explainx / blog
Explore Shadowbroker, a decentralized real-time intelligence platform that aggregates 60+ OSINT feeds into one map. Track aircraft, ships, satellites, conflicts, and more—plus an AI command channel that lets agents analyze the data alongside you.
Jul 20, 2026
李博杰 (Bojie Li) open-sourced 《深入理解 AI Agent》 with 10 chapters, PDFs in four languages, and chapter-matched demos. This guide answers the questions GitHub Trending readers ask: cost, English lag, first runnable projects, and how it connects to explainx.ai's MCP, skills, and harness coverage.
Jul 15, 2026
Chris Ford and Richard Gall at Thoughtworks say the industry confused zero marginal distribution cost with zero maintenance cost — and agentic coding is making it worse. explainx.ai translates the zero-cost fallacy thesis into dependency audits, patronage, and supply-chain rules for teams running OpenCode, MCP, and local models.
Jul 9, 2026
Six months after a weekend project in Austria, OpenClaw is a 501(c)(3) with full-time staff, University of Michigan as largest donor, and partners from OpenAI to NVIDIA to Tencent. Peter Steinberger still calls the technical shots.
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 analysts—but 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 hardware—no 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:
📦 GitHub: BigBodyCobain/Shadowbroker 🌟 6.7k+ stars | 🍴 1.1k forks | 🐳 Docker ready
A surprising amount of global telemetry is already public:
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 services—switching 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.
Aviation (4 layers):
Maritime (4 layers):
Space (3 layers):
Rail:
CCTV Mesh — 11,000+ live cameras across 13 sources, 6 countries:
Software-Defined Radio:
GPS Jamming Detection — Real-time analysis of aircraft NAC-P (Navigation Accuracy Category) values identifies interference zones with red overlay squares and "GPS JAM XX%" severity labels.
Region Dossier — Right-click anywhere on Earth for:
Imagery layers:
5 visual modes (toggle via STYLE button):
Synthetic Aperture Radar layer detects ground changes through cloud cover, at night, anywhere on Earth. Two modes:
Mode A (Catalog) — 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) — Real-time ground-change alerts from:
Anomaly types:
AOI Editor — Define areas of interest directly from the map. Click-to-drop AOI centers, set radius (1–500 km), and category. AOIs appear on the map immediately with color-coded boundaries.
OpenClaw Integration — 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.
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.
Three-tab Mesh Chat panel:
INFONET — Global obfuscated message relay. Gate personas, Ed25519 signing, transport obfuscation. Anyone running Shadowbroker can transmit and receive.
MESH — Meshtastic radio integration. Connect to mesh radio nodes, see nodes on the map, integrated into chat.
DEAD DROP — Peer-to-peer message exchange with token-based epoch mailboxes. Strongest current lane (SAS word contact verification, abuse reporting).
Gate Persona System — Pseudonymous identities with:
Crypto Stack:
Mesh Terminal — Built-in CLI: send, dm, market commands, gate state inspection. Draggable panel, minimizes to top bar. Type help to see all commands.
Petitions + Governance DSL — On-chain parameter changes via signed petitions:
UPDATE_PARAM, BATCH_UPDATE_PARAMSENABLE_FEATURE, DISABLE_FEATUREUpgrade-Hash Governance — Protocol upgrades vote on SHA-256 hash of verified release:
Resolution & Dispute Markets:
Heavy-Node-One-Vote — First 100 markets resolve via one-vote-per-eligible-node (not stake-weighted):
⚠️ Experimental Testnet — 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.
Shadowbroker exposes a bidirectional agentic AI command channel—a 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.
Single Command Channel — POST /api/ai/channel/command accepts {cmd, args} and dispatches to any registered tool.
Batched Concurrent Execution — 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 — OPENCLAW_ACCESS_TIER controls which commands the agent can call:
restricted — Read-only (query layers, inspect pins)full — Read + write + injection (place pins, control map, push custom data)HMAC-SHA256 Signing — Every command is signed:
HMAC-SHA256(secret, METHOD|path|timestamp|nonce|sha256(body))
Timestamp + nonce replay protection, request integrity validation.
Full Telemetry Access — Query all 35+ data layers:
AI Intel Pins — Place color-coded investigation markers on the map:
Map Control:
SAR Ground-Change:
Native Layer Injection — Push custom data directly into Shadowbroker's native layers:
Wormhole Mesh Participation — The agent can:
Sovereign Shell Participation (v0.9.7):
Alert Delivery — Send intelligence briefs to Discord webhooks and Telegram channels.
Intelligence Reports — Generate structured reports with summary stats, top military flights, correlations, earthquake activity, SIGINT counts.
ShadowBrokerClient from OpenClaw skill packageThe channel is the protocol, not the agent. Any agent that speaks HMAC can connect.
A media-style transport for the entire telemetry feed. Treat the live map as a recording that can be scrubbed, paused, and replayed.
Features:
Operator-side, not server-side — Snapshots stored locally in backend; no third party sees playback timeline.
Shadowbroker v0.9.7 is composed of three vertically-stacked planes:
Massive real-time dataset handling:
git clone https://github.com/BigBodyCobain/Shadowbroker.git
cd Shadowbroker
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
Open http://localhost:3000 to view the dashboard.
Requires: Docker Desktop or Docker Engine
Port already in use? Set BACKEND_PORT=8001 in .env:
echo "BACKEND_PORT=8001" >> .env
docker compose up -d
.zip filestart.bat
Mac/Linux: Run chmod +x start.sh && ./start.shAutomatically installs dependencies and launches dashboard.
Prerequisites:
# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/BigBodyCobain/Shadowbroker.git
cd Shadowbroker
# Backend setup
cd backend
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install .
# Create .env with API keys
echo "OPENSKY_CLIENT_ID=your_id" >> .env
echo "OPENSKY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_secret" >> .env
echo "AIS_API_KEY=your_key" >> .env
# Frontend setup
cd ../frontend
npm ci
# Run (from frontend directory — starts both servers)
npm run dev
Opens:
OpenSky Network OAuth2 — Global flight coverage:
OPENSKY_CLIENT_ID + OPENSKY_CLIENT_SECRETAIS Stream — Ship tracking (25,000+ vessels):
AIS_API_KEYAir Force One — Presidential/Vice Presidential aircraft highlighted from takeoff.
Private jets — Track billionaire movements (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, oligarchs) with owner identification.
Superyachts — Follow billionaire vessels worldwide.
Military tankers — Infer operations by tracking aerial refueling aircraft.
Conflict monitoring — Combine GDELT incidents + Ukraine frontline + air alerts + satellite imagery for comprehensive situational awareness.
Ground-change detection — Use SAR to detect:
Infrastructure analysis — Cross-reference military bases + power plants + data centers + internet outages for operational insights.
Connect an AI agent (OpenClaw, Claude, GPT, custom):
Example workflow:
Tune live SDR — Click any KiwiSDR node to listen to shortwave radio directly in dashboard.
Police scanner scan mode — Cycle through active emergency communications feeds automatically.
Meshtastic mesh participation — Join global mesh radio network, send/receive messages, see nodes on map.
GPS jamming detection — Identify interference zones from aircraft NAC-P degradation.
Right-click anywhere → Latest Sentinel-2 photo (10m resolution, capture date, cloud cover).
MODIS Terra time slider — Scrub through 30 days of daily satellite imagery with play/pause animation.
Visual mode switching — DEFAULT → SATELLITE → FLIR → NVG → CRT for different analysis contexts.
Wildfire tracking — NASA FIRMS 5,000+ thermal anomalies color-coded by intensity.
Earthquake alerts — USGS 24h feed with magnitude-scaled markers.
Volcanic activity — Holocene volcanoes worldwide from Smithsonian GVP.
Air quality — OpenAQ PM2.5 stations with real-time readings.
From the official README:
Channel Privacy Status:
- Meshtastic / APRS: PUBLIC (radio transmissions interceptable)
- InfoNet Gate Chat: OBFUSCATED (NOT E2E encrypted)
- Dead Drop DMs: STRONGEST CURRENT LANE (token-based epoch mailbox with SAS verification)
- Sovereign Shell governance: PUBLIC LEDGER (pseudonymous via gate persona)
- Privacy primitives: NOT YET WIRED (locked Protocol contracts in place, scheme not chosen)
Do not transmit anything sensitive on any channel. Treat all lanes as open and public for now.
E2E encryption and Tauri desktop hardening are the next major milestones.
Shadowbroker includes a privacy-core Rust crate with locked Protocol contracts for:
When a cryptographic scheme is chosen (Sprint 11+), primitives wire into locked Protocols without API churn.
Yes, with caveats:
OSINT is legal — Shadowbroker aggregates publicly broadcast signals (ADS-B, AIS, TLE) and public APIs. No classified data, no intrusion.
API Terms of Service — You must comply with each provider's ToS:
Jurisdiction matters — Laws vary by country:
No harassment/stalking — Using Shadowbroker to track individuals for harassment violates most jurisdictions' laws.
Shadowbroker is built for:
Shadowbroker is NOT for:
From the official disclaimer:
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.
| Feature | Shadowbroker | FlightRadar24 | MarineTraffic | Other OSINT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft tracking | ✅ Commercial + military | ✅ Commercial only | ❌ | Partial |
| Ship tracking | ✅ 25K+ AIS vessels | ❌ | ✅ AIS only | Partial |
| Satellite tracking | ✅ 2K+ by mission type | ❌ | ❌ | Via N2YO |
| Conflict events | ✅ GDELT + Ukraine | ❌ | ❌ | Separate tools |
| CCTV cameras | ✅ 11K+ across 6 countries | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| GPS jamming | ✅ NAC-P analysis | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| SAR ground-change | ✅ NASA OPERA + EGMS | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| AI agent integration | ✅ HMAC command channel | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Decentralized mesh | ✅ InfoNet testnet | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Self-hosted | ✅ Docker / local | ❌ Cloud only | ❌ Cloud only | Varies |
| Open-source | ✅ AGPL-3.0 | ❌ Proprietary | ❌ Proprietary | Varies |
| No telemetry | ✅ Zero tracking | ❌ Tracked | ❌ Tracked | Varies |
| Cost | ✅ Free (API keys) | 💰 $10–500/mo | 💰 $50–5K/mo | Varies |
Unique to Shadowbroker:
Shadowbroker is built in the open with 19 contributors shipping real code:
Major contributions:
Tech stack:
GitHub stats:
End-to-End Encryption — Wire privacy primitives into InfoNet:
Tauri Desktop Hardening — Package as native desktop app:
Function Keys — Anonymous Citizenship Proof:
Staked Resolution Transition — Move from eligible-node-1-vote to stake-weighted resolution at 1,000 nodes.
Constitutional Invariants — Enforce immutable rules via MappingProxyType:
Cross-Chain Bridges — Connect InfoNet governance to external blockchains for DeFi liquidity.
Mobile App — iOS/Android via React Native or Flutter.
3D Visualization — CesiumJS for terrain-relative rendering.
Historical Playback — Expand Time Machine to weeks/months of telemetry.
ML Anomaly Detection — Train models on telemetry streams to auto-flag unusual patterns.
Federation — Multiple Shadowbroker instances share telemetry peer-to-peer.
It depends. Shadowbroker itself is AGPL-3.0 (open-source), but individual data sources have varying licenses:
Check each API provider's ToS before commercial deployment.
Yes! Shadowbroker supports ARM64 (linux/arm64):
BACKEND_MEMORY_LIMIT)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 file
echo "BACKEND_URL=http://192.168.1.50:9096" >> .env
docker compose up -d
For HTTPS/public internet deployments:
CORS_ORIGINS in backend .env if neededZero dollars for the software (open-source), but API costs vary:
Free APIs (required/recommended):
Paid APIs (optional):
Infrastructure:
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:
Use InfoNet for:
Do NOT use InfoNet for:
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:
The vision: A world where intelligence is democratized—where 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
Open http://localhost:3000 and see the world differently.
Read next: What Are Agent Skills? Complete Guide · OpenClaw AI Agent Architecture · Claude Code Ultrareview: Cloud Bug Hunt
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.