# Quick start

Send your first residential proxy request in 5 minutes.

## 1. Create a sub-user

1. Open the [dashboard](https://dashboard.helodata.com) → **Residential → Sub-users**.
2. Click **Create sub-user**, name it (e.g. `acme1`), and pick a password.
3. The dashboard issues a sub-user name like `s1a2b3c4d5e`. Copy both values.

## 2. Build your username

For the simplest case — any US residential IP — your proxy username is:

```
helo_s1a2b3c4d5e-type-res-region-us
```

Substitute your real sub-user where the placeholder shows `s1a2b3c4d5e`. See [Username format](/getting-started/username-format.md) for every available segment.

## 3. Send the request

### curl

```bash
curl -x http://helo_s1a2b3c4d5e-type-res-region-us:PASSWORD@gate.helodata.io:7777 \
     https://ipv4.icanhazip.com
```

### Python (requests)

```python
import requests

USER = "helo_s1a2b3c4d5e-type-res-region-us"
PASS = "PASSWORD"
proxy = f"http://{USER}:{PASS}@gate.helodata.io:7777"

r = requests.get(
    "https://ipv4.icanhazip.com",
    proxies={"http": proxy, "https": proxy},
    timeout=30,
)
print(r.text.strip())
```

### Node.js (undici)

```js
import { fetch, ProxyAgent } from "undici";

const user = "helo_s1a2b3c4d5e-type-res-region-us";
const pass = "PASSWORD";
const agent = new ProxyAgent(`http://${user}:${pass}@gate.helodata.io:7777`);

const res = await fetch("https://ipv4.icanhazip.com", { dispatcher: agent });
console.log((await res.text()).trim());
```

You should see a US residential IP — not your own.

## 4. Common next steps

| Goal                            | Add to username                        |
| ------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Target Germany                  | replace `-region-us` with `-region-de` |
| Drill down to California, LA    | append `-state-ca-city-la`             |
| Keep the same IP for 10 minutes | append `-session-job1-sesstime-10`     |
| Pin a specific ISP              | append `-asn-7922` (Comcast example)   |

Combine freely — order matters; see [Username format](/getting-started/username-format.md).

## 5. Troubleshooting the first call

* **407 Proxy Authentication Required** — wrong username, password, or non-whitelisted source IP. See [407](/troubleshooting/407.md).
* **522 Connection timed out** — upstream IP was unreachable; retry. See [522](/troubleshooting/522.md).
* **SSL handshake errors** — your client may need an updated CA bundle. See [SSL/TLS errors](/troubleshooting/ssl-errors.md).

## What's next

* [Authentication](/products/overview/authentication.md) — switch to IP whitelist for keyless environments
* [Sessions & rotation](/products/overview/sessions-and-rotation.md) — sticky vs rotating strategies
* [Integrations](/integrations/integrations.md) — Selenium, Puppeteer, Scrapy, antidetect browsers


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.helodata.com/products/overview/quick-start.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.