Who Maigret is for#
Security researchers checking account exposure
Use Maigret when a username needs repeatable checks across public sites during exposure research or incident triage.
Skip if:
Skip it if you need commercial threat feeds, dark web coverage, or identity resolution guarantees.
Investigators building username dossiers
Use Maigret to turn a handle into a documented list of possible public accounts.
Skip if:
Skip it if legal, compliance, or case-management requirements demand a managed investigation suite.
The problem it solves#
Username investigation is tedious because people reuse handles across forums, social networks, code hosts, marketplaces, and niche communities. Manual checking misses sites, wastes time, and produces inconsistent notes. Closed intelligence products can help, but they often bundle username lookup into expensive packages aimed at broader threat-intelligence workflows.
For researchers, the pain is repeatability. A lead needs to become a documented search across known sources, not a browser tab trail that cannot be audited or rerun later.
How it solves it#
Large public-site coverage
Maigret checks usernames across many public websites, including social, developer, forum, and community surfaces. Broad coverage helps researchers find reused identities without building their own site list.
CLI-driven investigations
Run searches from the command line so username checks can be scripted, repeated, or incorporated into internal investigation workflows. That is useful when the same process must run across many handles.
Report export formats
Generate investigation reports instead of relying on browser bookmarks and manual notes. Reports make findings easier to review, share internally, and attach to case records.
Strengths and trade-offs#
Strengths
- Focused OSINT workflowMaigret does one job clearly: username discovery across public sites. Unlike broad intelligence suites, it gives researchers a lightweight path for account mapping without buying a larger data product.
- MIT licensed automationMIT licensing lets teams adapt the tool for internal investigation workflows with minimal license friction. That matters when OSINT checks need to run inside scripts or controlled research environments.
Trade-offs
- -Public signals require verificationMaigret can surface possible account matches, but investigators still need to confirm identity, context, and false positives. It should support an OSINT workflow, not replace analyst judgment.
Maigret vs alternatives#
Maigret vs Recorded Future
Maigret is the better fit for a narrow, repeatable username-search workflow across public websites. Recorded Future is a broader managed intelligence product with curated data, analyst workflows, and enterprise support. Use Maigret for scriptable OSINT account discovery; use a commercial intelligence suite when you need wider data coverage and managed intelligence operations.
What it's built on#
- Languages
- Python
- Frameworks
- Flask
FAQ#
What does Maigret replace?
Maigret can replace manual username searches and part of the account-discovery workflow in broader OSINT tools. It does not replace enterprise threat-intelligence platforms like Recorded Future.
Is Maigret self-hosted?
Maigret is a CLI tool rather than a hosted server. You run it locally or in your own automation environment, which keeps the search workflow under your control.
What license does Maigret use?
Maigret uses MIT. That permissive license supports commercial use, modification, and redistribution with attribution.
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