Sticky Sessions & Manual Rotation

What Are Sticky Sessions?

When you use the proxy rotator normally, each request may exit through a different proxy IP. This is called rotation - your traffic appears to come from different locations.

Sticky sessions let you "stick" to the same exit IP across multiple requests for the configured route. Think of it like reserving a specific proxy just for your session.

Normal rotation (default):
  Request 1 -> Proxy A -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4
  Request 2 -> Proxy C -> Exit IP: 5.6.7.8
  Request 3 -> Proxy B -> Exit IP: 9.10.11.12

With sticky session:
  Request 1 -> Proxy A -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4
  Request 2 -> Proxy A -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4  <- same IP
  Request 3 -> Proxy A -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4  <- same IP

When Do You Need Sticky Sessions?

• Login sessions - Websites that check if your IP changes mid-session
• Multi-step workflows - Shopping carts, form submissions, checkout flows
• API rate limits - When you need consistent identity for rate limit tracking
• Scraping sequences - When you need to maintain state across page navigations

Sticky Sessions Across Multiple Domains

Standard sticky sessions keep the same exit for the configured route that handles the requested domain. They do not automatically override routing for every other domain a browser loads.

Standard sticky session:
  main-site.example      -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4
  cdn.example            -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4
  fonts.googleapis.com   -> Exit IP: 5.6.7.8  (possible if routed differently)

With cross-domain exit coherence enabled:
  First pin-eligible request -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4
  Main site, CDN, captcha, analytics -> Exit IP: 1.2.3.4

Need one IP across a full browser workflow? Ask support to confirm that cross-domain exit coherence is enabled for your proxy endpoint and target workflow.

Use separate session IDs per workflow and geography. When cross-domain coherence is enabled, the first pin-eligible request for a session controls the exit used by later domains. If you first use a session on a UK target and then reuse the same session ID for an Italy target, the Italy request may keep the earlier UK exit. Use IDs like task-uk-1 and task-it-1.

How to Use Sticky Sessions

For Username/Password Authentication

Simply add -session- followed by any identifier to your username:

# Format: username-session-YOURID:password

# Example: Create a session called "mysession"
curl -x "john-session-mysession:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com

# Every request with "john-session-mysession" uses the same exit IP for that route
curl -x "john-session-mysession:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com
curl -x "john-session-mysession:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com

Session ID limits: The session ID (the part after -session-) can be any string up to 64 characters. Longer values are ignored and your request will fall back to normal rotation, so keep IDs short. UUIDs (36 chars), short task names, or numeric counters all work well.

For IP-Based Authentication (Hybrid Auth Mode)

If you use IP-based authentication (no username/password required), you can still get sticky sessions using Hybrid Auth Mode - send a session ID in the username with an empty password:

# Format: -session-YOURID:
# Note the colon with nothing after it (empty password)

# Example with curl's -U flag
curl -U "-session-mysession:" -x "cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com

# Or with the full proxy URL format
curl -x "http://-session-mysession:@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com

How it works:

1. Your IP is still used for authentication (must be whitelisted)
2. The session ID is extracted from the username
3. The empty password tells the proxy to skip password verification

This works for both HTTP and HTTPS requests.

What Is Manual Rotation?

Manual rotation means you control when to get a new IP, rather than getting a random one each request.

With sticky sessions, you keep the same IP until you decide to change it. To rotate (get a new IP), simply use a different session ID:

# Session "v1" - assigned to Proxy A (1.2.3.4)
curl -x "john-session-task1-v1:pass@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com
# Output: 1.2.3.4

# Still using "v1" - same IP
curl -x "john-session-task1-v1:pass@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com
# Output: 1.2.3.4

# NOW ROTATE: Switch to "v2" - gets assigned to different proxy
curl -x "john-session-task1-v2:pass@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" https://checkip.amazonaws.com
# Output: 5.6.7.8 <- new IP!

Key insight: The session ID is just a string you control. Change the string, get a new IP assignment.

Cross-domain workflows: changing the session ID also creates a new cross-domain pin where that feature is enabled. Keep one session ID for one browser journey, target site, and geography.

Session Expiration

Sessions automatically expire after 24 hours of inactivity.

• Inactivity means no requests using that session ID
• Each request resets the 24-hour timer
• Active sessions do not expire from inactivity while requests continue, but endpoint safety limits still apply

10:00 - Create session "mysession" (expires tomorrow at 10:00)
14:00 - Make a request (timer resets, now expires tomorrow at 14:00)
14:01 - Make another request (timer resets again)
...
If you stop making requests for 24 hours -> session expires

Provider-backed routes: some residential proxy providers also enforce their own sticky-session lifetimes. Your proxy session ID may remain valid for 24 hours of inactivity, but the upstream residential exit may have a shorter provider-side lifetime depending on your endpoint configuration. Ask support if you need long-lived residential IP stickiness.

Keeping Sessions Alive

If you need a session to last longer than 24 hours, just make periodic requests:

# Simple keepalive - run every few hours
curl -x "john-session-mysession:pass@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80" -s https://checkip.amazonaws.com > /dev/null

Quick Reference

Examples

Python

import requests

# With username/password authentication
PROXY = "http://john-session-mysession:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80"

# All requests use the same exit IP for that route
for i in range(5):
    response = requests.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", proxies={"http": PROXY, "https": PROXY})
    print(f"Request {i+1}: {response.text.strip()}")

With IP-based authentication (Hybrid Auth Mode):

import requests

# IP auth with session ID - note the empty password after the colon
PROXY = "http://-session-mysession:@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80"

for i in range(5):
    response = requests.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", proxies={"http": PROXY, "https": PROXY})
    print(f"Request {i+1}: {response.text.strip()}")

Node.js

const axios = require("axios");
const HttpsProxyAgent = require("https-proxy-agent");

// With username/password authentication
const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent(
  "http://john-session-mysession:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80"
);

// All requests use the same exit IP for that route
for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
  const response = await axios.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", {
    httpsAgent: agent,
  });
  console.log(`Request ${i + 1}: ${response.data.trim()}`);
}

With IP-based authentication (Hybrid Auth Mode):

const axios = require("axios");
const HttpsProxyAgent = require("https-proxy-agent");

// IP auth with session ID - note the empty password (nothing after colon)
const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent(
  "http://-session-mysession:@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80"
);

for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
  const response = await axios.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", {
    httpsAgent: agent,
  });
  console.log(`Request ${i + 1}: ${response.data.trim()}`);
}

Manual Rotation Example

import requests

def get_proxy(session_id):
    return f"http://john-session-{session_id}:password123@cld-us-xxxx.tp-ns.com:80"

# Use session v1
proxy_v1 = get_proxy("task-v1")
print(requests.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", proxies={"http": proxy_v1, "https": proxy_v1}).text.strip())
# Output: 1.2.3.4

# Rotate to v2 when needed
proxy_v2 = get_proxy("task-v2")
print(requests.get("https://checkip.amazonaws.com", proxies={"http": proxy_v2, "https": proxy_v2}).text.strip())
# Output: 5.6.7.8

Common Questions