment

AI-assisted analysis of Tencent/WeKnora@988cbb0330 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ec27b761110ec994. Report an issue: GitHub.