Worked on improving the reliability of proxy configuration in the microsoft/vcpkg-tool repository by addressing an issue with HTTP proxy environment variable parsing. Focused on defensive string manipulation in C++ to ensure that a trailing slash in the HTTP_PROXY variable would be stripped before use, preventing misconfiguration and reducing build failures in CI and developer environments behind proxies. Demonstrated careful environment variable handling and robust parsing techniques to enhance reproducibility and prevent future regressions in network configuration. The work emphasized practical problem-solving and attention to detail, contributing to more stable and predictable proxy behavior for users of the vcpkg-tool.