---
name: "torsocks"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "torsocks"
version: "2.5.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/torsocks"
---

# torsocks(1)

Shell wrapper to simplify the use of the torsocks(8) library to transparently torify an application.

## NAME

torsocks — Shell wrapper to simplify the use of the [torsocks(8)](/torsocks/8.md) library to transparently torify an application.

## SYNOPSIS

torsocks \[OPTIONS\] \[COMMAND \[ARG ...\]\]

## DESCRIPTION

**torsocks** is a wrapper between the torsocks library and the application in order to make every Internet communication go through the Tor network.

By default, torsocks will assume that it should connect to the Tor SOCKS proxy running at 127.0.0.1 on port 9050 being the defaults of the Tor daemon.

In order to use a configuration file, torsocks tries to read the **/etc/tor/torsocks.conf** file or look for the environment variable TORSOCKS\_CONF\_FILE with the location of the file. If that file cannot be read, torsocks will use sensible defaults for most Tor installations.

For further information on configuration, see **[torsocks.conf(5)](/torsocks.conf/5.md).**

## OPTIONS

- **-h, --help**

  Show summary of possible options and commands.

- **--shell**

  Create a new shell with LD\_PRELOAD including **[torsocks(8)](/torsocks/8.md)**.

- **--version**

  Show version.

- **-u, --user**

  Set username for the SOCKS5 authentication. Use for circuit isolation in Tor. Note that you MUST have a password set either by the command line, environment variable or configuration file ([torsocks.conf(5)](/torsocks.conf/5.md).

- **-p, --pass**

  Set password for the SOCKS5 authentication. Use for circuit isolation in Tor. Note that you MUST have a username set either by the command line, environment variable or configuration file ([torsocks.conf(5)](/torsocks.conf/5.md)).

- **-a, --address**

  Set Tor address. Accepts only numeric addresses.

- **-P, --port**

  Set Tor port.

- **-i, --isolate**

  Automatic tor isolation. Set the username and password for the SOCKS5 authentication method to a PID/current time based value automatically. Username and Password MUST NOT be set.

- **-6, --ipv6**

  Enable creation of ipv6 sockets.

- **-d, --debug**

  Activate the debug mode. Output will be written on stderr.

- **-q, --quiet**

  Suppress every log messages (even errors).

- **on \| off**

  This option adds or removes **[torsocks(8)](/torsocks/8.md)** from the LD\_PRELOAD environment variable for the current shell. If you want to use this option, you HAVE to source torsocks from your shell.\

  ```
  Add the torsocks library to LD_PRELOAD
  $ . torsocks on
  Remove the torsocks library from LD_PRELOAD
  $ . torsocks off
  ```

- **show \| sh**

  Show the current value of the LD\_PRELOAD environment variable.

## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

Please see **[torsocks(8)](/torsocks/8.md)** for more detail on possible environment variables.

## SEE ALSO

**[torsocks(8)](/torsocks/8.md),** **[torsocks.conf(5)](/torsocks.conf/5.md)**

## CREDITS

torsocks is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2.

A Web site is available at https://www.torproject.org for more information.

You can also find the source code at https://git.torproject.org.

Mailing list for help is \<tor-talk@lists.torproject.org\> and for development use \<tor-dev@lists.torproject.org\>. You can find the project also on IRC server irc.oftc.net (OFTC) in #tor and #tor-dev.

## AUTHOR

torsocks was originally written by Robert Hogan and has been rewritten by David Goulet \<dgoulet@torproject.org\> in 2013.