Censys Search
Censys indexes internet-facing hosts and certificates so you can search for exposed services and see how your own assets look from the outside.
Legal & ethical use. Use this tool only on systems, networks and data that you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorised access or scanning can break computer-misuse laws (for example Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and equivalents elsewhere). Practise in your own lab or in authorised environments such as CTFs.
What it is used for
- Check which of your own hosts and certificates are publicly visible
- Research certificate transparency data
Key features
- Host and certificate search
- Web UI and API
- Python client
Installation
Create an account on censys.io; the official Python client installs with pip install censys.
Beginner usage guide
Search for your own domain or IP ranges and review exposed ports and certificates.
Example commands
Run these only against your own lab or authorised targets. Placeholder addresses such as 192.0.2.x are documentation ranges.
Python client setup
censys configInteractive prompt that stores your API credentials for the official client.
References
Source verification
Last reviewed: 2026-10-27
Links checked over HTTP: 2026-10-27 07:51 UTC — official: 200, docs: 200, repo: 200
Commands were written from the official documentation and have not been executed on this site; test them in your lab.