shadowsocks/shadowsocks-windows

Shadowsocks for Windows is a desktop application that lets your computer route internet traffic through a remote server using the Shadowsocks protocol, which is a proxy protocol designed to be difficult to detect and block. The core problem it addresses is that users in environments with strict network filtering, such as in regions with internet censorship, need a way to access websites and services that are otherwise blocked. Unlike a traditional VPN, which creates an obvious encrypted tunnel that can itself be blocked, Shadowsocks disguises traffic in a way that is harder for automated filtering systems to identify. The application works by connecting to a Shadowsocks server that you or someone else operates outside the restricted network. Once connected, it automatically configures Windows to route web traffic through that server. It supports a feature called PAC, which stands for Proxy Auto-Configuration, allowing it to apply proxy routing selectively. For example, it can be set up so that Chinese websites are accessed directly without going through the proxy for speed, while non-Chinese websites are routed through the remote server. Users can choose between whitelist mode, where only specified domestic sites bypass the proxy, and blacklist mode, which proxies only specific foreign sites. The application is built in C# using the .NET 5 platform and WPF for the graphical user interface. Configuration can be delivered via a URL scheme defined by the SIP008 standard. You would use this application when you need to access geo-restricted or censored web content from a Windows machine and have access to a Shadowsocks server to connect through.