CLI Reference

Complete reference for all command-line arguments available in AtDork.

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Quick Overview

Flag	Type	Default	Description
-q, --query	String	None	Main search query (dork)
-r, --max-results	Integer	20	Max results per engine (1-100)
--batch-file	Path	None	File with one dork per line
--batch-separator	String	;	Separator for inline multiple queries
-o, --output	Path	None	Output file path
--output-dir	Path	None	Output directory for per-query files
--format	Choice	txt	Output format: txt, json, csv
-v, --verbose	Boolean	false	Show results during batch mode
--no-snippet	Boolean	false	Hide snippets in terminal output
--template	String	None	Template name(s), comma-separated
--target	String	None	Domain for {target} substitution
--select	String	None	Select specific dorks from template (e.g., 1,3,5)
--list-templates	Boolean	false	List all available templates
--template-path	Path	None	Custom template directory
--preview	Boolean	false	Preview template dorks without executing
--region	Choice	us-en	Search region
--safesearch	Choice	moderate	SafeSearch level: on, moderate, off
--timelimit	Choice	None	Time filter: d, w, m, y
--backend	String	auto	Search engine(s), comma-separated
--user-agent	String	None	Custom User-Agent (auto-rotate if None)
--timeout	Integer	10	Request timeout in seconds
--retries	Integer	2	Retry attempts on failure
--delay	Float	0	Delay between requests (seconds)
--proxy	String	None	Comma-separated proxy URLs
--proxy-file	Path	None	File with proxy URLs (one per line)
--tor	Boolean	false	Use Tor SOCKS5 proxy
--strict	Boolean	false	Fail if all proxies are down (no direct fallback)
--proxy-cooldown	Integer	60	Cooldown after proxy failure (seconds)
--max-failures	Integer	3	Remove proxy after N consecutive failures
--concurrency	Integer	1	Number of parallel threads (1-10)
--max-fallback-failures	Integer	3	Failures before fallback to sequential
--resilient	Boolean	false	Enable circuit breaker & backend fallback
--adaptive-delay	Boolean	false	Enable adaptive rate limiting
--ip-guard	Boolean	false	Enable IP leak detection (requires --strict)
--exec	String	None	Execute command on each result ({} = URL)
--exec-on-vuln	String	None	Execute command only on vulnerable results
--exec-parallel	Integer	1	Parallel processes for --exec
--exec-timeout	Integer	30	Timeout per --exec command (seconds)
--no-validate	Boolean	false	Disable all spam/invalid filtering
--strict-filter	Boolean	false	Strict validation (title≥5, desc≥10)
--validate-url	Choice	all	URL mode: only, path, params, all, false
--validate-title	String	5	Min title length or false to disable
--validate-desc	String	10	Min description length or false to disable
--validate-spam	Boolean	true	Enable spam detection
--filter-vuln	String	None	Vulnerability platform filter
--no-fallback-backends	Boolean	false	Disable backend fallback
--no-verify	Boolean	false	Disable SSL certificate verification
--log-file	Path	atdork.log	Log file path
--db-path	Path	atdork.db	SQLite database path
--resume	Boolean	false	Resume pending queries from database
--history	Boolean	false	Show search history
--no-dedup	Boolean	false	Disable URL deduplication
--export-db	Path	None	Export database to file (json/csv)
--config	Path	None	YAML config file path
--interactive	Boolean	false	Run interactive mode
--debug	Boolean	false	Enable debug logging
--version	None	None	Show version and exit
-h, --help	None	None	Show help message and exit

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Detailed Flag Descriptions

Query & Results

Flag	Description
-q, --query	Main search query (dork). Can be combined with --batch-separator for multiple queries.
-r, --max-results	Maximum number of results to return per query. Values above 100 are automatically clamped.
--batch-file	Path to a text file containing one dork per line. Lines starting with # are ignored.
--batch-separator	Separator for splitting a single -q string into multiple queries. Default is ;.

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Output Options

Flag	Description
-o, --output	Save all results to a single file. Format determined by --format or file extension.
--output-dir	Save each query's results to a separate file in the specified directory.
--format	Output format: txt (human-readable), json (structured), csv (spreadsheet).
-v, --verbose	Display results in real-time during batch processing.
--no-snippet	Hide result snippets in terminal output for cleaner display.

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Templates

Flag	Description
--template	Load one or more YAML templates (comma-separated). Example: --template sqli,wordpress
--target	Domain to substitute for {target} placeholder in template dorks.
--select	Run only specific dorks from a template (1-based indices). Example: --select 1,3,5
--list-templates	Display all available templates with descriptions.
--template-path	Custom directory to search for template files.
--preview	Show template dorks without executing them. Useful for validation.

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Search Engine Settings

Flag	Description
--region	Search region/language code. Examples: us-en, uk-en, de-de, ru-ru.
--safesearch	Filter adult content: on (strict), moderate (default), off (none).
--timelimit	Restrict results by time: d (day), w (week), m (month), y (year).
--backend	Search engine(s) to use. Options: google, bing, duckduckgo, startpage, yandex, auto, or comma-separated list.

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Request Tuning

Flag	Description
--user-agent	Custom User-Agent string. If not provided, AtDork rotates through a built-in pool.
--timeout	Request timeout in seconds. Increases progressively with retries.
--retries	Number of retry attempts per backend before moving to the next.
--delay	Fixed delay between requests in seconds. Overridden by --adaptive-delay if enabled.

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Proxy & Anonymity

Flag	Description
--proxy	Comma-separated list of proxy URLs. Format: scheme://[user:pass@]host:port.
--proxy-file	Path to a file containing proxy URLs (one per line). Lines starting with # are ignored.
--tor	Enable Tor SOCKS5 proxy at socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050.
--strict	Fail closed – if all proxies fail, AtDork exits with error instead of falling back to direct connection.
--proxy-cooldown	Seconds to wait before retrying a failed proxy (default: 60).
--max-failures	Number of consecutive failures before a proxy is permanently removed (default: 3).
--ip-guard	Enable IP leak detection. Requires --strict. AtDork stops if your real IP is exposed.

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Concurrency & Resilience

Flag	Description
--concurrency	Number of parallel threads for batch processing (1-10). Higher values = faster but more likely to hit rate limits.
--max-fallback-failures	Consecutive failures before falling back from parallel to sequential mode.
--resilient	Enable intelligent fault-tolerance: circuit breaker, backend fallback, and automatic retry.
--adaptive-delay	Dynamically adjust request delay based on real-time backend response codes.

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Post-Processing

Flag	Description
--exec	Execute a shell command on each result URL. Use {} as placeholder for the URL. Example: --exec "curl -I {}"
--exec-on-vuln	Execute command only on results flagged as vulnerable by --filter-vuln.
--exec-parallel	Number of parallel processes for --exec commands. Default: 1.
--exec-timeout	Timeout in seconds for each --exec command. Default: 30.

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Validation & Filtering

Flag	Description
--no-validate	Disable all spam/invalid result filtering. Keeps raw results.
--strict-filter	Enable strict validation: title ≥ 5 chars, description ≥ 10 chars, spam detection on, URL all mode.
--validate-url	URL validation mode: only (domain only), path (domain+path), params (domain+params), all (full), false (disabled).
--validate-title	Minimum title length. Set to false to disable title validation.
--validate-desc	Minimum description length. Set to false to disable description validation.
--validate-spam	Enable/disable spam detection. Default: true.
--filter-vuln	Filter results by vulnerability platform. Examples: wordpress, joomla, sqli, wordpress-link.

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Database & History

Flag	Description
--db-path	Path to SQLite database file. Default: atdork.db.
--resume	Resume pending or failed queries from the database.
--history	Display search history with query text and status.
--no-dedup	Disable global URL deduplication. Keeps all results.
--export-db	Export entire database to JSON or CSV. Example: --export-db all_results.json

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Logging & Debugging

Flag	Description
--log-file	Path to log file. Default: atdork.log.
--debug	Enable debug logging (more verbose output).
--no-verify	Disable SSL certificate verification (not recommended).
--no-fallback-backends	Disable automatic backend fallback on failure.

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Configuration & Mode

Flag	Description
--config	Path to YAML configuration file. CLI flags override YAML values.
--interactive	Launch interactive mode with prompts instead of CLI flags.
--version	Display version and exit.
-h, --help	Display help message and exit.

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Flag Categories

By Purpose

Category	Flags
Core	-q, -r, --batch-file, --template, --interactive
Output	-o, --output-dir, --format, -v, --no-snippet
Search	--region, --safesearch, --timelimit, --backend
Network	--user-agent, --timeout, --retries, --delay, --no-verify
Proxy	--proxy, --proxy-file, --tor, --strict, --proxy-cooldown, --max-failures, --ip-guard
Resilience	--resilient, --adaptive-delay, --concurrency, --max-fallback-failures, --no-fallback-backends
Filter	--filter-vuln, --no-validate, --strict-filter, --validate-url, --validate-title, --validate-desc, --validate-spam
Post-Process	--exec, --exec-on-vuln, --exec-parallel, --exec-timeout
Database	--db-path, --resume, --history, --no-dedup, --export-db
Template	--template, --target, --select, --list-templates, --template-path, --preview
Debug	--log-file, --debug, --config
Info	--version, -h