How to Trigger an External Scan

Configure and start an external discovery or assessment run.

Open Modules -> External Assessment -> Run Assessment. The same wizard handles discovery-only runs, assessment-only runs, and runs that perform both in sequence.

1. Choose the Intent

Intent	Use it when
Discovery	You need to map domains, IPs, services, pages, APIs, and browser flows without vulnerability testing.
Assessment	The target surface has already been discovered and you want to test it.
Discovery + Assessment	You want to refresh the target surface and assess the resulting inventory in one run.

Choose Discovery + Assessment for a first comprehensive run. Use Assessment only when the existing discovery data is current enough for the engagement.

Intent replaces the former separate discovery and attack pages.

2. Select Scope

Select one or more approved domains or IP targets. The list shows verification and whitelist status.

• Use Manage target assets when a required domain is missing. Target creation remains in the dedicated scope-management page.

• A target that requires ownership verification or whitelisting must pass those checks before launch.

• Select each asset in Configure selected asset to set its authentication and starting URL independently.

Verification, whitelisting, and per-asset coverage are visible in Scope.

Authentication Coverage

Choose either or both contexts:

• Unauthenticated tests the public surface without cookies or recorded login state.

• Authenticated runs each selected browser session independently. Use separate sessions for roles whose permissions should be compared.

An optional starting URL can direct a context to a specific full URL or absolute path. Leave it empty to start from the domain root.

Recording Browser Session

Explore Manually

When Debug Mode is enabled, Explore manually opens an interactive proxied crawler. Crawl as chooses one explicit logged-out or recorded-session context. Opening a crawler does not add another context to the assessment.

Manual Crawler

3. Configure Scan Settings

Set the egress route and a request rate that the target can safely absorb. Use Auto-calibrate to send controlled test traffic and estimate a sustainable rate.

For assessment intents, select the approved attack vectors. All available categories are selected by default for broad coverage. Advanced contains custom headers, browser behavior, trajectory scope, runtime controls, and optional concurrency limits.

Use a conservative request rate for production or fragile applications.

Configure Scan Settings for External Assessment

4. Choose Automation

Choose one outcome:

• run immediately;

• schedule a one-time or recurring run.

The schedule stores the scope and settings submitted with the run. Recreate it if credentials, browser sessions, target scope, or required agents later change.

5. Review and Start

Review the intent, selected assets, authentication contexts, scan settings, automation, estimates, and validation messages. Use the Edit actions to correct any section.

• Start run launches an immediate run.

• Schedule run saves the configured schedule.

Pentest Copilot blocks launch when required scope, verification, authentication, configuration, or worker checks fail. Fix the listed step rather than repeatedly submitting the same configuration.

Monitor and Review

• Use Activity -> Activity to monitor or cancel the run and inspect errors.

• Use External Assessment -> Statistics for aggregate results.

• Use External Assessment -> Attack Paths to triage validated findings.

• Generate deliverables from Reports.

Common Blocks

Problem	Check
Target cannot be selected or launched	Confirm it exists, is approved by whitelist rules, and is verified when required.
Authenticated coverage is incomplete	Select at least one ready browser session for every intended role.
Target blocks scanner traffic	Lower the rate, auto-calibrate, allowlist scanner IPs, or use approved residential egress.
No actionable browser or API flows exist	Run Discovery, record/import a session, or use Manual Crawler in Debug Mode.
A schedule uses old settings	Delete and recreate it with the current run configuration.