unable to fetch metadata for games(need http_proxy as env)

[shabane]

I am experiencing issues with Romm being unable to fetch game metadata and covers. This is due to network restrictions and censorship in certain regions (like Iran), where access to metadata providers such as IGDB is blocked.

Even though I have configured a proxy within the Docker container/environment, Romm does not seem to route its outgoing HTTP requests through it. This results in an empty library where no metadata or images are displayed for newly added games.

Describe the solution you'd like
I would like Romm to support standard HTTP/HTTPS proxy configuration. Ideally, this should be achievable via Environment Variables in the docker-compose.yml file, such as:

http_proxy

https_proxy

no_proxy

The application's internal fetching logic (e.g., Axios or Fetch calls) should be updated to respect these proxy settings when communicating with external APIs.

Describe alternatives you've considered
I have tried setting environment variables in my Docker container, but the application ignores them.
i exex to the container and use curl ifconfig.io while i set the http_proxy on the docker container, the curl use that env and return me the IP of the proxy server.

Additional context
Adding this feature would make Romm much more accessible to users in restricted network environments. Since Romm relies heavily on external APIs for its core functionality (metadata indexing), having a reliable way to tunnel these requests is crucial for a global user base.

I love romm its feature reach and its too cool for me, if you could, please add this for us.
thank you so much

[shabane]

The issue lies in the IGDBService within igdb_service.py. It uses aiohttp for requests, which does not automatically pick up http_proxy environment variables. The aiohttp_session.post calls need to explicitly include a proxy parameter, or the global session should be configured to trust environment variables.

[gantoine]

As a workaround for now, why not spin up a proxy container and bind romm's network to that container? I use it to proxy some containers through a VPN image, but you can do the same with a simple HTTP proxy container:

vpn:
  image: docker.io/qmcgaw/gluetun:v3.41.0
  container_name: vpn
  restart: unless-stopped
  devices:
    - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun

torrent:
  image: ghcr.io/hotio/qbittorrent:release-5.1.4
  container_name: torrent
  restart: unless-stopped
  network_mode: container:vpn
  depends_on:
    - vpn

[shabane]

why not spin up a proxy container and bind romm's network to that container?

this is cool, i liked it and i got an idea,
but the problem with this docker image is that it need VPN provider and(or) vpn protocols that not work in iran like opneVPN,
so i cant use this.

but i setup a v2raya which i think it can help me here.

i also fork the romM project and i edited the env section so now it can support http_proxy env,
i want to test this but you can't believe me how the internet is slow and censored here which take me an entire day to build romM docker image. so i may soon will create a merge request.
thank you.