GeoIP Database
Understand BotBrowser’s GeoIP lookup behavior, data boundaries, and performance characteristics.
Prerequisites
- BotBrowser with
--bot-profile. - Proxy routing configured (recommended).
Quick Start
Geo lookup is automatic when proxy routing is active:
chromium-browser \
--bot-profile="/path/to/profile.enc" \
--proxy-server=socks5://user:pass@proxy.example.com:1080Use --proxy-ip if you already know the exit IP:
chromium-browser \
--bot-profile="/path/to/profile.enc" \
--proxy-server=socks5://user:pass@proxy.example.com:1080 \
--proxy-ip=203.0.113.1How It Works
BotBrowser uses a local GeoIP database to translate proxy exit IP into geographic defaults.
- IP resolution
- Source: proxy exit IP.
- Input path: automatic IP service lookup or explicit
--proxy-ip.
- Local lookup
- Lookup runs against bundled local GeoIP data.
- No external geolocation API call is required for the mapping step.
- Derived defaults
- Timezone
- Locale
- Languages
- Approximate coordinates
- Override priority
- Manual flags (
--bot-config-timezone,--bot-config-locale,--bot-config-languages,--bot-config-location) override lookup-derived values.
For end-to-end usage strategy and practical configuration recipes, see Proxy and Geolocation.
Common Scenarios
Custom IP service list
--bot-ip-service="https://ip1.example.com,https://ip2.example.com"Known exit IP from provider API
--proxy-ip=203.0.113.1Strict manual geographic control
--proxy-ip=203.0.113.1 \
--bot-config-timezone=Asia/Tokyo \
--bot-config-locale=ja-JP \
--bot-config-languages=ja-JP,ja,en-US,en \
--bot-config-location=35.6762,139.6503Accuracy boundary handling
If city-level mapping is not precise enough for your use case, keep GeoIP for baseline and set exact values via manual overrides.
Accuracy and Limits
- Country-level mapping is generally strong.
- City-level mapping can be approximate (nearby city/region).
- Coordinate output is approximate and should not be treated as GPS-grade precision.
Performance Notes
- First-time IP resolution can add startup latency.
--proxy-ipremoves that external IP resolution roundtrip.- Lookup results are reused during session flow after initialization.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Wrong timezone/locale after startup | Set explicit --bot-config-timezone / --bot-config-locale. |
| IP resolution fails | Provide --proxy-ip directly or replace IP services via --bot-ip-service. |
| City/coordinates look off | Expected for some IP ranges. Use --bot-config-location for exact coordinates. |
| Slow first navigation | Use --proxy-ip to skip initial IP-resolution request. |
Next Steps
- Proxy and Geolocation. User-facing configuration playbook.
- Performance Optimization. Startup tuning.
- CLI Flags Reference. Full list of geo and proxy flags.
Related documentation: Advanced Features | Playwright Guide
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