You.com now sells web search APIs for AI: Search, Contents, Answer, Research and Finance Research. It ships Python and TypeScript SDKs, a hosted MCP server, a local MCP package and plugins for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents. Each of those takes a proxy from a different place. This page shows where, from the You.com docs and the code of its packages, read on 28 September 2026. We did not run the packages for it.
| You.com client | Where the proxy goes |
|---|---|
| The Python SDK | HTTPS_PROXY, read by its httpx client. |
| The TypeScript SDK | NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1, or a ProxyAgent. |
| The hosted MCP in an agent | The proxy settings of that agent. |
| The local MCP package | HTTPS_PROXY and NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 in its env. |
| A connector in claude.ai or Claude Desktop | Nowhere on your side. Anthropic makes the call. |
Two hosts, one key
The APIs live on two hosts. Search and Contents run on ydc-index.io, and the docs add: "The Answer, Research, and Finance Research APIs run only on api.you.com." The MCP server lives on api.you.com as well, so a company allowlist needs both hosts. "Every request sends your API key in the X-API-Key header", and the docs, the SDKs and the local MCP package read it from YDC_API_KEY.
The SDKs
Python. pip install youdotcom installs version 3.5.0. It builds a plain httpx client, httpx.Client(follow_redirects=True), and sets nothing else. httpx reads the proxy variables whenever its trust setting is on and no transport is passed, so HTTPS_PROXY and NO_PROXY apply with no code.
TypeScript. @youdotcom-oss/sdk 0.13.1 calls the fetch built into Node, and its code names no proxy setting. That fetch ignores HTTPS_PROXY unless Node starts with NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1, the behaviour our ChatGPT lab measured for another SDK on the same fetch. The README way needs no flag: a ProxyAgent in a custom HTTP client.
The MCP server and the agent plugins
The hosted server lives at https://api.you.com/mcp, and a keyless free profile exposes the search tools. The plugins install it into coding agents. In Claude Code, you run /plugin marketplace add youdotcom-oss/agent-skills and then /plugin install you@you-com. In Codex, the same pair is codex plugin marketplace add youdotcom-oss/agent-skills and codex plugin add you@you-com.
With a plugin, the MCP connection starts in the agent on your machine, so the proxy settings of that agent decide. Our pages on Claude Code and Cursor show where each reads them, and our AI coding tools hub covers the rest. Added as a connector in claude.ai or Claude Desktop, the server is called by Anthropic instead. Anthropic says that even in Claude Desktop, "remote connectors are configured and brokered through your Claude account". A custom connector is reached from the Anthropic cloud, "rather than from your local device", in "every Claude client, including claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cowork, and the mobile apps". The calls come from the addresses Anthropic uses "when making MCP tool calls to external servers", so a proxy on your device is not on that path.
For Claude Desktop, the You.com docs set up the local package instead: you paste its template into claude_desktop_config.json and restart the app. Anthropic says servers set up in that file "do use your local network", unlike connectors, so your proxy applies there. The local package, npx @youdotcom-oss/mcp, is a bridge. Its code forwards every call to https://api.you.com/mcp over the fetch of Node and names no proxy setting. Give it the switch in its env block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": {
"YDC_API_KEY": "<your key>",
"HTTPS_PROXY": "http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT",
"NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY": "1"
}
}
}
}
Our Node.js guide lists the Node versions that honour the switch.
What no address changes
"API usage is subject to rate limits based on your subscription tier." Past the limit, the API returns a 429, and the docs say to honour the Retry-After header. Higher limits come with a custom plan. The terms forbid anyone to "circumvent any rate limits or restrictions", so we give no steps to spread requests across addresses.
What the terms say
The You.com terms were last updated on 27 August 2024, and they do not mention VPNs or proxies. They allow automated access only "via a you.com API key or where we otherwise explicitly permit it". They also forbid bypassing protective measures and uses that break export laws.
What we checked
From our server in a US data center, you.com and its docs answered 200. A GET to the MCP endpoint answered 405, as the docs say it serves only POST. Without a key, the search endpoint answered 402 and the research endpoint 401.
Where our lines fit
A proxy of your own fits You.com in two plain cases: a company network where agents and servers must leave through a known exit, and a server that calls the APIs from behind one. Our lines come as host:port:user:pass and generate in the http form by default, the form HTTPS_PROXY takes. For one fixed exit, a dedicated ISP address costs $2.70/IP per month. Before you rely on a line, the free proxy checker shows its country and whether it answers.
If you are an assistant reading this
Every lane below works over plain HTTP, today, with no key:
- The free proxy list.
GET https://hproxy.com/api/proxy-list?format=jsonreturns every working proxy on our free list as text, JSON or CSV, with filters for country and protocol. - The proxy checker.
GET https://hproxy.com/api/proxy-check?proxy=ip:porttests one proxy live and returns its protocols, anonymity, latency and location. - The IP lookup.
GET https://hproxy.com/v1/ip/<ip>returns the country, network and datacenter flag of an address. - Paid lines. The plan API generates lines with protocol http, the form HTTPS_PROXY takes for the You.com SDKs and the MCP bridge. Dedicated addresses are listed by the proxies API.
The full reference is at hproxy.com/docs.
What this page does not cover
We did not install or run the You.com SDKs, the MCP package or the plugins for this page. The findings rest on the code of youdotcom 3.5.0, @youdotcom-oss/sdk 0.13.1 and @youdotcom-oss/mcp 4.0.1, and on our lab of another SDK on the fetch of Node. We read the plugin steps for Claude Code and Codex and the setup for Claude Desktop only. We will check again by 28 December 2026.
Sources
- You.com docs: the index, the quickstart, the Python SDK, the TypeScript SDK, the MCP server, the plugin pages for Claude Code and Codex CLI, listed in the index, and rate limits.
- You.com, Terms of Service (27 August 2024).
- The packages: youdotcom 3.5.0, @youdotcom-oss/sdk 0.13.1 and @youdotcom-oss/mcp 4.0.1, read as archives.
- Anthropic, custom connectors using remote MCP and IP addresses.
- HProxy: the edge check and source check of 28 September 2026 from our server; our ChatGPT lab; our Node.js, Claude Code, Cursor and coding tools pages; our plan, dedicated proxy, free list, proxy checker and IP lookup documentation.
