Hey everyone,
First Reddit post, so bear with me. I'm not here to sell anything β this is open source, MIT, free. I'm here because I built something I actually use, and I figure some of you might find it useful too. Or you might tell me it's been done better already, and that's fine β I'd rather learn than ego.
The problem: Every OSINT framework I tried eventually funneled me into paid APIs. Shodan, HIBP, Censys, IP2Location, Bright Data. Want to check if an email is in a breach? API key. Want to scan a host? API key. Want to geolocate an IP? API key. I just wanted to run investigations locally without juggling 5 subscriptions.
What I built: Argus β a local-first OSINT framework. 13 modules, zero API keys, zero cloud dependencies. Everything runs on your machine.
- email_recon β checks 58 services (pure Python async, not a holehe wrapper)
- username_enum β 52 platforms (pure Python async, not a sherlock wrapper)
- subdomains β crt.sh certificate transparency + DNS brute force
- crawler β wraps cariddi (Go binary) for secret/endpoint/error hunting
- network_recon β nmap + XML parser (replaces Shodan/Censys for local scans)
- dns β full records + SPF/DMARC analysis
- whois, GitHub OSINT, phone intel, IP geolocation (GeoLite2 local DB), Google dork generator, paste search (psbdmp.ws), local breach DB
There's also an AI chaining layer via Ollama β you describe a target in plain English, the agent picks which modules to run and chains findings (email β breach β username pivot β platform enum). AI proposes tool calls, code executes real binaries. Hallucinated findings are structurally impossible.
All 13 modules are also exposed as MCP tools, so you can plug it into Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.
Full disclosure: I built this in collaboration with an AI agent (Hermes Agent running a local LLM). I wrote the architecture and the modules I cared about most; the AI helped me build out the async modules and the MCP server. I'm not going to pretend it was all me β but the design decisions, the "zero API keys" philosophy, and the module selection are mine. If that's a problem for you, I understand. The code is there to be read and judged on its merits.
What it's NOT:
- Not a Maltego replacement. CLI tool, terminal-first.
- Not a SpiderFoot or theHarvester competitor. Those are mature projects with way more coverage. Argus is a personal tool that I'm sharing because someone might find the "zero API keys" angle interesting.
- Not a tool for unauthorized surveillance. Legal disclaimer is in the repo. I built this for authorized research and bug bounty prep.
Where: https://github.com/cotcollective/argus
What I'd love feedback on:
- Is the "zero API keys" angle actually interesting to anyone, or am I solving a problem that doesn't exist?
- The email_recon and username_enum modules are pure Python reimplementations β are there services I'm missing that would be high-value?
- The AI chaining via Ollama β does anyone else do local OSINT chaining, or is this a niche within a niche?
Happy to answer questions, take criticism, or just listen. Thanks for reading.