The io.github.OpenOSINT/openosint server provides an AI-powered OSINT agent & MCP server with a natural-language interface. It exposes 16 investigation tools for security research and analysis, including email, breach, IP, WHOIS, DNS, and Shodan. It can be used as a REPL, CLI, MCP server, or browser Web UI.
π οΈ Key Features
MCP server for OSINT tool access
Natural-language interface for investigation
16 tools covering email, breach, IP, WHOIS, DNS, and Shodan
π Use Cases
Security research and analyst investigations
OSINT workflows using an MCP integration
Interactive use via REPL, CLI, or browser Web UI
β‘ Developer Benefits
Tool calls are issued by the AI, while the real binaries execute in code
βHallucinated findingsβ are described as structurally impossible
β οΈ Limitations
Tool availability and scope depend on the provided 16 investigation tools
An OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) agent for security researchers and analysts: 21 investigation tools behind a natural-language interface, plus an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server so any MCP-compatible AI client can drive them directly.
Use it as a REPL, CLI, MCP server, or browser Web UI.
Tool results come from real executions, and every finding is shown with the tool call that produced it. AI summaries are leads to verify, not proof.
OpenOSINT is an open-source engine for passive checks of public information; the hosted products are built on it, and everything below is free and MIT-licensed.
Self-host (free, MIT)
bash
pip install openosint
bash
# Interactive AI REPL (default)
openosint
# Web interface
openosint web
# Direct tool (no AI)
openosint email target@example.com
Try the live demo β β bring your own Anthropic / OpenRouter / Ollama key, no signup.
Usage
Start the REPL and investigate any target β the agent decides which tools to run and chains them on findings:
Anthropic Claude (default), local Ollama, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LiteLLM, vLLM, LM Studio, ...)
Native MCP server
Passive tools (20) exposed by default, all 25 with --allow-active (Passive by default); runs with uvx, no separate install
Parallel execution
--parallel runs complementary tools concurrently via asyncio.gather()
Reports
PDF + Markdown auto-saved after every investigation (reportlab optional)
Session history
All REPL sessions saved to ~/.openosint/history/; browse with openosint history
Web UI
Browser-based AI chat with streaming output, tool cards, light/dark theme
OpenOSINT globe view: an agent investigation triggered from a chat prompt lands as a point on an interactive 3D globe, clicking the point pivots into a follow-up investigation, and the new entity appears in the entity graphInvestigation results land live on the globe β click a point to pivot. Watch the sharper MP4.
Deterministic, synthetic-data demo β every entity shown is fictional; regenerate with demo/web_demo.py.
The entities are seeded at the statement layer, not produced by today's mappers β see demo/README.md.
---
Legal Disclaimer: OpenOSINT is intended for legal and authorized use only.
Users are solely responsible for ensuring their use complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
The authors accept no liability for misuse. See DISCLAIMER.md.
Tools
Tool
Powered by
What it investigates
search_email
holehe
Social accounts linked to an email address (noisy, off by default)
search_username
sherlock
Username presence across 400+ platforms (noisy, off by default)
search_breach
HaveIBeenPwned v3 API
Data breach exposure
search_whois
python-whois
Domain registrant and DNS info
search_ip
ipinfo.io
Geolocation, ASN, hostname
search_domain
sublist3r
Subdomain enumeration (noisy, off by default)
generate_dorks
built-in
12 targeted Google dork URLs (no network calls)
search_paste
psbdmp.ws
Pastebin dump mentions
search_phone
phoneinfoga
Carrier, country, line type (unverified network behavior, off by default)
search_shodan
Shodan API
Open ports, banners, CVEs
search_virustotal
VirusTotal API v3
Verdict from 70+ antivirus engines
search_ip2location
IP2Location.io API
Enhanced IP intel: VPN/Proxy/Tor/datacenter flags (sponsored)
search_censys
Censys Search API
Internet-facing infrastructure, certificates
search_abuseipdb
AbuseIPDB v2 API
IP abuse reputation: confidence score, reports, country, ISP
Registrar, registration/expiry dates, name servers, status; registrant contacts redacted by policy
search_gdelt_geo
GDELT 15-minute GKG feed (keyless)
Recent worldwide news placed on a map: headline, link, place; GeoJSON output
search_dorks_live
Bright Data SERP API
Live Google search results for dork queries (title, URL, snippet)
scrape_url
Bright Data Web Unlocker
Fetch any URL bypassing Cloudflare/CAPTCHA β returns clean Markdown (touches the target, off by default)
search_footprint
Bright Data SERP API
Entity-type-aware public search-engine footprint: detects email/username/domain/phone/name and returns structured results + Entity Correlation Graph nodes/edges
Full per-tool documentation, CLI flags, and output formats: openosint.tech.
Passive by default
OpenOSINT starts in passive mode: agents and MCP clients are only offered tools that query third-party data sources or compute locally. Tools that touch the target's infrastructure, or that send many requests about the target from your IP, are off until you opt in. They are not just refused when called; they are not offered to the model at all, and an MCP client does not see them in tools/list.
Level
Meaning
passive
Queries third-party data sources or computes locally; sends no request from your machine to the target's own infrastructure. Standard DNS lookups are the one indirect exception: they reach the target's nameservers through your resolver (see search_dns).
touches target
Makes requests the target's infrastructure can see (their web server, DNS probes, or a service fetching their URL for you).
noisy
High request volume, or requests to many third-party services about the target; expect rate limits, WAF blocks, and possible alerts.
unverified
Network behavior not yet verified with a traffic capture; treated as non-passive.
inherits
A fan-out tool; it only runs what the current mode allows.
Passive is not private. Every third-party service you query sees what you searched for, and usually your API key or IP. Treat queries to Shodan, HIBP, VirusTotal, Bright Data and similar services as visible to those providers.
Enable active tools explicitly (each is labeled with its noise level):
Where
How
CLI / REPL
openosint --allow-active β¦
Any process
OPENOSINT_ALLOW_ACTIVE=1
Web UI
Settings β "Enable active tools" (loopback only)
MCP server
uvx --from openosint openosint-mcp --allow-active (or openosint-mcp --allow-active if installed), or set OPENOSINT_ALLOW_ACTIVE=1 in the client's env block
A publicly reachable or demo instance can never enable active tools, whatever the settings. If a disabled tool is requested anyway it returns a structured disabled_in_passive_mode result that says how to enable it.
Tool-call cap. Each user request is limited by OPENOSINT_MAX_TOOL_CALLS (default: 15 calls; each new message resets it). investigate_multi shares one cap across all targets (OPENOSINT_MAX_TOOL_CALLS_MULTI, default 30). When the cap is reached the investigation stops with an explicit message. An MCP client that drives the tools itself is not capped by the server; only investigate_multi is.
Tool
Level
Default
What it actually sends, and where
generate_dorks
passive
on
Builds Google search URLs locally; sends nothing.
graph_export
passive
on
Reads the local graph database only.
graph_neighbors
passive
on
Reads the local graph database only.
graph_review_candidates
passive
on
Reads the local graph database only.
investigate_graph
inherits
on
Chains tools from a seed; in passive mode it routes only to passive tools.
investigate_multi
inherits
on
Runs one agent per target under a shared tool-call cap; passive unless active is enabled.
scrape_url
touches target
off
Bright Data fetches the URL, so the target's server logs a request (from Bright Data's IP, not yours).
search_abuseipdb
passive
on
One request to api.abuseipdb.com.
search_breach
passive
on
One request to haveibeenpwned.com.
search_censys
passive
on
Censys API; returns data Censys already holds.
search_dns
passive
on
Record lookups go through your DNS resolver; the target's nameservers see the resolver, not you. Active part: DKIM selector probes (enumeration) run only with active tools enabled.
search_domain
noisy
off
sublist3r scrapes several search engines and aggregators from your IP; expect captchas and blocks.
search_dorks_live
passive
on
Google results via Bright Data; the target is sent to those two services.
search_email
noisy
off
holehe probes many sites' sign-up/reset flows with the email from your IP; may notify the account owner or trigger security alerts.
search_footprint
passive
on
Up to 3 Google queries via Bright Data; the target is sent to those two services.
search_gdelt_geo
passive
on
Downloads GDELT's public news feed and filters it locally; your search term never leaves your machine.
search_github
passive
on
A few requests to api.github.com.
search_ip
passive
on
One request to ipinfo.io.
search_ip2location
passive
on
One request to api.ip2location.io.
search_paste
passive
on
One request to psbdmp.ws.
search_phone
unverified
off
Runs phoneinfoga; what it sends over the network has not been verified with a traffic capture.
search_rdap
passive
on
Queries IANA and the registry's RDAP server, not the target.
search_shodan
passive
on
Shodan API; reads Shodan's existing index, requests no new scan.
search_username
noisy
off
sherlock sends requests from your IP to hundreds of sites; expect rate limits and WAF blocks.
search_virustotal
passive
on
IP, domain and hash lookups read VirusTotal's existing data. URL submission is a separate active mode, off by default: it makes VirusTotal fetch the URL and makes it visible to the VirusTotal community.
search_virustotal (URL submission)
touches target
off
VirusTotal fetches the submitted URL, and the URL becomes visible to the VirusTotal community, which can reveal your investigation.
search_whois
passive
on
Queries the registry/registrar WHOIS server, not the target.
This table says what each tool does according to its code. It is not a guarantee about what a remote service, or a third-party binary such as holehe, sherlock, sublist3r or phoneinfoga, does with a request.
search_email
Enumerates online services linked to an email address using holehe.
Queries IP2Location.io for enhanced IP intelligence: geolocation, ISP, ASN, and β on the Security Plan β VPN/Proxy/Tor/datacenter detection. Sponsored integration. Requires IP2LOCATION_API_KEY.
bash
openosint ip2location 8.8.8.8
text
[IP2Location] City: Mountain View, CA, US | ISP: Google LLC
[IP2Location] VPN: No | Proxy: No | TOR: No | Datacenter: Yes
[Censys] Open Ports: 53, 443, 853 | ASN: AS15169 Google LLC
search_abuseipdb
Checks an IP against AbuseIPDB v2. Returns abuse confidence score, total reports, country, ISP, and last reported timestamp. Requires ABUSEIPDB_API_KEY.
bash
openosint abuseipdb 198.51.100.1
text
[AbuseIPDB] Abuse Confidence Score: 87% | Total Reports: 143
β οΈ HIGH ABUSE CONFIDENCE β flagged by AbuseIPDB
Warning appears when abuseConfidenceScore exceeds 50%.
Looks up a domain's registrar, registration and expiry dates, name servers and status codes over RDAP, the machine-readable successor to WHOIS. Keyless: it asks the IANA bootstrap registry which server owns the TLD, then queries that server. Registrant contact details are redacted by registry policy and are never returned.
Recent, geolocated worldwide news. The old GDELT GEO 2.0 API was retired (it answers HTTP 404), so this tool reads GDELT's 15-minute GKG article feed (data.gdeltproject.org, keyless, no account) and keeps the last 6 hours of articles in memory. Each article carries its headline, link and the places it mentions; the query is matched against headlines and URLs (quoted phrases and OR work; * means everything), and results are grouped by place for the globe. Country-level mentions are dropped so dots mark cities and regions, not the middle of a country.
Nothing is downloaded until the tool is first used, so a local install that never opens the globe never fetches a GDELT file. The first search loads only the newest 15-minute file and answers from it; older files load in the background, and the result (and the globe) says how far back it covers, for example News: last 15 min β older articles still loading. After that, upstream traffic is one small file per 15 minutes however many searches you run.
text
GDELT geolocated news for 'ukraine': 53 location(s), 471 article mention(s). Coverage: the last 6 h.
[+] Kyiv, Kyyiv, Ukraine (50.4333, 30.5167) β 38 article(s)
Select an area on the globe (Shift+drag) to search only inside it. Failures (feed down, oversized or corrupt file) return one [service_unavailable] search_gdelt_geo result, and the globe shows a notice instead of an empty layer.
Variable
Default
Purpose
OPENOSINT_GDELT_WINDOW_HOURS
6
How far back articles are kept (1β24). A full 6-hour window holds roughly 23,000 articles and adds about 65 MB of memory.
OPENOSINT_GDELT_MAX_ARTICLES
30000
Hard cap on stored articles; the oldest are dropped first.
OPENOSINT_GDELT_USE_PROXY
off
Route GDELT downloads through OPENOSINT_PROXY_URL (bypassed by default: the feed is public).
Attribution and terms. News data: The GDELT Project. GDELT's terms of use say: "all datasets released by the GDELT Project are available for unlimited and unrestricted use for any academic, commercial, or governmental use of any kind without fee." and "any use or redistribution of the data must include a citation to the GDELT Project and a link to this website (https://www.gdeltproject.org/)." (quoted 2026-10-06). The globe keeps the GDELT credit in its map attribution. Headlines and links come from third-party news sites and are shown as plain text.
search_dorks_live
Executes live Google dork queries through the Bright Data SERP APIΒΉ, returning structured results (title, URL, snippet). Defaults to 5 dorks per run; each is a separate billable API call. Requires BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY and BRIGHTDATA_SERP_ZONE.
[+] Dork: "john doe" site:linkedin.com
Title: John Doe | LinkedIn
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doe-12345
scrape_url
Fetches any public URL through Bright Data Web UnlockerΒΉ, bypassing Cloudflare/CAPTCHA. Returns clean Markdown. Requires BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY and BRIGHTDATA_UNLOCKER_ZONE.
bash
openosint scrape https://example.com
text
[Web Unlocker] Remote status: 200
# Example Domain
This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents.
search_footprint
Collects a target's public search-engine footprint via Bright Data SERP APIΒΉ. Detects entity type (email, username, domain, phone, or full name) and runs entity-type-aware Google queries, returning structured results plus Entity Correlation Graph nodes/edges for discovered domains and profiles. Requires BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY and BRIGHTDATA_SERP_ZONE.
bash
openosint footprint johndoe99
Graph module (optional)
An additive FollowTheMoney entity graph β
statement-level provenance, an append-only store, non-destructive same_as
deduplication, and a human review queue β sits alongside the tools above
without changing anything about them. The store, the /graph page, the
/api/graph/* routes and the graph_neighbors / graph_review_candidates
MCP tools work in a plain uvx openosint web install, with no compiler and no
extra. The graph extra (pip install "openosint[graph]", builds PyICU) adds
the real FollowTheMoney library: graph_export and .ftm export. The
graph-dedup extra (Python 3.11+) adds same_as scoring. Without the extra,
ids are produced by a vendored copy that a CI test proves byte-identical to
FollowTheMoney's, so a graph.db is readable either way. Nothing in the web
UI or the agent writes to this store: it is filled through the Python API
(see docs/graph.md for the full guide and a worked example);
the GRAPH tab in the main UI is a separate, client-side view of the current
chat.
The same workflow is shown end to end β including the .ftm export that
passes ftm validate β in the terminal demo in
docs/graph.md; the web UI walkthrough is the demo at the top
of this README.
External exposure report (beta)
openosint exposure checks one domain from the outside and gives it an A-F grade. It is passive and point-in-time: organisation-level checks of email authentication, TLS, domain registration and security headers, plus optional lookalike domains. No AI provider or API key is needed.
bash
openosint exposure example.com # terminal summary and grade
openosint exposure example.com --json # structured JSON
openosint exposure example.com --report out.html --lang it # self-contained HTML report (it or en)
openosint exposure example.com --lookalikes # also look for registered typo/homoglyph/TLD-swap domains
openosint exposure example.com --resolver 1.1.1.1 # recursive resolver for lookups outside the domain's own nameservers
openosint exposure example.com --checks email,registration # passive checks only: never contacts the target
--checks takes any of email, registration, tls, http_headers (default: all four). A selection is not graded: the report has no letter and no score, because a grade from some of the checks would read like a full result. In Python: run_exposure("example.com", checks=PASSIVE_CHECKS) (both names import from openosint.exposure.api); the report's not_run lists what was left out.
Check
Noise level
What it contacts
Email authentication (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, MX)
passive
DNS only
Domain registration (age, expiry, DNSSEC)
passive
RDAP registry, not the target
Lookalike domains (--lookalikes)
passive
DNS only; no lookalike web server is ever contacted
TLS certificate and protocol
touches target
A TLS handshake with the target on port 443 (the domain and www)
Security headers
touches target
One HTTPS GET to https://DOMAIN/ (redirects are followed)
It does not scan ports, log in to anything, or collect personal data. The grade is not a certification and not proof of NIS2 or any other compliance. Lookalikes are found by DNS only and are never part of the grade.
This feature is beta: checks, scoring and the report format may change between releases. The HTML report footer shows its report_version.
Browser-based AI chat with streaming tool output, inline result cards, light/dark theme toggle. Supports local inference via Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint β no Anthropic API key required.
Which hosts and sites may talk to the server. On a loopback bind the server only answers requests whose Host is 127.0.0.1, localhost or ::1. Every /api/* request from a browser must come from the UI's own origin; cross-site requests are refused (scripts and curl, which send no Origin, are unaffected).
Variable
Use it when
OPENOSINT_ALLOWED_HOSTS
You reach the UI by another name (LAN name, Docker hostname, reverse proxy), e.g. OPENOSINT_ALLOWED_HOSTS=osint.lan,localhost. Comma-separated; host or host:port. On a non-loopback bind (--allow-remote, Docker) the Host check only runs when this is set, so set it there.
OPENOSINT_ALLOWED_ORIGINS
A separate front end on another origin calls the API, e.g. OPENOSINT_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000. Comma-separated.
Try the live demo β β bring your own Anthropic / OpenRouter / Ollama key, no signup.
bash
# Fully local (no API key) β requires Ollama runtime: https://ollama.com
ollama pull llama3.2
openosint web
# Settings -> Ollama (local) -> model: llama3.2# OpenAI-compatible endpoint (LiteLLM, vLLM, LM Studio, ...)export OPENAI_BASE_URL="http://localhost:4000/v1"
openosint web
# Settings -> OpenAI API
Breaking change (v2.28+): key usage now follows bind address, not an env var.
Bound to 127.0.0.1/localhost (the default) β no change: keys in your .env
work as before. Bound to any other interface (--host 0.0.0.0, which already
requires --allow-remote) β the web UI never uses a key from your environment
to serve a request; every caller must supply their own, and breach lookups
(search_breach) are disabled outright. This applies regardless of any env
var, including OPENOSINT_DEMO_MODE, which can only add restriction, never
remove it. If you were exposing the web UI on a LAN with your own keys and no
per-caller auth in front of it, that access pattern no longer works.
Running behind a reverse proxy? A loopback bind (127.0.0.1) only means
the OS accepted the connection from this machine β it says nothing about
who can reach it if something in front (nginx, Caddy, a Docker/K8s sidecar,
a tunnel) forwards requests to it from elsewhere. By default, a request that
carries proxy-forwarding headers (X-Forwarded-For, X-Forwarded-Proto,
X-Forwarded-Host, Forwarded, CF-Connecting-IP) is treated exactly like
a non-loopback bind: your local keys are never used, breach lookups are
blocked, and the caller is told why. If you deliberately serve this
through a reverse proxy and want it to behave like a normal local
instance for requests relayed by that proxy, set OPENOSINT_TRUSTED_PROXY=true.
This is a separate variable from the existing TRUSTED_PROXY (which only
affects which IP a rate-limit bucket is attributed to β a low-stakes,
already-loosely-scoped setting some self-hosters already have on).
Reusing that flag here would have silently upgraded an existing
rate-limit-only configuration into one that also permits credentialed
access, without asking. OPENOSINT_TRUSTED_PROXY gets its own explicit
opt-in for that reason. Setting it does not blindly trust the
forwarded headers' content β internally inconsistent values (e.g. two
disagreeing X-Forwarded-Proto values on one request) are still treated
as public regardless. Setting OPENOSINT_TRUSTED_PROXY=true means you
are choosing to serve credentialed lookups to whoever your reverse proxy
relays to this instance β you are the controller for their queries, the
same way any operator of a hosted service is for its users. Put real authentication in
front of it if "whoever the proxy relays" is broader than you intend.
Interactive REPL
Run openosint with no arguments to start the AI-powered REPL:
REPL commands:
Command
Description
<target>
Investigate any target β email, username, domain, IP, name
clear
Reset conversation memory
save
Save last report to reports/
tools
List available tools and their status
config
Show current configuration
history
Browse saved sessions
help
Show all commands
exit / Ctrl-D
Exit
All sessions are auto-saved to ~/.openosint/history/. Browse with openosint history.
For the REPL/CLI with an OpenAI-compatible backend:
Full per-tool reference, CLI flags, and configuration options at openosint.tech.
openosint.tech documentation tour
MCP Server
Expose OpenOSINT to any MCP-compatible AI client with no separate install step. uv must be installed; uvx then fetches and runs openosint on demand. The server offers the 20 passive tools by default and 25 with --allow-active (see Passive by default).
The command every client runs is the same:
bash
uvx --from openosint openosint-mcp # passive tools only (20 listed)
GUI clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor) often launch with a minimal PATH that does not include uvx. If the server fails to start, replace "uvx" with the absolute path from which uvx (macOS/Linux) or where uvx (Windows).
Claude Code:
bash
claude mcp add openosint -- uvx --from openosint openosint-mcp
claude mcp list
Optional, enables active tools: append --allow-active after openosint-mcp, or add -e OPENOSINT_ALLOW_ACTIVE=1. This exposes the noisy and target-touching tools (25 listed instead of 20); see the noise table first.
Claude Desktop β edit claude_desktop_config.json, then restart the app:
Optional, enables active tools: add "--allow-active" to args, or add "OPENOSINT_ALLOW_ACTIVE": "1" to env. This exposes the noisy and target-touching tools (25 listed instead of 20); see the noise table first.
Cursor β add the same block to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per project); the optional active-tools change above applies here too:
API keys go in the client's env block. MCP hosts launch the server with a cwd unrelated to your project, so a .env file is not picked up reliably; to use one, set "OPENOSINT_ENV_FILE": "/absolute/path/to/.env" in the same env block.
By default the server lists passive tools only, so a client LLM cannot see the noisy ones. Each tool description carries its noise label. Pin a release with --from openosint==2.36.0. Running from a source checkout instead: "command": "python", "args": ["-m", "openosint.mcp_server"].
Agentic use via Claude Code:
text
$ claude
> Investigate target@example.com. Trace any username found
across other platforms and compile a full report.
Installation
Quickstart β web UI in one command
Install uv once. It runs OpenOSINT in its own isolated environment, so there is no Python setup:
bash
# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Then start OpenOSINT (open a new terminal first if uvx is not found):
bash
uvx openosint web
You should see:
text
[*] OpenOSINT x.y.z web server
[*] App β http://127.0.0.1:8080/
[*] Data β /home/you/.openosint
Your browser opens automatically; if it doesn't, open http://127.0.0.1:8080/. No .env file and no API keys are needed to start β keyless tools work immediately, and AI chat needs a provider key (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY) or a local Ollama.
Want toβ¦
Do this
Use another port
uvx openosint web --port 8081 (if 8080 is busy, OpenOSINT exits and tells you this)
Keep the browser closed
uvx openosint web --no-browser
Find your data
Graph database and session history live in ~/.openosint/ (%USERPROFILE%\.openosint on Windows). Move it with OPENOSINT_HOME=/path; OPENOSINT_GRAPH_DB still overrides just graph.db.
Find reports
CLI and REPL reports are written to ./reports/ in the directory you ran openosint from. The web UI writes none.
Use the entity graph store
Works with plain uvx openosint web, no compiler needed: the /graph page, /api/graph/*, and the graph_neighbors / graph_review_candidates MCP tools. graph_export (.ftm) needs the graph extra, which builds PyICU and so needs libicu and a C++ compiler first (Ubuntu: sudo apt install libicu-dev pkg-config g++; macOS: brew install icu4c pkg-config and export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$(brew --prefix icu4c)/lib/pkgconfig"), then uvx --from "openosint[graph]" openosint web; or use Docker, which includes it. The store starts empty: it is filled through the Python API, not by the UI.
Alternatives
bash
# pip (Python 3.10+)
pip install openosint
openosint web
# Updating
pip install --upgrade openosint
# From source
git clone https://github.com/OpenOSINT/OpenOSINT.git
cd OpenOSINT
pip install -e .
Easiest: open the web UI. On a local install, Settings saves your keys on this
computer by default ("Save on this computer"), as does the first-run panel; "Use only
for this browser session" is a secondary option that keeps a key in the tab only. On the
public demo, keys stay in the browser. Keys are written to config.env in the data directory
(~/.openosint/config.env, or $OPENOSINT_HOME/config.env), never inside the
installed package, with user-only permissions (0600) where the OS supports it.
Values are never logged or sent back to the browser; the UI only shows which keys
are configured and where each value came from.
Precedence, highest first:
real environment variables (a saved value cannot override one; the UI says so)
config.env in the data directory
a legacy .env (the locations below)
An existing .env keeps working. If the file at the package root (a source
checkout or Docker image) is the one that would be loaded, its known settings
are copied into config.env once, with a notice on stderr that names keys but
never values; the old file is left in place and now has lower priority.
For a file you manage yourself, copy .env.example to .env and fill in your keys. .env is read from the
directory you run openosint from (searched upward, like git finds
.git) β it does not need to be at any particular "project root", and a
regular pip install works the same way as running from a source checkout.
Set OPENOSINT_ENV_FILE=/path/to/.env to point at an explicit file instead
(useful for the MCP server, which is launched by its host with an arbitrary
working directory). A real environment variable always takes priority over
a value in .env.
Required below means required for that specific tool to run, not for openosint
itself β the app starts and every key-less tool works with zero configuration.
Variable
Tool
Required
Purpose
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
AI agent (REPL/Web UI)
Yes, unless using Ollama or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint
Anthropic API key
ANTHROPIC_MODEL
AI agent
Optional
Model name to request (default: claude-sonnet-5). Replaces the deprecated OPENOSINT_MODEL.
OPENAI_BASE_URL
AI agent
Optional
Base URL of an OpenAI-compatible endpoint (e.g. http://localhost:4000/v1)
OPENAI_API_KEY
AI agent
Optional
API key for the endpoint (local servers may ignore it)
OPENAI_MODEL
AI agent
Optional
Model name to request (default: gpt-4o-mini)
OPENOSINT_GDELT_WINDOW_HOURS
search_gdelt_geo
Optional
Hours of news kept in memory (default 6, max 24). See search_gdelt_geo.
OPENOSINT_GDELT_MAX_ARTICLES
search_gdelt_geo
Optional
Hard cap on stored articles (default 30000; oldest dropped first)
OPENOSINT_ENV_FILE
All
Optional
Explicit path to a .env file, overriding the directory search above
OPENOSINT_SETUP_TOKEN
Web UI
Optional
Lets the browser save keys when it is not on loopback (Docker). Send as X-Setup-Token; the UI has a field for it. Unset = saving from a non-loopback browser is off. Failed attempts are throttled.
Works without it (60 req/h); raises the limit to 5000 req/h β get one
BRIGHTDATA_API_KEY
search_dorks_live, scrape_url, search_footprint
Required for these tools
Bright Data β get oneΒΉ (free tier: 5,000 req/month)
BRIGHTDATA_SERP_ZONE
search_dorks_live, search_footprint
Required for these tools
Your Bright Data SERP zone name (e.g. serp_api1)
BRIGHTDATA_UNLOCKER_ZONE
scrape_url
Required for this tool
Your Bright Data Web Unlocker zone name (e.g. web_unlocker1)
On a fresh install with no keys at all, these still work: generate_dorks,
search_dns, search_whois, search_domain, search_email, search_username,
search_paste, search_phone, search_ip (rate-limited), search_github
(rate-limited), and search_gdelt_geo.
Run a deterministic investigation playbook (no AI)
openosint history [--all] [open N] [clear]
View/manage REPL session history
openosint proxy-test
Verify the configured upstream proxy
openosint sponsors
List current sponsors and featured integrations
openosint shell
Explicit alias for the default REPL
--allow-active
Enable active tools (noisy or touch the target). Off by default; same as OPENOSINT_ALLOW_ACTIVE=1
-v, --verbose
Enable debug logging to stderr
-t, --timeout N
Override subprocess timeout (seconds)
--api-key KEY
Anthropic API key (overrides env var)
--parallel
Run complementary tools concurrently
--json
Output results as structured JSON
--provider {anthropic,ollama,openai}
AI provider (default: anthropic)
--ollama-model MODEL
Ollama model name (default: llama3.2)
--ollama-host URL
Ollama server URL (default: http://localhost:11434)
--openai-base-url URL
OpenAI-compatible endpoint base URL (env: OPENAI_BASE_URL)
--openai-model MODEL
Model to request from the endpoint (default: gpt-4o-mini; env: OPENAI_MODEL)
--openai-api-key KEY
API key for the endpoint (env: OPENAI_API_KEY)
--no-pdf
Disable automatic PDF generation
Docker
bash
# Build and run
docker compose up --build
# One-off command
docker compose run --rm openosint email target@example.com --json
.env is optional: with no keys the web UI still starts at http://localhost:8080. To provide keys today, list them under environment: in docker-compose.yml (or in a .env next to it), or put a .env in the data volume (/data/.env). Reports are persisted to ./reports/; the graph database and session history live in the openosint-data volume (/data in the container, via OPENOSINT_HOME). The image includes the graph view.
Saving keys from the browser in Docker. The browser reaches the container over the Docker network, not loopback, so the UI cannot save keys by default and says so (it shows the reason instead of failing silently). Either set the keys in your compose environment or .env, or set a token and enter it in the UI's Save keys to server panel: OPENOSINT_SETUP_TOKEN=choose-a-long-random-string docker compose up. Saved keys go to /data/config.env in the openosint-data volume and survive restarts. Wrong tokens are throttled.
The port is published on 127.0.0.1 only, and the Host check is on (OPENOSINT_ALLOWED_HOSTS defaults to localhost,127.0.0.1 in the compose file; extend it if you reach the UI by another name). To reach it from other machines on purpose, run OPENOSINT_BIND=0.0.0.0 docker compose up: the instance then runs in restricted mode (it never spends keys held on the server). Security note: the UI's setup endpoint accepts and stores API keys, so only do this on a network and behind a firewall or reverse proxy you trust.
Warning: OPENOSINT_PUBLISHED_BIND.docker-compose.yml sets this to the same value as OPENOSINT_BIND to tell the server which address the port is published on; an exact loopback value (127.0.0.1, localhost, ::1) lifts the restriction that a container's 0.0.0.0 bind otherwise gets. Never set it to a loopback value yourself, or edit the compose port mapping away from it, when the port is published on any other interface.
Authorized use only. OpenOSINT queries public and semi-public sources.
It does not bypass authentication, exploit systems, or access anything you
aren't already entitled to see. You are responsible for complying with the
law and the terms of service of every source you query. See
DISCLAIMER.md.
No aggregation guarantees. Each tool reports what its upstream source
currently returns. A negative result (no breach found, no accounts found)
means the source didn't report a match β not that no exposure exists.
Most tools depend on third-party services you don't control. Nine of
the 21 tools hard-require an API key and are subject to that provider's
uptime, rate limits, and pricing (Shodan, VirusTotal, Censys, AbuseIPDB,
IP2Location, HaveIBeenPwned, and the three Bright Dataβbacked tools). Free
tiers are small; heavy use requires a paid plan with the provider, not with
OpenOSINT.
Local binaries are unsandboxed subprocesses.holehe, sherlock,
sublist3r, and phoneinfoga run as external processes on your machine.
Keep them updated yourself; OpenOSINT does not patch or vet them.
The entity graph module (openosint[graph]) is additive, not
authoritative.same_as links are scored candidates for human review,
not verified identity matches β see docs/graph.md.
AI output is a lead, not proof. The agent can only call the tools above
(and, by default, only the passive ones). Tool results come from real
executions and are shown with the tool call that produced them, but the
model can still misread, misattribute or over-weight a result, and its tool
selection can be wrong or incomplete for a given target. Check the raw tool
output before acting on a conclusion.
Support & commercial
OpenOSINT is free and MIT-licensed. These are optional ways to support it or buy a hosted or contracted version.
Commercial license & support: vendor contract, warranty, indemnification, SLA or priority support for procurement, from β¬300/year. The software itself needs no purchase. See COMMERCIAL.md or commercial@openosint.tech.
TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest) is an AI-native testing cloud platform built for modern engineering teams. It covers everything from autonomous test creation and fast execution to testing AI agents, chatbots and voice assistants.
Open: Breach / Compromised-Credential Data Β· Email / Identity Lookup Β· Residential Proxies β see SPONSORSHIP.md.
Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow, integration registration checklist, and coding conventions. Please read DISCLAIMER.md before contributing.
Regenerating the demo GIF/MP4
bash
export OPENOSINT_DEMO_KEY=sk-ant-... # your Anthropic key β never committed
openosint web & # start the web server on :8080
make demo # record -> encode -> write docs/assets/demo-web-graph.*
git add docs/assets/demo-web-graph.*
venv/uv-tool binary resolution fix β co-installed tools are now found without a separate activation step (#6)
License
OpenOSINT is open source under the MIT License β free for any use, including personal, commercial, academic, and closed-source.
ΒΉ Bright Data links in this README are affiliate/referral links β OpenOSINT earns a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you.
For authorized security research only. See DISCLAIMER.md.