Proxy .orb May 2026

proxy .orb is a legacy or proprietary proxy configuration format with limited adoption. While it offers some useful features like app-based routing and failover, its non‑standard nature, poor documentation, and lack of support in major tools make it unsuitable for new projects unless you are locked into an existing Orbital-based infrastructure.

For modern proxy management, prefer PAC scripts (browser/OS), Clash (advanced routing), or system proxy env variables (simple setups). If you find a .orb file in the wild, consider converting it to a more standard format manually.

Standard orbs are great for public tools (AWS, Node, Slack). But what happens when you have:

You could write a custom orb with inline scripts, but that gets messy and hard to maintain.

Let’s be clear: There is no known legitimate, reputable proxy service called "proxy.orb" or ".orb proxy." proxy .orb

Here is the benchmark: If you search for "orb proxy" on GitHub, Stack Overflow, or corporate networking forums, you will find zero legitimate documentation for a privacy product. The only references are from users asking for removal help.

However, a point of confusion exists: Orbot (note the 't') is a legitimate, open-source proxy app from the Tor Project for Android and iOS. Orbot routes traffic through the Tor network. Scammers sometimes misspell "Orbot" as "Orb" or ".orb" to trick users. Orbot is safe; .orb is not.

A .orb file defines:

Example structure (hypothetical):

[Proxy]
Type = HTTP
Host = 10.10.0.5
Port = 8080
Auth = Basic
[Direct]
Include = 127.0.0.1, 192.168.*, *.local
[Failover]
FallbackProxy = SOCKS5 10.10.0.6:1080

The most frequent culprit. You download a "free" utility—a PDF converter, a video downloader, a driver updater, or a game cheat engine. During installation, you click "Express Install" instead of "Custom Install." Hidden in the fine print is a check box agreeing to install "Orb Search" or "Orbit Proxy Tool." Once installed, it immediately changes your system proxy. Standard orbs are great for public tools (AWS, Node, Slack)

Before we proxy one, we need to understand the basics. An Orb is a reusable package of configuration elements. Think of it like a library or a module for your CI/CD pipeline.

A standard orb usually contains:

You typically call them in your config like this:

orbs:
  node: circleci/node@5.1.0

Modern browsers show a green lock for HTTPS. However, if proxy .orb has installed a fake root certificate on your machine (which many variants attempt to do), your browser will show the lock—but the connection is not secure. The orb proxy decrypts your traffic, reads it, then re-encrypts it and forwards it. You see no warning. You could write a custom orb with inline

No significant overhead compared to PAC.