Metamask Window Ethereum Issue: Locally Served Webpage
As a user of metamask, you’re likely familiar with the Ethereum Wallet Provider’s Ability to interact with your browser’s web storage and scripts. However, somethimes issues arise when trying to access its functionality through your local development environment or a localhost server.
In this article, we’ll explore two common issues that occur when using metamask on Localhost:
- Proxy Object on the Local Development Server
- Missing Proxy Object on the Locally Served Webpage
![Metamask: window.ethereum undefined even on localhost [duplicate]](https://9xflix.shop/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2ac1eaab.png)
Issue 1: Proxy Object on the Local Development Server
When you run your local development environment or a localhost server, metamask is expected to display the window.ethereum variable as a proxy object. This happens because metamask uses the browser’s Window object andEthereum Property to interact with Ethereum Apis.
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF How Might Look on the Local Development Server:
`JavaScript
console.log (window.ethereum);
// Output: {proxy: {Address: '0x ...', Name: 'Metamask'}}
However, when you run your application directly from your web server (E.G., Localhost: 8080), theWindow.ethereum variable is missing. This is because the local development server does not execute as a node.js process, whereas the localhost server is running as a web server.
To resolve this issue, you can use the following workarounds:
* Run your application with node.js : You can install node.js on your machine and run your application using node ornpx. This will allow you to access metamask’s functionality through window.ethereum.
* Use A Different Browser Environment
: If You’re Using A Modern Browser Like Chrome, Safari, Or Firefox, Try Running Your Application in a Different Browser Environment (E.G., Localhost: 8080 Instead ofLocalhost: 5000). This might resolve the issue due to differences in browser behavior.
Issue 2: Missing Proxy Object on the Locally Served Webpage
When you run your local development environment or a localhost server, metamask is expected to display the window.ethereum variable as a proxy object. However, when you access your webpage through a web browser (e.g., chrome), it doesn’t seem to retrieve this proxy.
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF How Might Look On The Locally Served Webpage:
`JavaScript
console.log (window.ethereum);
// Output: Undefined
The reason for this is that browsers don’t execute javascript directly; They run it through a web page, which is executed by the node.js Runtime Environment (E.G., Node orNPX). As a result, metamask's functionality is not accessible through theWindow.ethereumvariable.
To resolve this issue, you can use one of the following workarounds:
* Use a node.js server : You can run your local development environment as a node.js process and access metamask's functionality directly from your web browser.
* Use A Different Browser Environment : If You're Using A Modern Browser Like Chrome, Safari, Or Firefox, Try Running Your Application in a Different Browser Environment (E.G.,Localhost: 8080Instead of Localhost: 5000 ). This might resolve the issue due to differences in browser behavior.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored two common issues that occur when using metamask on Localhost:
* Proxy object on the Local Development Server : TheWindow.ethereumvariable is missing or displays as an undefined value.
* Missing Proxy object on the locally served webpage : Metamask's Functionality is not accessible through theWindow.ethereum` variable due to differentces in browser behavior.
To resolve these issues, you can use workarounds such as running your application with node.js, using a different browser environment, or accessing metamask’s functionality directly from your web browser.