๐ฅ Check out this must-read post from Hacker News ๐
๐ **Category**:
โ **What Youโll Learn**:
Global Threat Intercept โ Real-Time Geospatial Intelligence Platform

ShadowBroker is a real-time, full-spectrum geospatial intelligence dashboard that aggregates live data from dozens of open-source intelligence (OSINT) feeds and renders them on a unified dark-ops map interface. It tracks aircraft, ships, satellites, earthquakes, conflict zones, CCTV networks, GPS jamming, and breaking geopolitical events โ all updating in real time.
Built with Next.js, MapLibre GL, FastAPI, and Python, it’s designed for analysts, researchers, and enthusiasts who want a single-pane-of-glass view of global activity.
๐ฉ๏ธ Aviation Tracking
- Commercial Flights โ Real-time positions via OpenSky Network (~5,000+ aircraft)
- Private Aircraft โ Light GA, turboprops, bizjets tracked separately
- Private Jets โ High-net-worth individual aircraft with owner identification
- Military Flights โ Tankers, ISR, fighters, transports via adsb.lol military endpoint
- Flight Trail Accumulation โ Persistent breadcrumb trails for all tracked aircraft
- Holding Pattern Detection โ Automatically flags aircraft circling (>300ยฐ total turn)
- Aircraft Classification โ Shape-accurate SVG icons: airliners, turboprops, bizjets, helicopters
- Grounded Detection โ Aircraft below 100ft AGL rendered with grey icons
- AIS Vessel Stream โ 25,000+ vessels via aisstream.io WebSocket (real-time)
- Ship Classification โ Cargo, tanker, passenger, yacht, military vessel types with color-coded icons
- Carrier Strike Group Tracker โ All 11 active US Navy aircraft carriers with OSINT-estimated positions
- Automated GDELT news scraping for carrier movement intelligence
- 50+ geographic region-to-coordinate mappings
- Disk-cached positions, auto-updates at 00:00 & 12:00 UTC
- Cruise & Passenger Ships โ Dedicated layer for cruise liners and ferries
- Clustered Display โ Ships cluster at low zoom with count labels, decluster on zoom-in
๐ฐ๏ธ Space & Satellites
- Orbital Tracking โ Real-time satellite positions from N2YO API
- Mission-Type Classification โ Color-coded by mission: military recon (red), SAR (cyan), SIGINT (white), navigation (blue), early warning (magenta), commercial imaging (green), space station (gold)
๐ Geopolitics & Conflict
- Global Incidents โ GDELT-powered conflict event aggregation (last 8 hours, ~1,000 events)
- Ukraine Frontline โ Live warfront GeoJSON from DeepState Map
- SIGINT/RISINT News Feed โ Real-time RSS aggregation from multiple intelligence-focused sources
- Region Dossier โ Right-click anywhere on the map for:
- Country profile (population, capital, languages, currencies, area)
- Head of state & government type (Wikidata SPARQL)
- Local Wikipedia summary with thumbnail
- CCTV Mesh โ 2,000+ live traffic cameras from:
- ๐ฌ๐ง Transport for London JamCams
- ๐บ๐ธ Austin, TX TxDOT
- ๐บ๐ธ NYC DOT
- ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore LTA
- Custom URL ingestion
- Feed Rendering โ Automatic detection & rendering of video, MJPEG, HLS, embed, satellite tile, and image feeds
- Clustered Map Display โ Green dots cluster with count labels, decluster on zoom
- GPS Jamming Detection โ Real-time analysis of aircraft NAC-P (Navigation Accuracy Category) values
- Grid-based aggregation identifies interference zones
- Red overlay squares with “GPS JAM XX%” severity labels
- Radio Intercept Panel โ Scanner-style UI for monitoring communications
- Earthquakes (24h) โ USGS real-time earthquake feed with magnitude-scaled markers
- Day/Night Cycle โ Solar terminator overlay showing global daylight/darkness
- Global Markets Ticker โ Live financial market indices (minimizable)
- Measurement Tool โ Point-to-point distance & bearing measurement on the map
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ FRONTEND (Next.js) โ
โ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ
โ โ MapLibre GL โ โ NewsFeed โ โ Control Panels โ โ
โ โ 2D WebGL โ โ SIGINT โ โ Layers/Filters โ โ
โ โ Map Render โ โ Intel โ โ Markets/Radio โ โ
โ โโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโ โโโโโโฌโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ
โ โ REST API (15s fast / 60s slowโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโค
โ BACKEND (FastAPI) โ
โ โ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ
โ โ Data Fetcher (Scheduler) โ โ
โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ
โ โ โ OpenSky โ adsb.lol โ N2YO โ USGS โ โ โ
โ โ โ Flights โ Military โ Sats โ Quakes โ โ โ
โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโค โ โ
โ โ โ AIS WS โ Carrier โ GDELT โ CCTV โ โ โ
โ โ โ Ships โ Tracker โ Conflict โ Cameras โ โ โ
โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโโผโโโโโโโโโโค โ โ
โ โ โ DeepStateโ RSS โ Region โ GPS โ โ โ
โ โ โ Frontlineโ Intel โ Dossier โ Jamming โ โ โ
โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ
โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
๐ฆ Quick Start (No Code Required)
If you just want to run the dashboard without dealing with terminal commands:
- Go to the Releases tab on the right side of this GitHub page.
- Download the
ShadowBroker_v0.1.zipfile. - Extract the folder to your computer.
- Windows: Double-click
start.bat.
Mac/Linux: Open terminal, typechmod +x start.sh, and run./start.sh. - It will automatically install everything and launch the dashboard!
If you want to modify the code or run from source:
- Node.js 18+ and npm
- Python 3.10+ with
pip - API keys for:
aisstream.io,n2yo.com(and optionallyopensky-network.org,lta.gov.sg)
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/shadowbroker.git
cd shadowbroker/live-risk-dashboard
# Backend setup
cd backend
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate # Windows
# source venv/bin/activate # macOS/Linux
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Create .env with your API keys
echo "AISSTREAM_API_KEY=your_key_here" >> .env
echo "N2YO_API_KEY=your_key_here" >> .env
echo "OPENSKY_USERNAME=your_user" >> .env
echo "OPENSKY_PASSWORD=your_pass" >> .env
# Frontend setup
cd ../frontend
npm install
# From the frontend directory โ starts both frontend & backend concurrently
npm run dev
This starts:
- Next.js frontend on
http://localhost:3000 - FastAPI backend on
http://localhost:8000
All layers are independently toggleable from the left panel:
| Layer | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Flights | โ ON | Airlines, cargo, GA aircraft |
| Private Flights | โ ON | Non-commercial private aircraft |
| Private Jets | โ ON | High-value bizjets with owner data |
| Military Flights | โ ON | Military & government aircraft |
| Tracked Aircraft | โ ON | Special interest watch list |
| Satellites | โ ON | Orbital assets by mission type |
| Carriers / Mil / Cargo | โ ON | Navy carriers, cargo ships, tankers |
| Civilian Vessels | โ OFF | Yachts, fishing, recreational |
| Cruise / Passenger | โ ON | Cruise ships and ferries |
| Earthquakes (24h) | โ ON | USGS seismic events |
| CCTV Mesh | โ OFF | Surveillance camera network |
| Ukraine Frontline | โ ON | Live warfront positions |
| Global Incidents | โ ON | GDELT conflict events |
| GPS Jamming | โ ON | NAC-P degradation zones |
| Day / Night Cycle | โ ON | Solar terminator overlay |
The platform is optimized for handling massive real-time datasets:
- Gzip Compression โ API payloads compressed ~92% (11.6 MB โ 915 KB)
- ETag Caching โ
304 Not Modifiedresponses skip redundant JSON parsing - Viewport Culling โ Only features within the visible map bounds (+20% buffer) are rendered
- Clustered Rendering โ Ships, CCTV, and earthquakes use MapLibre clustering to reduce feature count
- Debounced Viewport Updates โ 300ms debounce prevents GeoJSON rebuild thrash during pan/zoom
- Position Interpolation โ Smooth 10s tick animation between data refreshes
- React.memo โ Heavy components wrapped to prevent unnecessary re-renders
- Coordinate Precision โ Lat/lng rounded to 5 decimals (~1m) to reduce JSON size
live-risk-dashboard/
โโโ backend/
โ โโโ main.py # FastAPI app, middleware, API routes
โ โโโ carrier_cache.json # Persisted carrier OSINT positions
โ โโโ cctv.db # SQLite CCTV camera database
โ โโโ services/
โ โโโ data_fetcher.py # Core scheduler โ fetches all data sources
โ โโโ ais_stream.py # AIS WebSocket client (25K+ vessels)
โ โโโ carrier_tracker.py # OSINT carrier position tracker
โ โโโ cctv_pipeline.py # Multi-source CCTV camera ingestion
โ โโโ geopolitics.py # GDELT + Ukraine frontline fetcher
โ โโโ region_dossier.py # Right-click country/city intelligence
โ โโโ radio_intercept.py # Scanner radio feed integration
โ โโโ network_utils.py # HTTP client with curl fallback
โ โโโ api_settings.py # API key management
โ
โโโ frontend/
โ โโโ src/
โ โ โโโ app/
โ โ โ โโโ page.tsx # Main dashboard โ state, polling, layout
โ โ โโโ components/
โ โ โโโ MaplibreViewer.tsx # Core map โ 2,000+ lines, all GeoJSON layers
โ โ โโโ NewsFeed.tsx # SIGINT feed + entity detail panels
โ โ โโโ WorldviewLeftPanel.tsx # Data layer toggles
โ โ โโโ WorldviewRightPanel.tsx # Search + filter sidebar
โ โ โโโ FilterPanel.tsx # Basic layer filters
โ โ โโโ AdvancedFilterModal.tsx # Airport/country/owner filtering
โ โ โโโ MapLegend.tsx # Dynamic legend with all icons
โ โ โโโ MarketsPanel.tsx # Global financial markets ticker
โ โ โโโ RadioInterceptPanel.tsx # Scanner-style radio panel
โ โ โโโ FindLocateBar.tsx # Search/locate bar
โ โ โโโ SettingsPanel.tsx # App settings
โ โ โโโ ScaleBar.tsx # Map scale indicator
โ โ โโโ WikiImage.tsx # Wikipedia image fetcher
โ โ โโโ ErrorBoundary.tsx # Crash recovery wrapper
โ โโโ package.json
๐ Environment Variables
Create a .env file in the backend/ directory:
# Required
AISSTREAM_API_KEY=your_aisstream_key # Maritime vessel tracking
N2YO_API_KEY=your_n2yo_key # Satellite position data
# Optional (enhances data quality)
OPENSKY_CLIENT_ID=your_opensky_client_id # Higher rate limits for flight data
OPENSKY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_opensky_secret
LTA_ACCOUNT_KEY=your_lta_key # Singapore CCTV cameras
This is an educational and research tool built entirely on publicly available, open-source intelligence (OSINT) data. No classified, restricted, or non-public data sources are used. Carrier positions are estimates based on public reporting. The military-themed UI is purely aesthetic.
Do not use this tool for any operational, military, or intelligence purpose.
This project is for educational and personal research purposes. See individual API provider terms of service for data usage restrictions.
Built with โ and too many API calls
๐ฌ **Whatโs your take?**
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
#๏ธโฃ **#BigBodyCobainShadowbroker #Opensource #intelligence #global #theater #Track #corporateprivate #jets #wealthy #spy #satellites #seismic #events #unified #interface #knowledge #rarely #aggregated #open #GitHub**
๐ **Posted on**: 1772998513
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