Building a Custom OSINT Tool for Digital Footprinting (by lazyekansh)

Ekansh — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:25:50 +0000

Hi everyone! I am Ekansh T. (known online as lazyekansh), a frontend developer and JEE aspirant from India.
While studying, I became fascinated by Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)—the art of gathering data from public sources. I realized that manual information gathering (like checking usernames across 50+ sites) was slow and boring.
So, I decided to automate it. I built a custom OSINT Tool (integrated with a Telegram bot) to streamline digital footprint analysis.

The Problem
When performing basic reconnaissance or digital footprinting, I faced these issues:
fragmented Tools: I had to visit one site for IP lookup, another for username checks, and a third for DNS info.
Rate Limits: Public APIs often blocked me after a few requests.
Slow UI: Most free tools have terrible user interfaces filled with ads.

The Solution: My Custom Tool
I built a centralized tool that aggregates data from multiple sources into a clean, dark-themed interface (and a Telegram bot for mobile use).
Tech Stack
Frontend: Next.js & React (for the web dashboard).
Backend: Python & Node.js (for handling the logic and scraping).
Automation: Telegram Bot API (for quick lookups on the go).
Infrastructure: Custom proxy rotation to bypass rate limits.

Future Plans
I am currently working on:
Adding visual graphing to show connections between data points.
Improving the "Dark Teal" UI to make it look even more like a sci-fi HUD.
Optimizing the proxy network for faster scans.

Connect with Me
I am constantly building new tools and updating my portfolio.
Portfolio
GitHub
Twitter/X

If you are interested in OSINT, automation, or web development, let's connect!

DEV Community: Ekansh

Building a Custom OSINT Tool for Digital Footprinting (by lazyekansh)