projectdiscovery/katana
Katana
Katana is a web crawler and spider designed for security reconnaissance and web application mapping. It functions as a utility for identifying endpoints, forms, and API structures across web targets by combining standard HTTP request traversal with headless browser automation to render dynamic, JavaScript-heavy content.
The tool distinguishes itself through its ability to maintain authenticated sessions and handle complex web interactions, such as automated form submission and captcha resolution. It provides granular control over the discovery process, allowing users to define specific crawl scopes, throttle request rates, and apply custom filtering logic to refine datasets based on response attributes or status codes.
Beyond basic navigation, the project supports advanced data extraction and monitoring capabilities. It can classify page content, store raw request and response pairs for auditing, and use pattern-based matching to isolate specific information from web traffic. The software is distributed as a single, statically compiled binary to ensure portability across different environments.
Features
- Web Crawlers - Functions as a web crawler and spider for discovering and mapping application endpoints via HTTP and headless browser automation.
- Security Reconnaissance Tools - Acts as a specialized utility for identifying sensitive information, forms, and API structures across web targets.
- Reconnaissance Tools - Maps web application structures and endpoints to identify hidden resources during security assessments.
- Web Crawling - Discovers and maps endpoints by traversing web pages using standard HTTP requests or headless browser automation.
- Vulnerability Assessment Frameworks - Systematically probes web interfaces and forms to identify security weaknesses and potential attack surfaces.
- Crawl Depth Limiters - Provides configurable depth and scope limits to control recursive link traversal during web application mapping.
- Browser Session Authentication - Accesses protected content by injecting custom headers, cookies, or connecting directly to an active browser session.
- Crawling Request Throttlers - Implements request rate and concurrency controls to manage network throughput and respect target server capacity.
- Headless Browser Orchestrators - Uses a browser automation engine to render dynamic client-side content and execute JavaScript for comprehensive endpoint discovery.
- Content Discovery - Next-generation crawling and spidering framework.
- Directory Scanning Tools - Next-generation crawling framework for link discovery and JS parsing.
- Forensic Analysis Tools - Web crawling framework for discovering and analyzing web assets.
- HTTP Probing and Crawling - Next-generation crawling and spidering framework.
- Reconnaissance and Discovery - Next-generation crawling and spidering framework.
- Reconnaissance Tools - Next-generation crawling and spidering framework.
- Web Asset Discovery - Next-generation framework for web crawling and spidering.
- Web Crawlers - Next-generation web crawling framework.
- Web Security Testing - Tool for web crawling and spidering during reconnaissance.
- Headless Browser Automation - Uses headless browser engines to render dynamic JavaScript content and discover hidden web endpoints.
- Crawling Environment Configurations - Adjusts crawling depth, concurrency, and rate limits to balance discovery speed against target server capacity.
- Web Data Extraction - Extracts and isolates specific data points from web content using pattern-based matching and custom logic.
- Crawl Boundary Controls - Defines boundaries for discovery using domain rules, regex patterns, or exclusion lists to prevent navigating outside intended targets.
- HTTP Request Customization - Maintains authenticated state by injecting persistent cookies and custom headers into outgoing HTTP requests to access protected web resources.
- Automated Captcha Solvers - Detects and resolves common captcha challenges during headless crawling sessions by integrating with external solving services.
- Page Content Classifiers - Analyzes crawled pages to identify page types, extract forms, detect secrets, and categorize endpoints.
- Logic-Based Filters - Evaluates discovered endpoints against custom expression rules to dynamically refine datasets based on response attributes and status codes.
- Network Traffic Management - Manages the flow and speed of automated crawling tasks to ensure efficient data collection.
- Dynamic Response Filters - Applies domain-specific language expressions to refine and match discovered endpoints based on response attributes or status codes.
- Data Extraction - Identifies and captures specific information from HTTP responses during the crawling process using regex-based configuration.
- Form Submission Clients - Populates web forms automatically during data collection by using configurable field values and dynamic data generation.
Star history
How this analysis was created: This summary and feature list are AI-generated from collected project material and can contain mistakes. Stars, license and language are imported from GitHub. Inclusion does not mean that we have tested or audited this project. Check the source documentation for any feature you depend on. Learn more on our About page.
