Laravel (PHP)

Integrating ProxyTracer into a Laravel application is incredibly straightforward. By creating a standard HTTP Middleware, you can protect your entire application globally or selectively apply it to sensitive routes (like /login or /checkout).

The Middleware

Laravel’s native $request->ip() method automatically handles load balancer extraction (assuming your TrustProxies middleware is configured correctly). We use the native Http facade to query the API and drop the request if flagged.


<?php
 
namespace App\Http\Middleware;
 
use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
 
class ProxyTracerMiddleware
{
    /**
     * Handle an incoming request.
     */
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next): Response
    {
        // 1. Extract the IP (Laravel safely handles reverse proxies automatically)
        $ip = $request->ip();
 
        // Skip local development IPs
        if (!in_array($ip, ['127.0.0.1', '::1'])) {
            try {
                // 2. Query ProxyTracer API with a strict 500ms timeout
                $response = Http::withToken(env('PROXYTRACER_API_KEY'))
                    ->timeout(0.5)
                    ->get("https://api.proxytracer.com/v1/check/{$ip}");
 
                if ($response->successful()) {
                    // 3. Drop the connection if a proxy is detected
                    if ($response->json('proxy') === true) {
                        return response()->json([
                            'error' => 'Access Denied: VPN or Proxy detected.'
                        ], 403);
                    }
                }
            } catch (\Exception $e) {
                // Fail open: Log the error and allow the request to ensure uptime
                Log::warning("ProxyTracer validation failed: " . $e->getMessage());
            }
        }
 
        // 4. Traffic is clean, proceed to the controller
        return $next($request);
    }
}

Configuration

Generate the middleware using php artisan make:middleware ProxyTracerMiddleware.

To apply it globally, add it to your middleware stack.

Laravel 11: Add it inside your bootstrap/app.php file under $middleware->append().
Laravel 10 and below: Add it to the $middleware array inside your app/Http/Kernel.php file.