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. Open ~/.theHarvester/api-keys.yaml in your preferred text editor, then restrict access to the file:

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:
    id: your-censys-id
    secret: your-censys-secret

  github:
    key: your-github-token

  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.

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.

REST API protection

The /additional/* routes require a server-side key:

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

Clients send the same value in the X-API-Key header. This key protects only /additional/*; the core query routes remain unauthenticated.