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RSS Proxy URL: Bypass Cloudflare-Protected RSS Sources

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Byaiadmin

Some RSS feed sources are protected by Cloudflare or similar Web Application Firewalls (WAF). When WordPress tries to fetch these feeds, the request is blocked with HTTP 403 or 503 errors — because WordPress sends a bot-like request that Cloudflare rejects.

You’ll see this as:

  • Autoblogging task fails with “Error fetching feed” message
  • Debug log shows RSS: Blocked by Cloudflare/WAF (HTTP 403) or HTTP 503
  • The RSS feed URL works fine in your browser but not in the plugin

The RSS Proxy URL setting (added in PRO v1.3.11) lets you route all RSS requests through a third-party proxy service that can bypass Cloudflare protection.

Before You Start

You’ll need:

  • AIWU Pro plugin (latest version)
  • An existing RSS Autoblogging task that fails due to Cloudflare blocking (RSS Autoblogging setup guide)
  • A proxy service account (see Step 1 below)

Plan required: Pro
Time needed: ~10 minutes

Step 1: Register on a Proxy Service

You need a proxy service that can handle Cloudflare-protected websites. The plugin doesn’t include a built-in proxy — you’ll need to register with a third-party service.

Recommended options:

Service Free Tier URL Template
ScraperAPI 5,000 requests/month https://api.scraperapi.com/?api_key=YOUR_KEY&url={url}
ScrapingBee 1,000 requests (trial) https://app.scrapingbee.com/api/v1/?api_key=YOUR_KEY&url={url}

You can also use any other proxy or web scraping service — as long as it accepts a target URL as a parameter and returns the page content.

After registering, copy your API key from the service dashboard. You’ll need it in the next step.

Step 2: Configure Proxy in Your Autoblogging Task

  1. Go to WordPress Admin → AI Copilot → Content Generation → RSS Autoblogging
  2. Open your existing task (or create a new one)
  3. Go to the Params tab
  4. Find the RSS Proxy URL field — it’s right below “Get origin article”
  5. Enter your proxy URL template with the {url} placeholder
  6. Click Save

Example — if you registered on ScraperAPI and your API key is abc123xyz, enter:

https://api.scraperapi.com/?api_key=abc123xyz&amp;url={url}

⚠️ Requirements for the proxy URL:

  • Must start with https://
  • Must contain the {url} placeholder (with curly braces)
  • Replace YOUR_KEY with your actual API key from the proxy service

Step 3: Test

Run your Autoblogging task. The plugin will now route all RSS feed requests through your proxy service. If "Get origin article" is enabled, original article fetching also goes through the proxy.

✅ Task runs successfully and generates posts? Your proxy is working. The Cloudflare block is bypassed.

How It Works

When a proxy URL is configured:

  1. The plugin takes the target RSS feed URL (e.g., https://example.com/feed)
  2. URL-encodes it and inserts into the {url} placeholder in your proxy template
  3. Sends the request to the proxy service instead of directly to the RSS source
  4. The proxy fetches the content (bypassing Cloudflare) and returns it to WordPress
  5. The plugin processes the feed normally

If the proxy URL field is left empty, requests go directly to the RSS source — the default behavior, no proxy involved.

Troubleshooting

Problem: "RSS: Proxy URL does not contain {url} placeholder"
Fix: Make sure your proxy URL includes {url} exactly — with curly braces. Example: https://api.scraperapi.com/?api_key=YOUR_KEY&amp;url={url}

Problem: "RSS: Proxy URL must start with https://"
Fix: Only HTTPS proxy URLs are accepted. Make sure your URL begins with https://.

Problem: Proxy worked before but stopped after re-saving the task
Fix: Update to the latest PRO version (v1.3.12+). Earlier versions had a bug where & characters in the proxy URL could get corrupted on re-save. After updating, open your task and click Save again.

Problem: Still getting blocked even with a proxy
Fix: Verify your proxy API key is valid and has available credits/quota. Try a different proxy service — some handle Cloudflare better than others. Check the debug log for detailed error messages.

Enabling Debug Logging

To see detailed RSS fetch logs:

  1. Go to AI Copilot → Settings → Misc
  2. Enable Debug Logging
  3. Run your autoblogging task
  4. Check the log file at: wp-content/uploads/wc-logs/waic-debug-logging-*.log

Look for entries prefixed with RSS: or RSS DIAG: for proxy-specific diagnostics.

What’s Next

📡 Set up your first autoblogging pipeline: RSS Autoblogging: Auto-Generate Posts from Any RSS Feed
✍️ Improve rewriting quality: Better AI Prompts: Get Consistently Good Content

Last verified: AIWU PRO v1.3.13 · Updated: 2026-04-21

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