profile-website-bot-detection

name	profile-website-bot-detection
description	Profile a website for bot detection vendors using stealth vs non-stealth Kernel browsers. Use when analyzing bot detection on a website, comparing stealth effectiveness, identifying anti-bot vendors and products, or detecting challenge types.

Profile Website for Bot Detection Vendors

Analyzes a target website to identify bot detection vendors, their specific products, and challenge types. Supports comparative analysis between stealth and non-stealth browser modes.

Prerequisites

• Kernel CLI installed and authenticated
• Node.js 22+ installed
• jq installed (brew install jq or apt install jq)
• KERNEL_API_KEY environment variable set. If it is not set, prompt the user to supply.

Comparative Workflow (Recommended)

Compare bot detection behavior between stealth and non-stealth browsers to evaluate stealth effectiveness.

Step 1: Create Both Browser Types

# Create stealth browser (with -s flag)
kernel browsers create -s --viewport 1920x1080@25 -t 300
# Save session_id as STEALTH_ID

# Create non-stealth headful browser (no -s flag)
kernel browsers create --viewport 1920x1080@25 -t 300
# Save session_id as NORMAL_ID

Step 2: Run Analysis on Both Browsers

cd scripts
npm install  # first run only

# Test with stealth browser
KERNEL_API_KEY=$KERNEL_API_KEY KERNEL_BROWSER_ID=$STEALTH_ID TARGET_URL=<url> BROWSER_MODE=stealth npm run analyze

# Test with non-stealth browser
KERNEL_API_KEY=$KERNEL_API_KEY KERNEL_BROWSER_ID=$NORMAL_ID TARGET_URL=<url> BROWSER_MODE=normal npm run analyze

Step 3: Compare Results

Compare the vendor detections and blocking behavior:

# Set the hostname folder (e.g., chase-com for chase.com)
HOST=chase-com

# Quick verdict comparison
echo "=== STEALTH VERDICT ===" && cat output/$HOST/stealth/report-*.json | jq '.summary.verdict'
echo "=== NORMAL VERDICT ===" && cat output/$HOST/normal/report-*.json | jq '.summary.verdict'

# Compare block status
echo "=== STEALTH BLOCKED ===" && cat output/$HOST/stealth/report-*.json | jq '.summary | {isBlocked, blockedPages, blockedVendors}'
echo "=== NORMAL BLOCKED ===" && cat output/$HOST/normal/report-*.json | jq '.summary | {isBlocked, blockedPages, blockedVendors}'

# Compare detected vendors
echo "=== STEALTH VENDORS ===" && cat output/$HOST/stealth/report-*.json | jq '.summary.vendorNames'
echo "=== NORMAL VENDORS ===" && cat output/$HOST/normal/report-*.json | jq '.summary.vendorNames'

Step 4: Interpret Comparison

Scenario	Stealth	Normal	Meaning
No vendors detected	0	0	Site has no bot detection
Same vendors, no blocks	N	N	Bot detection present, both pass
Normal blocked, stealth passes	0 blocks	Blocked	Stealth mode is effective
Both blocked	Blocked	Blocked	Bot detection defeats stealth
Different challenge types	Lighter	Harder	Stealth reduces suspicion

Step 5: Provide Summary

After running the comparative analysis, provide a detailed summary report to the user that includes:

Summary Report Template:

## Bot Detection Comparative Analysis: [TARGET_URL]

### Verdict
- **Stealth Browser**: [verdict from summary.verdict]
- **Normal Browser**: [verdict from summary.verdict]
- **Stealth Effectiveness**: [Effective/Ineffective/Inconclusive]

### Block Status
| Browser | Blocked | Block Type | Evidence |
|---------|---------|------------|----------|
| Stealth | [Yes/No] | [blockType or N/A] | [first evidence item] |
| Normal  | [Yes/No] | [blockType or N/A] | [first evidence item] |

### Detected Vendors
| Vendor | Stealth | Normal | Products |
|--------|---------|--------|----------|
| [vendor] | ✓/✗ | ✓/✗ | [product list] |

### Analysis
- [Explain what the results mean]
- [Note any differences between stealth and normal]
- [Recommend next steps if blocked]

### Key Findings
1. [Finding 1]
2. [Finding 2]
3. [Finding 3]

Use the JSON reports to populate this template:

• summary.verdict - The final verdict string
• summary.isBlocked - Whether the browser was blocked
• summary.blockedPages - Details about blocked pages
• summary.vendorNames - List of detected vendors
• vendorDetections - Detailed vendor/product information

Step 6: Cleanup

kernel browsers delete -y $STEALTH_ID
kernel browsers delete -y $NORMAL_ID

---

Interpreting Results

The analysis detects vendors and their specific products:

Vendor	Products Detected
Akamai	Bot Manager, Bot Manager Premier, mPulse RUM, Sensor Script, Edge DNS
Cloudflare	Bot Management, Turnstile, Challenge Platform, JS Challenge, Managed Challenge
DataDome	Interstitial Challenge, Slider Challenge, Device Check, Picasso Fingerprint
HUMAN/PerimeterX	Bot Defender, Sensor SDK, Press & Hold Challenge
Imperva/Incapsula	Advanced Bot Protection (utmvc), Advanced Bot Protection (reese84), WAF
Kasada	IPS (Initial Page Security), FP (Fingerprint Endpoint), Telemetry, POW Challenge
Google	reCAPTCHA v2, reCAPTCHA v3, reCAPTCHA Enterprise
hCaptcha	Widget, Enterprise
FingerprintJS	Fingerprint Pro, BotD
Arkose Labs	FunCaptcha

Detection methods:

• URL pattern matching for vendor scripts and endpoints
• Cookie analysis (e.g., _abck, __cf_bm, datadome, _px*)
• Header detection (e.g., cf-ray, x-kpsdk-*, x-d-token)
• Challenge detection from response status codes

Vendor-specific checks:

• DataDome: Hard IP block detection (dd.t === 'bv')
• Akamai: Cookie validity check (~0~ indicator)
• Kasada: Flow type detection (IPS vs FP)

Pages Analyzed

The script automatically analyzes:

1. Homepage - Initial page load and bot detection scripts
2. Login page - Automatically discovered via link detection or common paths (/login, /signin, etc.)

Login pages often have more aggressive bot detection due to credential stuffing prevention.

Output Files

Results are organized by target hostname in scripts/output/<hostname>/<mode>/:

• report-<timestamp>.json - Full JSON report with vendor detections
• screenshot-homepage-<timestamp>.png - Homepage screenshot
• screenshot-login-<timestamp>.png - Login page screenshot (if found)

Example structure for comparative test on chase.com:

output/chase-com/
├── stealth/
│   ├── report-*.json
│   ├── screenshot-homepage-*.png
│   └── screenshot-login-*.png
└── normal/
    ├── report-*.json
    ├── screenshot-homepage-*.png
    └── screenshot-login-*.png

The JSON report includes:

• summary: Quick access to verdict, block status, and vendor names
  • verdict: Human-readable result (e.g., "BLOCKED - homepage (Error Page)")
  • isBlocked: Boolean - true if any page was blocked
  • vendorNames: Array of detected vendor names
  • blockedPages: Details of blocked pages with evidence
• vendorDetections: Map of detected vendors with products, URLs, cookies, headers
• blockDetections: Detailed block analysis for each page
• vendorScriptsDetected: URLs of detected vendor scripts (not saved to disk)
• networkRequests/networkResponses: All requests with vendor matching
• cookies: All cookies with vendor attribution

Example: Comparative Session

# Create both browsers
STEALTH_ID=$(kernel browsers create -s --viewport 1920x1080@25 -t 300 -o json | jq -r '.session_id')
NORMAL_ID=$(kernel browsers create --viewport 1920x1080@25 -t 300 -o json | jq -r '.session_id')

echo "Stealth: $STEALTH_ID"
echo "Normal: $NORMAL_ID"

# Run analysis on both
cd scripts
KERNEL_API_KEY=$KERNEL_API_KEY KERNEL_BROWSER_ID=$STEALTH_ID TARGET_URL=chase.com BROWSER_MODE=stealth npm run analyze
KERNEL_API_KEY=$KERNEL_API_KEY KERNEL_BROWSER_ID=$NORMAL_ID TARGET_URL=chase.com BROWSER_MODE=normal npm run analyze

# Output structure:
# ./output/chase-com/stealth/report-*.json
# ./output/chase-com/stealth/screenshot-*.png
# ./output/chase-com/normal/report-*.json
# ./output/chase-com/normal/screenshot-*.png

# Quick comparison - check verdicts
echo "--- Stealth verdict ---"
cat output/chase-com/stealth/report-*.json | jq '.summary.verdict'

echo "--- Normal verdict ---"
cat output/chase-com/normal/report-*.json | jq '.summary.verdict'

# Detailed vendor comparison
echo "--- Stealth vendors ---"
cat output/chase-com/stealth/report-*.json | jq '.summary.vendorNames'

echo "--- Normal vendors ---"
cat output/chase-com/normal/report-*.json | jq '.summary.vendorNames'

# Cleanup
kernel browsers delete -y $STEALTH_ID
kernel browsers delete -y $NORMAL_ID

Vendor-Specific Detection Notes

Akamai

• Cookies: _abck (core validation), bm_sz, bm_sv
• Cookie ~0~ in _abck value = valid session

Cloudflare

• Cookies: __cf_bm, cf_clearance
• Challenge: /cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/
• Turnstile: challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile

DataDome

• Cookie: datadome
• dd.t === 'bv' = hard IP block (changing IP required, solving captcha won't help)

HUMAN/PerimeterX

• Cookies: _px2, _px3, _pxhd
• Press & Hold challenge requires behavioral simulation

Imperva/Incapsula

• utmvc: Script via /_Incapsula_Resource
• reese84: Cookie or x-d-token header

Kasada

• Headers: x-kpsdk-ct, x-kpsdk-cd
• Flow 1 (IPS): 429 on initial page load, must solve ips.js first
• Flow 2 (FP): Background /fp fingerprint requests