What is Anubis?
Facing relentless AI crawlers that ignore robots.txt directives and strain your server resources? If you need a robust defense, particularly for websites you prefer remain unindexed by search engines, Anubis offers a direct solution. Developed by TecharoHQ, this open-source tool implements a SHA256 Proof-of-Work (PoW) challenge within HTTP requests, effectively acting as a gatekeeper against non-compliant automated bots. It's a focused, albeit strong ("nuclear," as the developers state), approach designed for specific protection needs when standard methods fall short or aren't desired.
Key Features
🛡️ Implement Proof-of-Work Defense: Requires incoming connections to perform a small computational task (SHA256 PoW). This simple calculation deters resource-intensive bots that won't or can't complete it, while being manageable for legitimate user browsers.
⚙️ Protect Upstream Resources: Acts as a shield, preventing unwanted automated traffic from overwhelming your actual web application or content servers, preserving bandwidth and performance.
📦 Deploy Easily with Docker: Get Anubis up and running quickly within your existing infrastructure using the provided Docker support for straightforward integration.
🔓 Leverage Open-Source Transparency: Built with Go and available on GitHub, you can inspect, modify, and contribute to the codebase, ensuring it fits your exact security posture and operational needs.
📉 Discourage Search Engine Indexing: Intentionally makes it difficult for standard search engine crawlers to index your site. This is a feature for protecting private content, internal tools, or resources not meant for public discovery via search.
⚡ Run Lightweight & Efficiently: Designed to be as minimal as possible, Anubis operates with low resource consumption while effectively filtering traffic.
🔄 Utilize Multi-threaded Checks: Employs multiple threads for PoW verification, efficiently handling concurrent user requests without becoming a bottleneck itself.
Use Cases
Securing Internal Company Tools: Imagine you host internal wikis, dashboards, or development resources. Anubis ensures only human team members accessing via browsers (or specifically configured tools) can reach them easily. It prevents accidental indexing by search engines and blocks nuisance bots, without necessarily requiring complex VPN setups for this layer of protection.
Shielding Private Content or APIs: You might run a membership site, offer exclusive digital downloads, or expose an API not intended for public scraping. Anubis adds a significant barrier against automated content rippers or API abuse bots, helping safeguard your valuable assets from unauthorized replication or overload. The inherent difficulty for bots also keeps the content out of search results.
Protecting Sensitive Research Data Portals: If you manage a web portal presenting specific datasets or research findings intended for a select audience and not for broad public indexing or bulk harvesting, Anubis acts as an effective first line of defense. It filters out automated scraping attempts, preserving server resources for legitimate research access.
Why Choose Anubis?
Anubis provides a direct and potent method for shielding your web resources from the strain of aggressive, non-compliant AI crawlers. If your priority is robust protection and resource preservation over universal search engine visibility, its Proof-of-Work mechanism offers an effective, lightweight, and transparent open-source solution. It's a deliberately strong tool designed for website administrators who need to draw a clear line against unwanted automated access.





