Host daemon WebSocket connections ignore HTTPS_PROXY/NO_PROXY, so a daemon behind a CONNECT proxy never enrolls #4957

Summary

The host daemon's own WebSocket connections ignore HTTPS_PROXY / HTTP_PROXY / NO_PROXY, even with NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1. On a machine whose only route out is an HTTP CONNECT proxy (no direct egress, often no external DNS), the daemon cannot reach the server: the server WebSocket times out ("Server connection timed out after 60000ms") and the machine never enrolls. The same applies to the bb connect tunnel and the machine auth proxy's upstream requests. I expected the daemon to use the proxy the environment declares, as fetch does under NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1.

Versions and environment

• bb main @ 17b19716c5a00bf29a6b51798ddb07b72acaf259 (bb-app 0.45.0); first seen on 0.43.0
• Linux host daemon (remote machine), Node 24; also reproduced on macOS with Node 25
• Outbound access only through an HTTP CONNECT proxy, exported as HTTPS_PROXY / HTTP_PROXY with NO_PROXY for local ranges

Steps to reproduce

Universal repro, no restricted network needed: point the proxy variables at a dead port. If the proxy were honoured, both requests would fail with ECONNREFUSED.

cd apps/host-daemon   # uses the daemon's own ws dependency (ws 8.21.0)
cat > /tmp/ws-proxy-repro.mjs <<'JS'
import { createRequire } from "node:module";
const require = createRequire(process.cwd() + "/package.json");
const { WebSocket } = require("ws");
const fetchResult = await fetch("https://example.com", { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10000) })
  .then((r) => `status ${r.status}`, (e) => `ERR ${e.cause?.code ?? e.message}`);
console.log("fetch:", fetchResult);
const ws = new WebSocket("wss://ws.postman-echo.com/raw");
ws.on("open", () => { console.log("ws: open (direct connection, proxy ignored)"); ws.close(); });
ws.on("error", (e) => console.log("ws: ERR", e.code ?? e.message));
JS
HTTPS_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:1 HTTP_PROXY=http://127.0.0.1:1 NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 node /tmp/ws-proxy-repro.mjs

On a proxy-only machine: install a host daemon with the proxy variables set; it never enrolls.

Expected vs actual

fetch: ERR ECONNREFUSED
ws: open (direct connection, proxy ignored)

Expected: ws fails the same way (or, with a working proxy, tunnels through it). Actual: ws dials its own socket and ignores the proxy, because it only uses a proxy when given an agent.

Evidence

The three daemon dial sites construct sockets without an agent:

• server WebSocket:

  bb/apps/host-daemon/src/websocket-constructor.ts

  Line 16 in 17b1971

  super(address, protocols, { headers });

• bb connect tunnel:

  bb/apps/host-daemon/src/connect-tunnel/index.ts

  Line 132 in 17b1971

  new NodeWebSocket(url, { headers: websocketOptions.headers }));

• machine auth proxy upstream:

  bb/apps/host-daemon/src/machine-auth-proxy.ts

  Line 115 in 17b1971

  return requestFn({

What you ruled out

• Not bb's own outbound fetch() ignores HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY: provider usage and Codex subscription calls fail (HTTP 403) behind a mandatory proxy #3239: that issue is about bb's own fetch calls on the server and in provider plugins, which NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 (or an undici dispatcher) fixes. These daemon paths use ws and node:http(s) with their own sockets, which neither covers; the repro above sets NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 and ws still connects directly.
• https-proxy-agent is in the lockfile as a transitive dependency, but it has no NO_PROXY handling.

Proposed fix (prototype)

A fork branch, rebased on the commit above: RIMTHAN-LAB@90bc852 (branch host-daemon-env-proxy).

• apps/host-daemon/src/env-proxy-agent.ts: proxyAgentFor(url, env) returns a small CONNECT-tunnel agent (http and https proxies, Basic Proxy-Authorization from the proxy URL's userinfo, TLS to the target layered over the tunnel) or undefined for a direct connection. NO_PROXY follows curl's rules (*, host, .suffix, *.suffix, host:port, bracketed IPv6) plus CIDR ranges. Loopback targets always connect directly, so local server/daemon traffic is never sent to a proxy (the concern raised in bb's own outbound fetch() ignores HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY: provider usage and Codex subscription calls fail (HTTP 403) behind a mandatory proxy #3239).
• The three dial sites resolve the agent at dial time. With no proxy set, behaviour is unchanged.
• No wire change, so no HOST_DAEMON_PROTOCOL_VERSION bump. docs/configuration.md documents the variables.
• Tests (src/env-proxy-agent.test.ts) run a local CONNECT proxy and local ws/wss servers: a proxied connection reaches a host only the proxy can resolve, wss keeps TLS end to end, no proxy and NO_PROXY connect directly, loopback bypasses the proxy, and a refused tunnel fails without echoing credentials. Two of them fail on main and pass with the change. vitest for env-proxy-agent, machine-auth-proxy, connect-tunnel and server-connection passes (48 tests), host-daemon tsc reports no errors in its sources, and oxlint/oxfmt are clean on the touched files.

I'd be glad to open this as a PR once a maintainer approves it.

Suggested priority and effort

Medium: it blocks every daemon on a proxy-only network and there is no workaround short of a transparent proxy. Effort is low; the prototype is self-contained in apps/host-daemon.

AGENT GENERATED