Domains to Whitelist for Helperbird
A quick reference for IT admins showing which domains need to be whitelisted for Helperbird to work in your school or organization.
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- admin
If your school or organization uses a firewall, content filter, or proxy, you may need to whitelist certain domains for Helperbird to work properly. This guide lists everything your IT team needs.
Required Domains
These domains must be accessible for Helperbird to function:
| Domain | Purpose |
|---|---|
helperbird.com | Main website and help documentation |
www.helperbird.com | Main website |
engine.helperbird.app | Helperbird engine for subscription validation, subscription checks, and feature data |
Email Domain
Helperbird sends emails from the following domain. If your email system has strict filtering, make sure this domain is allowed:
| Domain | Purpose |
|---|---|
helperbird.com | Subscription emails, account notifications, and support replies |
Emails will come from addresses like [email protected] and [email protected].
Optional Domains
These domains are used by specific Helperbird features and may need to be whitelisted depending on your setup:
| Domain | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
chrome.google.com | Chrome Web Store | Needed to install or update the extension |
microsoftedge.microsoft.com | Edge Add-ons Store | Needed for Edge installations |
addons.mozilla.org | Firefox Add-ons | Needed for Firefox installations |
*.cognitiveservices.azure.com | Immersive Reader | Used by the Immersive Reader feature |
*.tts.speech.microsoft.com | Text to speech, natural voices | Blocking this leaves the free browser voices working and the Pro voices silent |
*.stt.speech.microsoft.com | Voice typing | The dictation stream. Blocking this stops voice typing with no error on screen |
*.api.cognitive.microsoft.com | Azure token exchange | Used by both of the above |
Two of these are easy to miss. Translation, Summarize, Simplify and the Screenshot Reader all go through
engine.helperbird.app, not to Google or OpenAI directly, so that one host covers them. The Azure Speech hosts are separate: the region in the hostname is chosen at runtime, which is why they are listed with a wildcard. If they are blocked, the natural voices and voice typing fail quietly, with the feature appearing to do nothing.
How to Whitelist
The exact steps depend on your firewall or content filter. Here are the general steps:
- Log into your firewall, proxy, or content filter admin panel.
- Find the URL or domain whitelist/allow list section.
- Add the required domains listed above.
- Save your changes and test by visiting
https://engine.helperbird.appfrom a managed device.
If you use Google Admin Console to manage web filtering, add these domains to your URL allow list under Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & browsers > URL Blocking.
Troubleshooting
Helperbird is installed but not activating:
- Make sure
engine.helperbird.appis not blocked. - Check your proxy or SSL inspection settings. Some proxies can interfere with extension communication.
Emails from Helperbird are not arriving:
- Check your spam or junk folder.
- Make sure
helperbird.comis allowed in your email filtering system.
Immersive Reader or Translation not working:
- These features use third-party services (Microsoft Azure and Google Translate). Make sure the optional domains above are not blocked.
Related Guides
- How to Deploy Helperbird to Your School
- How to Set Helperbird JSON Policy in Google Admin
- Setting Helperbird Policies in Enterprise Environments
Need Help?
If you are having trouble getting Helperbird to work behind your firewall, reach out to our support team and we will help you get it sorted.
Printed from the Helperbird Help Center · Updated August 13th, 2026
Questions? We are happy to help — helperbird.com/support