🔐 Claude Security Research Skill

A full-spectrum security research skill for Claude — structured, tool-driven security assessment workflows built directly into your AI assistant.

Drop this skill into Claude Code or any Claude MCP setup and get an AI that thinks like a security researcher: structured phases, proper tool chaining, scoped recon, and professional reporting — not ad-hoc command generation.

Claude's role in this skill is to interpret tool output, suggest next steps, and document findings. Tools perform the active testing. Claude does not generate payloads or exploit code.

---

See It In Action

Want to know what the output actually looks like before installing?

View sample assessment report →

A fictional but realistic security assessment report showing the exact format Claude produces — five findings across CRITICAL → INFO severities, with raw tool output, impact analysis, and a remediation priority table.

---

What It Does

The skill gives Claude a complete engagement workflow across 6 phases:

RECON → ENUMERATION → VULN SCANNING → VULNERABILITY VALIDATION → SECRETS AUDIT → REPORTING

Claude automatically routes based on your target type, loads the right reference, suggests tools in the right order, and hands off outputs between phases.

Supported Targets

| Target | Tools Used | |---|---| | Web server (Apache / Nginx / IIS) | nmap, nikto, nuclei, testssl | | REST API | ffuf, sqlmap, dalfox | | Web application | nikto, nuclei, ZAP, ffuf | | Network / IP range | nmap, snmpwalk, enum4linux | | Source code / repo | trufflehog | | Full engagement | Everything, in phase order |

---

Quick Start

0. Prerequisites

• Claude Code installed and configured
• A target you are authorized to test
• Linux/macOS environment (WSL works on Windows)

1. Install the skill

Claude Code (recommended):

# Clone into your Claude skills directory
git clone https://github.com/rhysha/claude-security-research-skill ~/.claude/skills/security-research

Manual / MCP: Copy SKILL.md and the references/ folder to your Claude skills path.

2. Verify your tools

chmod +x scripts/tool-check.sh
./scripts/tool-check.sh

3. Start an engagement

chmod +x scripts/init-engagement.sh
./scripts/init-engagement.sh example.com

4. Talk to Claude

The skill can be invoked two ways.

As a slash command (Claude Code CLI):

/security-research

This explicitly loads the skill into Claude's context.

As natural language: Claude will also auto-load the skill when your request matches its description — asking for a scan, vuln assessment, recon, secrets audit, etc.:

"Run a full security assessment on https://target.example.com — I have written authorization."
"Do passive recon on domain.com — stay passive only."
"Scan this API for OWASP Top 10 issues: https://api.example.com"
"Audit this repo for leaked secrets."
"Analyze these nmap results and suggest next assessment steps."

Claude will confirm scope, propose a phase plan, load the right references, and walk through the engagement step by step — pointing you at the tool that should run each check.

---

Skill Structure

├── SKILL.md                    # Core skill definition (loaded by Claude)
├── references/
│   ├── recon.md                # subfinder, amass, httpx, waybackurls
│   ├── enumeration.md          # nmap, testssl, enum4linux, snmpwalk
│   ├── vuln-scanning.md        # nikto, nuclei, OWASP ZAP
│   ├── vulnscan.md             # Supplementary vuln scan patterns
│   ├── api-testing.md          # ffuf, sqlmap, dalfox, JWT testing
│   ├── auth-secrets.md         # hydra, trufflehog, credential auditing
│   └── reporting.md            # Severity ratings, finding templates
├── scripts/
│   ├── tool-check.sh           # Verify all required tools are installed
│   ├── init-engagement.sh      # Create engagement directory structure
│   └── setup_engagement.sh     # Alternative setup with scope template
└── .claude/
    └── settings.local.json     # Claude MCP configuration

---

How the Skill Works

When you install this skill, Claude loads SKILL.md into its context. Here's the first 30 lines — exactly what shapes Claude's behavior on every engagement:

---
name: security-research
user-invokable: true
description: >
  Full-spectrum security research skill for web servers, REST APIs, web applications,
  and network/port enumeration. Triggers whenever the user wants to: find vulnerabilities,
  run a security assessment, scan a target, test an API for security issues,
  enumerate ports or services, check for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, audit auth/secrets,
  fuzz endpoints, run recon on a domain or IP, or use tools like nmap, nikto, nuclei,
  ZAP, sqlmap, ffuf, dalfox, subfinder, hydra, or trufflehog. Use this skill even if the
  user says "just a quick scan" or phrases it casually. Covers full engagement workflow:
  recon → enumeration → vuln scanning → vulnerability validation → reporting.
---

# Security Research Skill

Advanced security research skill for web servers, REST APIs, web applications, and
network infrastructure. Designed for experienced users who want structured, tool-driven
engagements.

---

## Claude's Role

Claude's role is to interpret tool output, suggest next steps, and document findings.
Tools perform active testing. Claude does not generate payloads or exploit code.

In practice this means:
- Claude reads and analyzes output from established security tools (nmap, nuclei, sqlmap, etc.)
- Claude proposes which tool to run next and explains why
- Claude organizes findings into the reporting format

The full file (including the ethics gate, phase workflow, target routing table, and output standards) is at SKILL.md.

---

Required Tools

Claude will tell you which phases are blocked if tools are missing. Install what you need:

# Core
sudo apt install nmap nikto sqlmap hydra

# Go-based tools
go install github.com/projectdiscovery/subfinder/v2/cmd/subfinder@latest
go install github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v2/cmd/nuclei@latest
go install github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx/cmd/httpx@latest
go install github.com/ffuf/ffuf/v2@latest
go install github.com/hahwul/dalfox/v2@latest

# Secrets
pip install trufflehog

# Passive recon
go install github.com/tomnomnom/waybackurls@latest

---

Ethics Gate

This skill enforces an ethics check before any other action:

1. Written authorization — you own the target or have explicit permission
2. Defined scope — specific targets, not "everything"
3. Private findings — no exfiltration of real credentials
4. Tooling boundary — Claude will not generate exploit code, payloads, or attack strings. If a step requires this, Claude identifies the appropriate tool and instructs you to run it directly.

Claude will ask for confirmation if any of these are unclear. This is not skippable.

---

Output Format

Every finding follows a consistent structure:

[SEVERITY] Finding Title
  Target:      <url or host>
  Tool:        <tool that found it>
  Evidence:    <raw output or request/response>
  Impact:      <what a threat actor could do>
  Remediation: <specific fix>
  References:  <CVE / OWASP / CWE>

Severity scale: CRITICAL > HIGH > MEDIUM > LOW > INFO

---

Who This Is For

• Security researchers who want AI-assisted engagement management, not AI guessing at commands
• Bug bounty hunters who want structured recon and chained tool workflows
• Security engineers running internal assessments
• CTF participants working through structured challenges

Not for beginners — this assumes you know what the tools do and have legal authorization to use them.

---

Contributing

PRs welcome for:

• New reference files (cloud security research, mobile, thick clients)
• Additional tool integrations
• Improved reporting templates
• Platform-specific tool install guides

---

License

MIT — use freely, responsibly, and only against targets you're authorized to test.

---

Disclaimer

This tool is for authorized security testing only. The authors are not responsible for misuse. Always obtain written permission before testing any system you don't own.