Put Privoxy Behind an HTTP Parent Proxy

Your browser knows about Privoxy. Privoxy still needs to know about the upstream proxy your network requires. Those are two separate settings.

A general HTTP-parent rule has this form:

forward / parent.example.net:8080

If this deployment permits an unauthenticated public HTTP parent for public destinations, the HTTP proxy list offers candidates for that upstream field; use no parent-proxy credentials. The browser continues to use Privoxy's own listener. The hostname above identifies the next proxy, not a website and not the listener you should enter into every client.

The rule's slash means all matching URLs. Privoxy forwarding rules are checked in sequence and the last match wins, so inspect later exceptions before assuming this line governs a particular request.

A dot in the parent position means direct forwarding rather than another HTTP parent. That can be a useful intentional exception, but it can also create an unexpected exit if copied without understanding it.

Do not point Privoxy back to itself as its parent. Nor should an application proxy setting and a Privoxy parent rule be confused with two alternatives to try randomly. They define consecutive connections in the intended path.

For an upstream failure, identify whether Privoxy reached the parent, whether the parent accepted the request, and whether the parent could reach the website. A working local listener proves only the first application's access to Privoxy, not the rest of the chain.