diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 0bda5d7b..9dc282b0 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: trailing-whitespace
       - id: end-of-file-fixer
-      - id: check-yaml
       - id: check-added-large-files
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/mirrors-prettier
     rev: "v2.7.1" # Use the sha / tag you want to point at
diff --git a/proxy/kube.yml b/proxy/kube.yml
index 197447b2..896924cd 100644
--- a/proxy/kube.yml
+++ b/proxy/kube.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: taxonium-proxy-deployment
 spec:
-  replicas: 1  # Number of replicas
+  replicas: 1 # Number of replicas
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       app: taxonium-proxy
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ spec:
         app: taxonium-proxy
     spec:
       containers:
-      - name: taxonium-proxy
-        image: theosanderson/taxonium_proxy:master
-        ports:
-        - containerPort: 3000
+        - name: taxonium-proxy
+          image: theosanderson/taxonium_proxy:master
+          ports:
+            - containerPort: 3000
 
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -36,20 +36,20 @@ kind: Ingress
 metadata:
   name: taxonium-proxy-ingress
   annotations:
-    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: "nginx"  # assuming you are using nginx ingress controller
+    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: "nginx" # assuming you are using nginx ingress controller
 spec:
   rules:
-  - host: proxy.taxonium.org
-    http:
-      paths:
-      - pathType: Prefix
-        path: "/"
-        backend:
-          service:
-            name: taxonium-proxy-service
-            port:
-              number: 80
+    - host: proxy.taxonium.org
+      http:
+        paths:
+          - pathType: Prefix
+            path: "/"
+            backend:
+              service:
+                name: taxonium-proxy-service
+                port:
+                  number: 80
   tls:
-  - hosts:
-    - proxy.taxonium.org
-    secretName: tls-proxy2
\ No newline at end of file
+    - hosts:
+        - proxy.taxonium.org
+      secretName: tls-proxy2
diff --git a/proxy/server.js b/proxy/server.js
index f0a1fb1e..72dfff39 100644
--- a/proxy/server.js
+++ b/proxy/server.js
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ const corsOptions = {
 
 app.use(cors(corsOptions));
 
-
 // Rate limiting middleware
 const limiter = rateLimit({
   windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
diff --git a/taxonium_component/src/utils/processNextstrain.js b/taxonium_component/src/utils/processNextstrain.js
index d6950344..1dc79754 100644
--- a/taxonium_component/src/utils/processNextstrain.js
+++ b/taxonium_component/src/utils/processNextstrain.js
@@ -419,26 +419,31 @@ async function json_to_tree(json) {
   console.log("META PROV", json.meta.data_provenance);
   config.source = "";
   if (json.meta && json.meta.data_provenance) {
-    config.source = config.source +
-      json.meta.data_provenance.map((source) => source.name).join(" & ") 
-
+    config.source =
+      config.source +
+      json.meta.data_provenance.map((source) => source.name).join(" & ");
   }
 
   config.overlay = `<p>This is a tree generated from a <a href='//nextstrain.org'>Nextstrain</a> JSON file, being visualised in Taxonium.</p>.`;
 
   if (json.meta && json.meta.updated) {
-    config.source = config.source + " on " +
-      json.meta.updated ;
+    config.source = config.source + " on " + json.meta.updated;
   }
   if (json.meta && json.meta.maintainers) {
-    config.source = config.source +  " in a build maintained by " +
+    config.source =
+      config.source +
+      " in a build maintained by " +
       json.meta.maintainers.map((source) => source.name).join(" & ");
-    
-    const maintainerLinks = json.meta.maintainers.map((source) => `<a class='underline' href='${source.url}'>${source.name}</a>`).join(" & ");
+
+    const maintainerLinks = json.meta.maintainers
+      .map(
+        (source) =>
+          `<a class='underline' href='${source.url}'>${source.name}</a>`
+      )
+      .join(" & ");
     config.overlay += `<p>The Nextstrain build is maintained by ${maintainerLinks}.</p>`;
   }
 
-
   if (json.meta.build_url) {
     config.overlay += `<p>The Nextstrain build is available <a class='underline' href='${json.meta.build_url}'>here</a>.</p>`;
   }
diff --git a/taxonium_website/src/components/InputSupplier.jsx b/taxonium_website/src/components/InputSupplier.jsx
index cd951791..63804e65 100644
--- a/taxonium_website/src/components/InputSupplier.jsx
+++ b/taxonium_website/src/components/InputSupplier.jsx
@@ -30,17 +30,24 @@ export const InputSupplier = ({ inputHelper, className }) => {
   });
 
   const [tempURL, setTempURL] = useState("");
+  const [useProxy, setUseProxy] = useState(true); // New state for proxy usage
 
   const { inputs, setInputs } = inputHelper;
   const [addingText, setAddingText] = useState(false);
   const [text, setText] = useState("");
 
   const addFromTempURL = useCallback(() => {
-    if (tempURL) {
-      inputHelper.addFromURL(tempURL);
+    let finalURL = tempURL;
+    if (useProxy) {
+      finalURL = `https://proxy.taxonium.org/proxy?url=${encodeURIComponent(
+        tempURL
+      )}`;
+    }
+    if (finalURL) {
+      inputHelper.addFromURL(finalURL);
       setTempURL("");
     }
-  }, [tempURL, inputHelper]);
+  }, [tempURL, useProxy, inputHelper]); // Include useProxy in the dependency array
 
   return (
     <div className={className}>
@@ -185,10 +192,7 @@ export const InputSupplier = ({ inputHelper, className }) => {
               value={tempURL}
               className="border p-1 mr-1 text-sm "
               onChange={(e) => {
-                setTempURL(
-                  e.target.value
-                    
-                );
+                setTempURL(e.target.value);
               }}
               onKeyUp={(e) => {
                 if (e.key === "Enter") {
@@ -196,6 +200,17 @@ export const InputSupplier = ({ inputHelper, className }) => {
                 }
               }}
             />{" "}
+            {tempURL !== "" && (
+              <>
+                <input
+                  type="checkbox"
+                  checked={useProxy}
+                  className="mr-2 text-sm text-gray-600"
+                  onChange={(e) => setUseProxy(e.target.checked)}
+                />{" "}
+                Use Proxy
+              </>
+            )}
             <Button onClick={addFromTempURL} className="">
               Add
             </Button>
diff --git a/taxonium_website/src/hooks/useInputHelper.jsx b/taxonium_website/src/hooks/useInputHelper.jsx
index bb87e820..da8a2f78 100644
--- a/taxonium_website/src/hooks/useInputHelper.jsx
+++ b/taxonium_website/src/hooks/useInputHelper.jsx
@@ -160,9 +160,7 @@ export const useInputHelper = ({
 
   function addFromURL(url) {
     const file_obj = { name: url, supplyType: "url" };
-    window.alert(
-      "Please note: URL based loading will only work if the web server supports CORS. If the tree does not load please download the tree to your own computer and load the file into Taxonium from there."
-    );
+
     addInput(file_obj);
   }