Shadowbroker: The Open-Source OSINT Platform Bringing Global Intelligence to Everyone
Explore Shadowbroker, a decentralized real-time intelligence platform that aggregates 60+ OSINT feeds into one map. Track aircraft, ships, satellites, conflicts, and moreβplus an AI command channel that lets agents analyze the data alongside you.
Shadowbroker is a self-hosted, open-source global intelligence platform that aggregates 60+ real-time OSINT feeds into a single dark-ops map interface. Think of it as a Google Earth for intelligence analystsβbut with live telemetry from aircraft transponders, ship broadcasts, satellite orbits, conflict zones, CCTV networks, GPS jamming zones, earthquake sensors, wildfires, police scanners, mesh radio networks, and breaking geopolitical events. All updating in real time. All on one screen.
Built with Next.js, MapLibre GL, FastAPI, and Python, Shadowbroker is fully open-source (AGPL-3.0) and runs entirely on your own hardwareβno cloud dependencies, no telemetry, no user tracking. It's designed for analysts, researchers, journalists, radio operators, and anyone who wants to see what the world looks like when every public signal is on the same map.
Key differentiators:
Decentralized intelligence mesh (InfoNet) β the first OSINT tool with built-in encrypted peer-to-peer communication
AI agent command channel β let AI agents analyze the data alongside you with full read/write access
SAR ground-change detection β detect mm-scale ground deformation through cloud cover using NASA OPERA and Copernicus EGMS
35+ toggleable data layers β independently control what you see, from commercial flights to military bases
Mesh radio networks (Meshtastic, APRS) relay messages globally
The problem: This data is scattered across dozens of tools and APIs. Analysts have to juggle FlightRadar24, MarineTraffic, N2YO, separate news feeds, separate conflict databases, separate weather servicesβswitching contexts constantly, losing the big picture.
Shadowbroker's answer: Combine all of it into a single interface. No accounts. No telemetry. Fully open-source so you can audit exactly what data is accessed and how.
Core Features: What Can Shadowbroker Do?
1. Real-Time Multi-Domain Tracking
Aviation (4 layers):
Commercial flights β 5,000+ aircraft via OpenSky Network
Private jets β bizjets with owner identification (track billionaire movements)
Military flights β tankers, ISR, fighters via adsb.lol military endpoint
Air Force One β Presidential/Vice Presidential aircraft highlighted and monitored from takeoff
Maritime (4 layers):
AIS vessels β 25,000+ real-time positions via WebSocket
Carrier strike groups β All 11 US Navy aircraft carriers with OSINT-estimated positions (automated GDELT news scraping)
Fishing activity β Global Fishing Watch vessel events
Superyachts β Billionaire and oligarch vessels
Space (3 layers):
Satellites β 2,000+ orbital assets color-coded by mission (military recon, SAR, SIGINT, navigation)
SatNOGS β Amateur satellite ground station network
TinyGS β LoRa satellite constellation tracking
Rail:
Amtrak trains β Real-time US rail positions
DigiTraffic β European rail tracking
2. Surveillance & SIGINT
CCTV Mesh β 11,000+ live cameras across 13 sources, 6 countries:
KiwiSDR β Click any SDR node to tune live shortwave radio directly in the dashboard
Police scanners β OpenMHZ feeds with scan mode (eavesdrop-by-click)
Meshtastic mesh radio β MQTT-based mesh radio integration with node map
APRS β Amateur radio positioning via APRS-IS TCP feed
GPS Jamming Detection β Real-time analysis of aircraft NAC-P (Navigation Accuracy Category) values identifies interference zones with red overlay squares and "GPS JAM XX%" severity labels.
3. Geopolitics & Conflict Monitoring
GDELT incidents β ~1,000 conflict events from the last 8 hours
Ukraine frontline β Live warfront GeoJSON from DeepState Map
Ukraine air alerts β Real-time regional air raid alerts
SIGINT/RISINT news feed β RSS aggregation from intelligence-focused sources (up to 20 customizable feeds)
Region Dossier β Right-click anywhere on Earth for:
Country profile (population, capital, languages, area)
Current head of state (live Wikidata SPARQL query)
Synthetic Aperture Radar layer detects ground changes through cloud cover, at night, anywhere on Earth. Two modes:
Mode A (Catalog) β Free Sentinel-1 scene metadata from Alaska Satellite Facility. No account required. Shows when radar passes happened and when the next pass is coming.
Mode B (Full Anomalies) β Real-time ground-change alerts from:
NASA OPERA β DISP (ground deformation), DSWx (surface water), DIST-ALERT (vegetation disturbance)
Copernicus EGMS β European Ground Motion Service (mm-scale subsidence)
AOI Editor β Define areas of interest directly from the map. Click-to-drop AOI centers, set radius (1β500 km), and category. AOIs appear on the map immediately with color-coded boundaries.
OpenClaw Integration β AI agents can inspect SAR anomaly details (sar_pin_click) and fly the operator's map to any AOI center (sar_focus_aoi) for collaborative analyst workflows.
The InfoNet: Decentralized Intelligence Mesh
InfoNet is the first decentralized intelligence communication layer built directly into an OSINT platform. No accounts, no signup, no identity required. v0.9.7 promotes InfoNet from a chat layer into a full governance economy with a clear path to a privacy-preserving decentralized intelligence platform.
Communication Layer
Three-tab Mesh Chat panel:
INFONET β Global obfuscated message relay. Gate personas, Ed25519 signing, transport obfuscation. Anyone running Shadowbroker can transmit and receive.
MESH β Meshtastic radio integration. Connect to mesh radio nodes, see nodes on the map, integrated into chat.
DEAD DROP β Peer-to-peer message exchange with token-based epoch mailboxes. Strongest current lane (SAS word contact verification, abuse reporting).
Gate Persona System β Pseudonymous identities with:
Ed25519 signing keys
X25519 Diffie-Hellman key exchange
Prekey bundles
SAS word contact verification
Abuse reporting
Crypto Stack:
Ed25519 signing
X25519 Diffie-Hellman
AESGCM encryption with HKDF key derivation
Hash chain commitment system
Double-ratchet DM scaffolding (in progress)
Mesh Terminal β Built-in CLI: send, dm, market commands, gate state inspection. Draggable panel, minimizes to top bar. Type help to see all commands.
Sovereign Shell β Governance Economy (NEW in v0.9.7)
Petitions + Governance DSL β On-chain parameter changes via signed petitions:
UPDATE_PARAM, BATCH_UPDATE_PARAMS
ENABLE_FEATURE, DISABLE_FEATURE
Tunable knobs change by voteβno code deploys required
Upgrade-Hash Governance β Protocol upgrades vote on SHA-256 hash of verified release:
Stake on market resolution outcomes (yes / no / data_unavailable)
Open disputes with bonded evidence
Stake on dispute confirm-or-reverse
Heavy-Node-One-Vote β First 100 markets resolve via one-vote-per-eligible-node (not stake-weighted):
Eligibility: identity age β₯ 3 days, valid Argon2id PoW (Heavy-Node-only)
Transitions to staked resolution at 1,000 nodes
β οΈ Experimental Testnet β No Privacy Guarantee
InfoNet messages are obfuscated but NOT end-to-end encrypted. Meshtastic/APRS is public by design. Dead Drop DMs are the strongest current lane, but Shadowbroker explicitly warns:
Do not transmit anything sensitive on any channel. Treat all lanes as open and public for now.
Privacy primitives (RingCT, stealth addresses, DEX) are locked Protocol contracts in place, but the cryptographic scheme has not been chosen yet. E2E encryption is the next major milestone.
AI Agent Command Channel: OpenClaw + Compatible Agents
Shadowbroker exposes a bidirectional agentic AI command channelβa signed, tier-gated bridge that gives any compatible AI agent full read/write access to the intelligence platform.
OpenClaw is the reference agent, but the channel is an open protocol: any LLM-driven agent that signs requests with HMAC-SHA256 (Claude Code, GPT, LangChain, custom Python/TypeScript clients) can connect.
Channel Architecture (v0.9.7)
Single Command Channel β POST /api/ai/channel/command accepts {cmd, args} and dispatches to any registered tool.
Batched Concurrent Execution β POST /api/ai/channel/batch accepts up to 20 commands in one request. Backend runs them concurrently and returns a fan-out result map. Cuts agent latency by an order of magnitude over sequential calls.
Tier-Gated Access β OPENCLAW_ACCESS_TIER controls which commands the agent can call:
This tool is built entirely on publicly available, open-source intelligence (OSINT) data. No classified, restricted, or non-public data is used. Carrier positions are estimates based on public reporting. The military-themed UI is purely aesthetic.
Comparison: Shadowbroker vs. Existing Tools
Feature
Shadowbroker
FlightRadar24
MarineTraffic
Other OSINT
Aircraft tracking
β Commercial + military
β Commercial only
β
Partial
Ship tracking
β 25K+ AIS vessels
β
β AIS only
Partial
Satellite tracking
β 2K+ by mission type
β
β
Via N2YO
Conflict events
β GDELT + Ukraine
β
β
Separate tools
CCTV cameras
β 11K+ across 6 countries
β
β
β
GPS jamming
β NAC-P analysis
β
β
β
SAR ground-change
β NASA OPERA + EGMS
β
β
β
AI agent integration
β HMAC command channel
β
β
β
Decentralized mesh
β InfoNet testnet
β
β
β
Self-hosted
β Docker / local
β Cloud only
β Cloud only
Varies
Open-source
β AGPL-3.0
β Proprietary
β Proprietary
Varies
No telemetry
β Zero tracking
β Tracked
β Tracked
Varies
Cost
β Free (API keys)
π° $10β500/mo
π° $50β5K/mo
Varies
Unique to Shadowbroker:
β All-in-one platform (no context switching)
β AI agent co-analyst (autonomous analysis)
β Decentralized intelligence mesh (InfoNet)
β Sovereign Shell governance (on-chain parameter changes)
β SAR ground-change detection (through cloud cover)
β Time Machine playback (scrub through history)
Community & Contributors
Shadowbroker is built in the open with 19 contributors shipping real code:
Major contributions:
@Alienmajik β Raspberry Pi 5 support (ARM64 packaging, headless deployment)
It depends. Shadowbroker itself is AGPL-3.0 (open-source), but individual data sources have varying licenses:
Some APIs (OpenSky, aisstream.io) prohibit commercial use
CCTV feeds are public but may have usage restrictions
Shodan requires paid API plan for commercial use
Check each API provider's ToS before commercial deployment.
Will Shadowbroker work on Raspberry Pi?
Yes! Shadowbroker supports ARM64 (linux/arm64):
Raspberry Pi 5 confirmed working (contributed by @Alienmajik)
Requires 4GB+ RAM (backend memory limit configurable via BACKEND_MEMORY_LIMIT)
Expect slower layer repopulation times on slower layers
Can I deploy Shadowbroker publicly (not just localhost)?
Yes. Set BACKEND_URL to your server's address:
# Via environment variable
BACKEND_URL=http://myserver.com:9096 docker compose up -d
# Or in .env fileecho"BACKEND_URL=http://192.168.1.50:9096" >> .env
docker compose up -d
For HTTPS/public internet deployments:
Use a reverse proxy (Nginx, Traefik, Caddy)
Configure SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
Set CORS_ORIGINS in backend .env if needed
How much does it cost to run Shadowbroker?
Zero dollars for the software (open-source), but API costs vary:
Free APIs (required/recommended):
β OpenSky Network β Free OAuth2 registration
β AIS Stream β Free API key
β Most OSINT sources β Free public APIs
Paid APIs (optional):
Shodan β $59/month (device search)
Singapore LTA β Free government API (just registration)
Sentinel Hub β Free tier (500 requests/month), then paid
Infrastructure:
Self-hosted β Only your electricity costs
Cloud VM β $5β20/month (DigitalOcean, Linode, Hetzner)
Kubernetes β Variable (depends on cluster)
Is the InfoNet safe to use?
Not yet for sensitive communications. From the official warning:
InfoNet is an experimental testnet with obfuscated messaging but NOT end-to-end encrypted. Do not transmit anything sensitive on any channel. Treat all lanes as open and public for now.
Current status:
β Obfuscation β Gate personas hide real identities
β Canonical signing β Messages are authenticated
β SAS verification β Contact verification in Dead Drops
β E2E encryption β Not yet implemented
β Metadata protection β Not yet implemented
Use InfoNet for:
β Testing mesh protocols
β Coordinating open-source investigations
β Learning decentralized governance
Do NOT use InfoNet for:
β Whistleblowing
β Operational security
β Classified information
β Anything requiring privacy guarantees
Conclusion: Intelligence for Everyone
Shadowbroker represents a paradigm shift in open-source intelligence: instead of intelligence being the domain of governments and corporations with massive budgets, anyone can run a global intelligence platform on their laptop.
What makes Shadowbroker unique:
All-in-one aggregation β 60+ OSINT feeds, one map, zero context switching
AI agent co-analyst β Let AI analyze alongside you with full read/write access
Decentralized mesh β First OSINT tool with built-in encrypted P2P communication
SAR ground-change β Detect anomalies through cloud cover with NASA/Copernicus data
Time Machine β Scrub through telemetry history like a video recording
Fully open-source β Audit every line (AGPL-3.0), no black boxes
Self-hosted β No cloud dependencies, no telemetry, no user tracking
The vision: A world where intelligence is democratizedβwhere journalists, researchers, activists, and curious citizens have the same situational awareness tools as government agencies. Where AI agents can participate as first-class analysts. Where intelligence networks are decentralized, governed by participants, and privacy-preserving by default.
Shadowbroker v0.9.7 is a major step toward that vision. The platform is production-ready for OSINT analysis today, with a clear roadmap to privacy-first decentralized intelligence in upcoming releases.
Get started:
git clone https://github.com/BigBodyCobain/Shadowbroker.git
cd Shadowbroker
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
Shadowbroker aggregates publicly available OSINT data. Users are responsible for complying with API providers' terms of service and applicable laws in their jurisdiction. This article is for educational purposes.