Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool

Explain what Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool is. Useful to override / revert System HTTP Proxy at launch time. Faster than using networkutils

Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool

By default, Proxyman will try overriding your HTTP/HTTPS Proxy Config by using the networksetup Command-Line. However, the networksetup is a bottleneck during starting or quitting the app.

Proxyman offers a better solution: Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool, which is a Privileged Helper Tool macOS in order to override Network Proxy in high performance.

You can notice the performance difference by starting the app with or without the Proxy Setting Tool.

At the first launch, Proxyman will present the Popup to install the Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool. You can skip it and install it later in Preference -> Advanced Tab.

After the installation, you can find the Helper tool at /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool

If Proxyman releases a new update for Proxy Setting Helper Tool, it requires installation again.

Require user Permission for macOS 13 Ventura or later

MacOS Ventura or later requires permission to work properly.

To grant the permission, please follow the steps:

Open System Setting -> General -> Login Items
Find Proxyman and Switch ON ✅

Guest or non-admin users

If you're a guest or non-admin user, the networksetup CLI would fail and could not change the HTTP/HTTPS Proxy config until you install the Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool.

Proxyman Proxy Helper Tool has privileged permission to override the proxy config for all kinds of users.

We highly recommend installing the Proxyman Helper Tool if you're a guest or non-admin user to make the UX smoother.

Uninstall the Proxy Helper Tool

You can uninstall the Proxy Helper Tool in Preference -> Advanced Tab -> Uninstall Proxy Setting Tool or delete it directly at /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool

Install the Proxy Helper Tool by command line

From macOS 4.12.0 or later, you can install the Helper Tool without GUI.

sudo /Applications/Proxyman.app/Contents/MacOS/proxyman --install-privileged-components

Changelog

Version 1.6.0 (Proxyman 5.11.0 or later)

Fixed: Proxyman can't restore the PAC URL when the app is closed

Version 1.5.0

Fix the Security Vulnerability that Proxyman v1.5.0 or older (2019) can connect to the Helper Tool (v1.4.0) and override the system proxy without user consent. This fix will add some constraints to verify the incoming Connection. (The caller must be notarized by Apple, signed by Proxyman LLC Certificate, enabled Library Validation, and enabled Force Hard flag). (CVE-2023-45732)

📣 Credit to Scott Leitch from NCC Group.

Version 1.4.0

Comply with new macOS 13 Ventura Requirements for Helper Tool
Show App Icon & App Name on the Login-Items

On macOS Ventura, Helper Tools, Launch Daemon, and Launch Agent will be added to the Allow in the Background, even though Proxyman only runs on the Foreground.

There is an ongoing discussion on Twitter that macOS should fix it.

After installing the 1.4.0, the Login Item might not be updated due to the cache layer of the Preference.