Why -passive option is moved into URLFinder?

[ehsandeep]

To improve functionality and address user feedback, we’ve moved the passive URL discovery feature (-passive) from Katana into a standalone tool called URLFinder. This decision allows Katana to focus solely on active crawling, while URLFinder specializes in passive URL extraction, simplifying development and enhancing both tools.

Users had reported confusion and challenges with the -passive flag in Katana, as discussed in Katana Issue #892 and Nuclei Issue #5140. Maintaining both functionalities in a single tool created performance trade-offs and usability issues, which this separation resolves.

URLFinder now serves as the dedicated solution for passive URL discovery, complementing Katana’s streamlined active crawling capabilities.

References:

• issue on -passive feature #892
• Handling RAW less JSON Lines in file nuclei#5140
• https://github.com/projectdiscovery/katana/releases/tag/v1.1.1

Feedback is always welcome as we continue to improve!