No Subscription Link? You Can Still Connect by Adding a Single Node

A subscription link is the most common way to distribute nodes, but it's not the only one. If your node/service provider gives you a link starting with a protocol like vmess://, vless://, or ss://, or a QR code, that means it's a single node share — not a subscription link. The two are imported differently, and you don't need to go through the "subscription settings" process.

1. Copy the Full Node Link

   Make sure you copy the entire link with no line breaks or extra spaces.

2. Use "Import from Clipboard"

   On the node list screen, find "Import from Clipboard" (sometimes labeled "Paste to Import"). Tap it and the client will automatically detect the link and add it as a new node — no other information needed.

3. Select and Connect

   Once imported, the node appears in your list. Select it and enable the system proxy — everything else works exactly the same as with subscription-imported nodes.

Mobile clients (like v2rayNG) usually offer a "Scan QR Code" feature on the node list screen — just point your camera at the code to auto-detect and import it. If the QR code is an image file rather than something on screen, some clients also support "Import QR Code from Gallery", which works the same way. Desktop clients without a camera scan feature can ask the provider for a text link instead, which is more convenient.

If you have several individual node links, it's not a great idea to keep them scattered across notes or chat history and dig them up whenever you need them. A better approach is to import them all into your client's node list and give each one a recognizable label (e.g., by provider or region) — that way you can quickly find the one you want even as the list grows. Most clients also support node grouping, so you can keep manually added nodes in their own group, separate from subscription-imported ones, to avoid accidental deletion or confusion.

Also worth noting: manually added nodes won't be cleared or overwritten when the client updates a subscription — "Update Subscription" only affects nodes within that subscription's group. Your manually added nodes stay in the list until you delete them yourself. So even if you use both a subscription link and manual nodes, they won't interfere with each other.

Unlike subscription nodes that update automatically, a manually added single node won't give you any warning when it expires — the client won't tell you "this link has expired." Usually you'll just notice you can't connect, or you connect but can't access anything. If this happens, first check whether the link was ever meant to be temporary (some free/test nodes only work for a short window). Next, confirm the link you copied is complete — links forwarded through chat apps are especially prone to being truncated or converted into short links, which loses information. If the link itself checks out but still doesn't work, your only option is to contact the original provider for a new one.

You may come across node links with different prefixes, which correspond to different underlying protocols. For everyday use, though, the import process is exactly the same regardless of protocol — no extra handling needed:

• vmess://: One of the most common formats — the protocol most widely used in the early V2Ray ecosystem.
• vless://: A newer, more lightweight protocol whose adoption has grown quickly in recent years.
• ss://: A Shadowsocks protocol link. It has a longer history, and some providers still use it.
• trojan://: Another common protocol, with slightly different traffic-disguising characteristics compared to the others above.

No matter which prefix your link starts with, the import process is the same: copy the full link and add it via "Import from Clipboard." The client automatically detects the protocol type, so you don't need to identify or select it manually.

If you have several individual node links (not a subscription link), most clients' "Import from Clipboard" feature supports pasting multiple lines at once (one link per line). After tapping import, all the nodes will be recognized and added in one go — no need to repeat the process for each one. If only some of the nodes get recognized after importing, it's usually because a few of the links are incomplete or use an unsupported protocol. You can isolate the problematic links and import them individually to figure out which one is causing the issue.