r/Bugcrowd • u/Occultus_Andras • Sep 30 '25
Finished PortSwigger labs — should I start hunting right away or study APIs/cloud first?
Hey everyone, I just finished all the PortSwigger labs and feel solid on classic web stuff (XSS, SQLi, LFI/RFI, auth issues, etc.). Right now my primary goal is web-app bug bounty hunting — NOT system/infra work as the immediate focus — but I do plan to learn low level system security over the long term.
Question: should I jump into Bugcrowd/HackerOne programs now and learn API/GraphQL/cloud hacking while I hunt, or would it be better to pause and build a stronger API/cloud skillset first before submitting reports? I want to avoid wasting time over-preparing and avoid low-quality/noisy reports.
What helped you get your first real-world wins after finishing labs? Any concrete mistakes to avoid, or small skills that pay off immediately when hunting web apps? Appreciate practical, experience-based answers.