theHarvester/docs/wiki/Configuration-and-API-Keys.md

Configuration and API keys

theHarvester reads api-keys.yaml and proxies.yaml from the first matching directory:

1. ~/.theHarvester/
2. /etc/theHarvester/
3. /usr/local/etc/theHarvester/

If no file exists, theHarvester creates the default template under ~/.theHarvester/.

Provider credentials

Run theHarvester once to create the user configuration, then edit:

${EDITOR:-vi} ~/.theHarvester/api-keys.yaml
chmod 600 ~/.theHarvester/api-keys.yaml

Keep the complete generated template and fill only the providers you intend to use. Some providers require more than one field:

apikeys:
  censys:
    token: your-censys-personal-access-token
    organization_id: your-censys-organization-id

  github:
    key: your-github-token

  hibpverified:
    key: your-hibp-api-key

  routeviews:
    key: your-routeviews-api-key

  tomba:
    key: your-tomba-key
    secret: your-tomba-secret

Do not commit populated configuration files. Prefer provider credentials scoped to the minimum access the provider supports.

The README source matrix is the canonical source list. It shows whether each source requires a key, accepts an optional key, or has no key setting.

Provider pricing, quotas, and terms change frequently. Check the provider's current documentation for these details.

censys.token is a Censys Platform Personal Access Token. Set organization_id when searches should use an entitled organization. This source uses the Global Search API, which is unavailable to Free accounts because they are limited to asset lookups. The retired Search API ID and secret fields are not accepted.

hibpverified queries HIBP's authenticated verified-domain endpoint. It is selected by its name, the breaches capability, and all. Without a configured HIBP API key it is skipped like other unavailable keyed sources. Live use requires a user-owned paid HIBP API key and a user-owned domain verified in that account. The keyless haveibeenpwned source continues to query only the public breach catalogue.

routeviews.key is optional. RouteViews provides authenticated API keys to verified PeeringDB users. --routeviews uses the authenticated endpoint and documented 10-request-per-second allowance when the key is configured; otherwise it uses guest access at one request per second. If RouteViews rejects a configured key, the action fails without retrying as a guest; remove the key to select guest access. RouteViews does not document this as a paid subscription.

Proxies

Edit ~/.theHarvester/proxies.yaml using host:port entries:

http:
  - 127.0.0.1:8080
socks5:
  - 127.0.0.1:9050

Enable configured proxies with -p:

uv run theHarvester -d example.com -b crtsh -p

A proxy does not make an assessment anonymous and does not change the authorization boundary.

API protection

Every /api/v1/* route requires a server-side key:

export THEHARVESTER_API_KEY='replace-with-a-long-random-value'
uv run harvestview

API clients send the same value in the X-API-Key header. HarvestView receives a derived HttpOnly browser cookie when it is opened locally, so the key is never entered into or stored by the web app. Provider credentials remain in api-keys.yaml and cannot be supplied through an API request.