Multi-region

Control where your Steel browser sessions are hosted for optimal performance and latency.

OverviewCopied!

By default, Steel automatically selects the data center closest to the client’s request location when creating a new browser session. This ensures optimal performance and minimal latency for your browser automation tasks. However, you can also manually specify which region you want your browser session to run in using the region parameter.

This region selection determines the physical location of the browser instance itself, which can help reduce latency for applications targeting specific geographic areas or comply with data residency requirements.

Automatic Region SelectionCopied!

When you create a session without specifying a region, Steel automatically determines the closest data center based on your request location:

from steel import Steel

client = Steel()

# Automatically uses the closest region
session = client.sessions.create()

import Steel from 'steel-sdk';

const client = new Steel();

// Automatically uses the closest region
const session = await client.sessions.create();

Manual Region SelectionCopied!

To specify a particular region for your browser session, use the region parameter when creating a session:

from steel import Steel

client = Steel()

# Create session in Los Angeles data center
session = client.sessions.create(
    region="LAX"
)

import Steel from 'steel-sdk';

const client = new Steel();

// Create session in Los Angeles data center
const session = await client.sessions.create({
    region: "LAX"
});

Available RegionsCopied!

Steel is available in the following regions:

Region	Code	Data Center Location
Los Angeles	`LAX`	Los Angeles, USA
Chicago	`ORD`	Chicago, USA
Washington DC	`IAD`	Washington DC, USA
Mumbai	`BOM`	Mumbai, India
Santiago	`SCL`	Santiago, Chile
Frankfurt	`FRA`	Frankfurt, Germany
Hong Kong	`HKG`	Hong Kong

Region vs Proxy SelectionCopied!

Region selection determines where your browser session runs, which is different from proxy selection. The region parameter controls the physical location of the browser instance, while the useProxy and proxyUrl parameters control the network routing and IP address used by the browser for web requests.

You can combine region selection with proxy settings:

# Browser runs in Hong Kong, but uses a US proxy for requests
session = client.sessions.create(
    region="HKG",
    use_proxy=True
)

// Browser runs in Hong Kong, but uses a US proxy for requests
const session = await client.sessions.create({
    region: "HKG",
    useProxy: true
});

We’ll be launching new features soon to allow you to control regions for proxies as well. Right now, all are US based.