# Katana

Katana - Automatic CTF Challenge Solver in Python3

Repository: https://github.com/JohnHammond/katana
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/katana
Language: Python
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2024-03-07T15:39:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2381, "days_push": 909, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1363, forks 187 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:30.425605+00:00)

## What it is
Katana is a Python CLI tool by John Hammond that automates common low-hanging-fruit checks for CTF challenges, paired with ctf-katana, a curated living document of tools and commands for CTF categories like enumeration, forensics, crypto, web, and binary exploitation. Together they serve as both an automated helper and a reference guide for capture-the-flag players.

## Use cases
- automate common checks on a CTF challenge file
- find tools for solving SMB enumeration challenges
- look up commands for steganography or forensics challenges
- get started with capture the flag competitions
- quickly triage unknown CTF binaries or files
- find reverse shell and post-exploitation commands
- reference commands for HackTheBox or similar platforms

## When to choose
- you play CTFs and want a curated cheat sheet of tools and commands
- you want to automate routine low-hanging-fruit checks on challenge files
- you are a beginner looking for guidance across many CTF categories

## When to avoid
- you need a professional penetration testing suite for real engagements
- you need a maintained tool with active releases and a clear license
- you want a GUI or polished workflow rather than a script and reference list

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: penetration-testing, security, developer-tools, cli
- domain: security, penetration-testing, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cli, python
- tags: ctf, capture-the-flag, awesome-list, reconnaissance, enumeration, steganography, forensics, cryptography, reverse-engineering, binary-exploitation, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- JohnHammond/katana (main) score 32
- JohnHammond/ctf-katana (docs) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:30.425605+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:33:14.698091+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/JohnHammond/katana (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:30.425605+00:00, sha ee8444b6ee92)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.