The Mac guide.

Install → add a server → connect

Rocket Proxy brings the same RocketCore engine to macOS in a roomy desktop app and a fast menu-bar controller. It requires macOS 13 or later, uses no account, and keeps zero logs.

How to use

1. Install Rocket Proxy from the App Store and open it from Applications or Launchpad.
2. Open Servers and add a server, enable iCloud Sync, or select the built-in demo server.
3. Return to Connect and press the big power button. Approve the macOS network permission the first time.
4. Leave the app in the menu bar for everyday control, or keep the full window open while tuning rules.

macOS menu bar

Rocket Proxy lives in the macOS menu bar, so you can connect, disconnect and switch servers without opening the main window. It is designed for the way Mac users actually work: quick toggles while your browser, terminal or IDE stays in front.

How it works

The menu-bar item talks to the same live engine as the desktop window. Changes you make there — server selection, connect state and routing mode — apply immediately to the active tunnel.

How to use

1. Click the Rocket Proxy icon in the macOS menu bar.
2. Choose Connect or Disconnect to toggle the tunnel instantly.
3. Use the server list in the menu to switch nodes before connecting, or during a session when failover is needed.
4. Choose Open Rocket Proxy to bring up the full desktop window for deeper settings.

Connect, Servers, Routing, More

The full Mac app is a resizable desktop window with a sidebar for Connect, Servers, Routing and More. It gives routing rules, diagnostics and inspection tools the space they deserve.

How to use

1. Open Rocket Proxy from the menu-bar item or from Applications.
2. Use the sidebar to move between Connect, Servers, Routing and More.
3. Resize the window when editing long rule lists, reviewing HTTP logs or comparing server details.
4. Close the window when finished; Rocket Proxy stays available from the menu bar.

macOS menu conventions

Rocket Proxy follows familiar Mac patterns so keyboard-driven users can move quickly. Exact shortcuts may vary by app version, but these are the practical defaults to look for in the menu bar.

How to use

1. Use ⌘+, to open Settings / Preferences.
2. Use ⌘+N from Servers to add a new server when available.
3. Use ⌘+W to close the window. The app stays in the menu bar and the tunnel keeps its current state.
4. Open the macOS Rocket Proxy, File and Window menus to see the shortcuts supported by your installed version.

Connect

The Connect screen is home base. A single click opens the tunnel; the interactive globe traces the path from your Mac to your server, and a live panel shows session uptime, upload/download speed, data used and active connections in real time.

How it works

When you connect, RocketCore establishes the tunnel using your selected server's protocol and installs the routing rules for your current mode. macOS routes matching traffic into the tunnel; everything else follows your rules.

How to use

1. Open Connect from the sidebar.
2. Check the selected server and Routing Mode chips below the button.
3. Click the power button to connect; click again to disconnect.
4. Watch Uptime, Download/Upload and Connections update live.

Connect → Routing Mode

Routing modes decide what goes through your server. Rocket Proxy gives you four:

The four modes

1. Smart — follows your rule set: known ad/tracker and regional domains are handled automatically, the rest goes direct.
2. Proxy Everything — every connection is sent through the proxy. Maximum privacy and consistency.
3. Direct — nothing is proxied; the tunnel stays up for ad-block and DNS only.
4. Local Mode — runs on your Mac with no remote server: network-level ad-blocking and encrypted DNS.

How to use

1. On Connect, click the Routing Mode control.
2. Pick Smart, Proxy Everything, Direct or Local Mode.
3. Switch modes mid-session whenever your work changes.

Connect / More → Smart Connect

Smart Route measures your servers and automatically connects you to the fastest reachable one — then auto-heals by switching away from a server that stops responding.

How it works

Rocket Proxy latency-tests your candidate servers and ranks them. When Smart Route is on, it picks the top performer at connect time and monitors health during the session, failing over if the active server degrades.

How to use

1. Add two or more trusted servers in Servers.
2. Enable Smart Route from Connect or More → Smart Connect.
3. Connect as usual — Rocket Proxy chooses and maintains the best node for you.

Servers

One engine speaks every major protocol: Shadowsocks, ShadowsocksR, VMess, VLESS, Trojan, Hysteria, Hysteria2, TUIC, AnyTLS, WireGuard, SSH, Snell, Brook, Mieru, SOCKS5 and HTTP/HTTPS, plus v2ray-plugin and obfs obfuscation.

How to use

1. Open Servers from the sidebar and click + or Add.
2. Add manually and pick the protocol from the Type picker, or import from the next section.
3. Fill address, port, credentials and any transport/plugin options, then Save.
4. Select a server to make it active; use edit, duplicate and delete actions to maintain your list.

Servers → Import

Four ways to add servers fast, so you rarely type anything on your Mac.

How to use

1. Paste a link — copy a ss://, vless://, trojan:// or similar URI and choose Paste Server Link. Multiple URIs at once are supported.
2. Scan or upload a QR code — use the Mac camera when available, or upload a saved QR image.
3. Import a config file — choose a subscription or config file from Finder.
4. Download from URL — fetch a remote config straight from a provider link.

Servers / More

New to proxies? A built-in free demo server lets you try the app with zero setup. Free Nodes pulls a curated list of public community servers you can experiment with.

How to use

1. Select the built-in demo server in Servers, then go to Connect.
2. For more public options, open More → Free Nodes and refresh the list.

More → Ad Blocking

Block ads and trackers for apps on your Mac at the network level — not just in Safari — by filtering requests before they load.

How it works

Rocket Proxy matches outbound connections against maintained block lists and drops known ad/tracker hosts inside the tunnel. Because it works at the connection layer, it covers browsers, Electron apps and in-app web views.

How to use

1. Open More → Ad Blocking and turn it on.
2. Use it in any mode, including Local Mode with no remote server.
3. Refresh lists periodically if you rely on aggressive blocking.

More → Smart DNS

Resolve names over encrypted DNS so your lookups can't be read or tampered with on the network. Supports plain IP, DoH (https://), DoT (tls://) and DoQ (quic://).

How to use

1. Open More → Smart DNS.
2. Add a resolver in any supported scheme, such as a DoH https:// URL.
3. Optionally set a fallback resolver for resilience.
4. Connect or use Local Mode to apply DNS handling without a remote proxy.

Routing → Rules

Rules are the heart of Smart mode: they decide whether each domain or app goes Proxy, Direct or is rejected. The Rule Store ships curated, maintained rule sets so you do not start from scratch.

How it works

Rules are evaluated from top to bottom. The first match wins, so place precise work, test or regional rules above broad defaults.

How to use

1. Open Routing → Rules.
2. Enable Curated Default Rules, or add your own domain and app rules.
3. Browse the Rule Store to add topic sets for streaming, regional access or privacy.
4. Reorder rules deliberately — the first match wins.

More → Regional Rules

One switch can auto-route traffic for a region — useful for keeping regional apps, banks, streaming sites and work services behaving as expected while you travel.

How to use

1. Open More → Regional Rules.
2. Enable the region set you need.
3. Update the set periodically to pick up new domains and service changes.

Routing / Configuration → Scripts

Run JavaScript to intercept, inspect and rewrite requests and responses — MITM-style automation with a desktop-size editor and clearer logs.

How to use

1. Open the Script Library from Routing or Configuration Files.
2. Add a script by pasting, importing or writing your own.
3. Set its trigger pattern so it only runs on matching hosts or paths.
4. Enable it and verify behaviour in HTTP Inspector.

Routing → HTTPS inspection

Decrypt and inspect your own TLS traffic for debugging, then reshape it with URL Rewrite, Header Rewrite, Body Rewrite and Map Local for local mock responses.

How it works

Rocket Proxy generates a local root certificate. Once you trust it in macOS Keychain Access, the app can decrypt HTTPS for hosts you choose, show contents, and apply rewrites on your Mac.

How to use

1. Open Routing → HTTPS inspection.
2. Choose the hosts you want to inspect; avoid broad inspection unless you are actively debugging.
3. Add URL Rewrite, Header Rewrite, Body Rewrite or Map Local rules.
4. Use HTTP Inspector to confirm the rewritten traffic.

Routing → HTTPS inspection → Keychain Access

macOS requires you to explicitly trust Rocket Proxy's local certificate before HTTPS inspection can decrypt traffic. This is a deliberate safety step and you can remove the certificate later.

How to use

1. In Routing → HTTPS inspection, choose Export/Install CA Certificate. Rocket Proxy saves RocketProxyRootCA.cer to your Mac.
2. Double-click the saved .cer file to open Keychain Access. Choose the login keychain if macOS asks where to add it.
3. Find Rocket Proxy Root CA, double-click it, expand Trust, and set When using this certificate to Always Trust.
4. Close the certificate window and authenticate with your Mac password or Touch ID to save.
5. To remove it later, open Keychain Access, select Rocket Proxy Root CA, and delete it from the login keychain.

Routing → Configuration Files

Import complete configuration profiles — servers, rules and DNS — and switch between them. This is ideal for separating work, home, lab and travel setups.

How to use

1. Open Routing → Configuration Files → Add Configuration.
2. Import from Finder, a URL, or pasted text.
3. Review the profile, then click Use This Config to activate it.
4. Return to your previous profile whenever you need a different routing posture.

More → Smart Connect

Auto-connect rules bring the tunnel up automatically on the networks you choose — for example, always connect on public Wi-Fi and stay direct on your trusted home network.

How to use

1. Open More → Smart Connect.
2. Enable Auto-connect rules / On Demand.
3. Choose conditions such as any Wi-Fi, selected networks or untrusted networks.
4. Pair with Smart Route so Rocket Proxy chooses the best healthy server when it connects.

More → Streaming Mode

Streaming Mode tunes routing for media services so streams resolve to the right region and play smoothly.

How to use

1. Open More → Streaming Mode and enable it.
2. Pick your target region if prompted.
3. Connect, then test your streaming service in Safari or your desktop app.

More → Data Insights

See where your bandwidth goes with per-service breakdowns, live speeds and overall connection statistics.

How to use

1. Open More → Data Insights.
2. Review per-app or per-service usage and live throughput.
3. Compare usage after switching rules, servers or Streaming Mode.

More → HTTP Inspector

A live log of connections and requests flowing through the tunnel, with system information for debugging. On Mac, the larger window makes it especially useful for developers and support workflows.

How to use

1. Open More → HTTP Inspector.
2. Connect and watch requests appear in real time.
3. Select a request to inspect details, headers and routing outcome.
4. Use it alongside HTTPS inspection and rewrite rules when debugging APIs.

More → Privacy Dashboard

A plain-language view of how Rocket Proxy handles your data, what a proxy can and cannot see, and how many trackers you have blocked.

How to use

1. Open More → Privacy Dashboard.
2. Read What a proxy can see before choosing public, self-hosted or Premium servers.
3. Review blocked-tracker counts and your current privacy posture.

More → iCloud Sync

Your servers, rules and DNS follow you to every device via your private CloudKit store. It is your iCloud — Rocket Proxy cannot read it. This is the easiest way to make your Mac inherit a setup you already built on iPhone or iPad.

How to use

1. On iPhone or iPad, open More → iCloud Sync and turn on sync.
2. Tap Push Now or leave Automatic Sync enabled.
3. On Mac, open More → iCloud Sync and turn it on with the same Apple ID.
4. Use Pull Now on Mac to fetch everything immediately, or let Automatic Sync do it for you.

Servers → Share / Nearby

Send servers and configs directly to a nearby device, peer-to-peer, without going through the cloud.

How to use

1. On the sending device, choose Nearby / Share and select what to send.
2. On the Mac, open the Nearby receive screen and accept.
3. Or send from the Mac to another device using the same Servers → Share / Nearby action.

More → Tunnel Options

Advanced tunnel behaviour: IPv6 handling, on-demand, skip-proxy lists, Always Real IP, and test-proxy tools for edge cases.

How to use

1. Open More → Tunnel Options.
2. Toggle IPv6 if your network or server supports dual-stack traffic.
3. Add trusted LAN or corporate hosts to skip-proxy when they must stay local.
4. Use Always Real IP for domains that should bypass proxy DNS resolution.

More → Diagnostics

Run a Connectivity Test, view system information and memory, and export logs when you need to report an issue.

How to use

1. Open More → Diagnostics.
2. Run Connectivity Test to check DNS, server reachability and routing.
3. Use Export Logs when contacting support.
4. Attach the exported log file through support only when you are comfortable sharing diagnostic details.

More → Premium / Refer & Earn

Rocket Proxy Premium unlocks managed, high-speed servers with up to 200 GB/month — no login, tied to your device via Apple App Attest. Refer a Friend: give 30 days, get 30 days free.

How to use

1. Open More → Premium and choose Go Premium.
2. Select a managed server and connect like any other node.
3. Manage or cancel anytime in Apple Account → Subscriptions.
4. Share your link from Refer & Earn to earn free months.