---
layout: commands
page_title: 'Commands: Connect Proxy'
description: >
  The connect proxy subcommand is used to run the built-in mTLS proxy for
  Consul service mesh.
---

# Consul Connect Proxy

Command: `consul connect proxy`

The connect proxy command is used to run Consul's built-in mTLS proxy for
use with Consul service mesh. This can be used in production to enable a mesh-unaware
application to accept and establish mesh-based connections. This proxy
can also be used in development to connect to mesh-enabled services.

## Usage

Usage: `consul connect proxy [options]`

#### Command Options

- `-sidecar-for` - The _ID_ (not name if they differ) of the service instance
  this proxy will represent. The target service doesn't need to exist on the
  local agent yet but a [sidecar proxy
  registration](/consul/docs/connect/registration/service-registration) with
  `proxy.destination_service_id` equal to the passed value must be present. If
  multiple proxy registrations targeting the same local service instance are
  present the command will error and `-proxy-id` should be used instead.
  This can also be specified via the `CONNECT_SIDECAR_FOR` environment variable.

- `-proxy-id` - The [proxy
  service](/consul/docs/connect/registration/service-registration) ID on the
  local agent. This must already be present on the local agent. This option
  can also be specified via the `CONNECT_PROXY_ID` environment variable.

- `-log-level` - Specifies the log level.

- `-pprof-addr` - Enable debugging via pprof. Providing a host:port (or just ':port')
  enables profiling HTTP endpoints on that address.

- `-service` - Name of the service this proxy is representing. This service
  doesn't need to actually exist in the Consul catalog, but proper ACL
  permissions (`service:write`) are required. This and the remaining options can
  be used to setup a proxy that is not registered already with local config
  [useful for development](/consul/docs/connect/dev).

- `-upstream` - Upstream service to support connecting to. The format should be
  'name:addr', such as 'db:8181'. This will make 'db' available on port 8181.
  When a regular TCP connection is made to port 8181, the proxy will service
  discover "db" and establish a Consul service mesh mTLS connection identifying as
  the `-service` value. This flag can be repeated multiple times.

- `-listen` - Address to listen for inbound connections to the proxied service.
  Must be specified with -service and -service-addr. If this isn't specified,
  an inbound listener is not started.

- `-service-addr` - Address of the local service to proxy. Required for
  `-listen`.

- `-register` - Self-register with the local Consul agent, making this
  proxy available as mesh-capable service in the catalog. This is only
  useful with `-listen`.

- `-register-id` - Optional ID suffix for the service when `-register` is set to
  disambiguate the service ID. By default the service ID is `<service>-proxy`
  where `<service>` is the `-service` value. In most cases it is now preferable
  to use [`consul services register`](/consul/commands/services/register) to
  register a fully configured proxy instance rather than specify config and
  registration via this command.

#### API Options

@include 'http_api_options_client.mdx'

@include 'http_api_options_server.mdx'

## Examples

The example below shows how to start a local proxy for establishing outbound
connections to "db" representing the frontend service. Once running, any
process that creates a TCP connection to the specified port (8181) will
establish a mutual TLS connection to "db" identified as "frontend".

```shell-session
$ consul connect proxy -service frontend -upstream db:8181
```

The next example starts a local proxy that also accepts inbound connections
on port 8443, authorizes the connection, then proxies it to port 8080:

```shell-session
$ consul connect proxy \
    -service frontend \
    -service-addr 127.0.0.1:8080 \
    -listen ':8443'
```