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Session refused: choose one of your saved proxies (proxy_required)

You might be here because: “it says choose one of your saved proxies” · “proxy required error when I launch” · “profile won’t launch, says choose a proxy” · “why can’t I start a session without a proxy” · “422 proxy_required from the API” · “no proxy option is missing, it used to work”

Short answer

Every session runs through a proxy you saved and chose — Driftstack has no connection of its own to run a session on. A launch with no proxy is refused before anything is created, with the sentence “Choose one of your saved proxies for this session.”. Nothing was started and nothing is billed for it.

Check first

  • Are you signed in to the desktop app, and is the app up to date? An old build can be refused for saves and launches — see ‘Please update Driftstack to keep editing’ (old desktop build refused).
  • Is the proxy saved and tested? Open Proxies, find the row, press Test (SOCKS5) or Check VPN (OpenVPN/WireGuard) and read the result.
  • If the app shows it is offline, reconnect and try again — proxy changes and tests need a connection.
  • Is a proxy actually chosen for the profile you are launching? Open the profile’s Edit and look at the Proxy picker.

Likely causes and fixes

  1. The profile has no proxy chosen. The card shows the pill “choose a proxy” and the launch says to open Edit and pick one. Fix: open the profile’s Edit, choose a saved proxy in the Proxy picker, save, launch again. The app never picks one for you.
  2. You have no saved proxies at all. The launch says “No saved proxies. Open the Proxies tab and add one…”. Fix: Proxies → Add proxy, then choose it for the profile in Edit. See Add and save a SOCKS5 proxy.
  3. The profile’s proxy was deleted. The pill reads “proxy deleted — choose another”. Fix: choose a different proxy in Edit. See Profile shows “proxy deleted”.
  4. Several profiles need one. The Profiles view shows a banner “Driftstack no longer picks a proxy for you. N profiles need one before they can launch.” with a Set a proxy for these… button. Use it to assign one proxy to all of them at once.
  5. API or SDK call. A POST /v1/agent-sessions without proxy_id gets 422 with code: proxy_required; the body says to pass proxy_id from GET /v1/account/me/proxies. The direct session endpoints (POST /v1/sessions and POST /v1/profiles/:id/launch) take the same proxy_id, and get the same 422 without one — from a profile bound to a proxy, that proxy is used instead.

If it still fails

Press Talk to a person in this chat (or open Help) and include: the profile name, the exact sentence shown, and whether the Proxy picker in Edit shows a proxy selected. If a proxy is chosen and saved but the launch still says proxy required, that is not expected — a person should look.