How does maigret search for a username?

Pass one or more usernames as the positional argument. maigret requests the profile URL pattern for each site in its database, confirms which ones exist, and pulls names, IDs, and links from the pages it finds. Recursive search then feeds any new usernames or IDs back into the run.

Can I run maigret online without installing it?

Yes. On Trickest the maigret node runs in the browser: set the username input, pick your report flags, and the platform executes the scan and writes the results folder. There is no local Python setup, and you can wire the output into other OSINT nodes.

Can I limit which sites maigret checks?

Yes. Use --site for a named list of services, --tags to filter by site category, or --top-sites to scan only the highest-ranked sites. Narrowing the scope shortens the run and cuts noise when you already know which platforms matter.

What report formats does maigret produce?

CSV, PDF, TXT, HTML, JSON, XMind mindmap, and a graph, each selectable per run with its own flag. The same scan can yield a machine-readable JSON file for downstream nodes and a PDF or HTML dossier for an analyst.

How does recursive search work, and can I turn it off?

When a found profile exposes another username, email, or ID, maigret extracts that value and searches on it too, widening one seed handle into a set of linked identities. Pass --no-recursion to keep the run to the original username only, or --no-extracting to skip page parsing entirely.

Updated Jul 14, 2026

OSINT

Find every account tied to a username across thousands of sites

Collect a dossier on a person by username across thousands of sites.

Build a dossier from a single username Pivot across linked identities Scope a run to relevant sites

overview

What maigret does

maigret takes one or more usernames and checks them against thousands of sites, collecting every account it can confirm into a single dossier. For each hit it records the profile URL and any data the page exposes, so a single handle becomes a map of where that person is present online and what each account reveals.

Its strength is recursive search. When a found profile exposes another username, an email, or an ID, maigret extracts that value and searches on it too, widening the investigation from one seed handle to a connected set of identities. You scope a run with tags, a named site list, or the top-ranked sites, and you tune coverage with timeout, retries, and concurrent connections.

On Trickest, maigret is an OSINT node that takes a username and writes a folder of results. It reports in many formats at once, including CSV, PDF, HTML, JSON, XMind mindmaps, and a graph, so the same run produces both a machine-readable file for downstream nodes and a human-readable report for an analyst.

source github.com/soxoj/maigret

use cases

Where maigret fits

Build a dossier from a single username

Search one handle across thousands of sites to find every account tied to it, then read the collected profile data as one consolidated report.

Pivot across linked identities

Let recursive search extract usernames and IDs from found profiles and search on them too, turning one seed handle into a connected identity graph.

Scope a run to relevant sites

Restrict the scan with tags, a named site list, or the top-ranked sites so an investigation only checks the services that matter and finishes faster.

Produce analyst-ready reports

Emit PDF, HTML, CSV, JSON, XMind, and graph reports from the same run so the output feeds both downstream automation and a human review.

reference

maigret inputs and flags

38 inputs

Name	Type	Flag	Description
usernames	STRING	·	One or more usernames to search by (separated by spaces).
site	STRING	--site	Limit analysis to only the specified sites.
tags	STRING	--tags	Restrict the scan to sites carrying the given tags.
top-sites	STRING	--top-sites	Count of sites for scan ranked by Alexa Top (default: 500).
json	STRING	--json	Generate a JSON report of a specific type: simple or ndjson.
pdf	BOOLEAN	--pdf	Generate a PDF report covering all usernames.
timeout	STRING	--timeout	Seconds to wait for each response (default 30); higher catches slow sites.
max-connections	STRING	--max-connections	Allowed number of concurrent connections (default 100).

Showing key inputs. maigret exposes 38 inputs in total.

Full flag reference (38 inputs)

Name	Type	Flag	Description
usernames	STRING	·	One or more usernames to search by (separated by spaces).
db	FILE	--db	Load Maigret database from a JSON file or HTTP web resource.
site	STRING	--site	Limit analysis to only the specified sites.
tags	STRING	--tags	Specify tags of sites (see --stats).
top-sites	STRING	--top-sites	Count of sites for scan ranked by Alexa Top (default: 500).
all-sites	BOOLEAN	--all-sites	Use all sites for scan.
use-disabled-sites	BOOLEAN	--use-disabled-sites	Use disabled sites to search (may cause many false positives).
id-type	STRING	--id-type	Specify identifier(s) type (default: username).
ignore-ids	STRING	--ignore-ids	Identifiers to exclude from the search.
parse	STRING	--parse	Parse page by URL and extract username and IDs to use for search.
submit	STRING	--submit	URL of an existing profile on a new site to submit.
no-recursion	BOOLEAN	--no-recursion	Disable recursive search by additional data extracted from pages.
no-extracting	BOOLEAN	--no-extracting	Disable parsing pages for additional data and other usernames.
with-domains	BOOLEAN	--with-domains	Enable the experimental feature of checking domains built from usernames.
self-check	BOOLEAN	--self-check	Do a self check for sites and database and disable non-working ones.
stats	BOOLEAN	--stats	Show database statistics (most frequent site engines and tags).
csv	BOOLEAN	--csv	Create a CSV report (one report per username).
pdf	BOOLEAN	--pdf	Generate a PDF report (general report on all usernames).
txt	BOOLEAN	--txt	Create a TXT report (one report per username).
html	BOOLEAN	--html	Create an HTML report file (general report on all usernames).
json	STRING	--json	Generate a JSON report of specific type: simple, ndjson (one report per username).
xmind	BOOLEAN	--xmind	Generate an XMind 8 mindmap report (one report per username).
graph	BOOLEAN	--graph	Generate a graph report (general report on all usernames).
reports-sorting	STRING	--reports-sorting	Method of results sorting in reports (default: in order of getting the result).
timeout	STRING	--timeout	Time in seconds to wait for a response to requests (default 30s). A longer timeout is more likely to get results from slow sites, but may add a long delay to gather all results.
retries	STRING	--retries	Attempts to restart temporarily failed requests.
max-connections	STRING	--max-connections	Allowed number of concurrent connections (default 100).
proxy	STRING	--proxy	Make requests over a proxy, e.g. socks5://127.0.0.1:1080.
tor-proxy	STRING	--tor-proxy	Specify the URL of your Tor gateway. Default is socks5://127.0.0.1:9050.
i2p-proxy	STRING	--i2p-proxy	Specify the URL of your I2P gateway. Default is http://127.0.0.1:4444.
cookies-jar-file	FILE	--cookies-jar-file	File with cookies.
info	BOOLEAN	--info	Display extra service information and metrics.
verbose	BOOLEAN	--verbose	Display extra information and metrics.
debug	BOOLEAN	--debug	Display extra service and debug information and metrics, and save responses in debug.log.
print-not-found	BOOLEAN	--print-not-found	Print sites where the username was not found.
print-errors	BOOLEAN	--print-errors	Print error messages: connection, captcha, site country ban, etc.
no-progressbar	BOOLEAN	--no-progressbar	Do not show the progress bar.
no-color	BOOLEAN	--no-color	Do not color terminal output.

example

Run maigret

maigret · command

# search a username across top-ranked sites, emit PDF + HTML reportsmaigret l.fenwick --top-sites 500 --pdf --html --timeout 30 --max-connections 50

sample output

[*] Checking username l.fenwick on 1500 sites[+] GitHub: https://github.com/l.fenwick[+] GitLab: https://gitlab.com/l.fenwick[+] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/l.fenwick[+] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l.fenwick[+] Twitter: https://twitter.com/l.fenwick[*] Extracted: fullname, location, created_at[*] Recursive search: 2 new usernames queued[*] 6 accounts found across 1500 sites, report saved to report_l.fenwick.pdf

guidance

Choosing maigret

Reach for maigret when you have a username and want a full dossier: every account it can find plus the profile data each one exposes, with recursive pivots to linked identities. For a faster yes/no on where a handle exists, use sherlock. For availability and validity of an email or username, use socialscan.

sherlock

Enumerates where a username exists across hundreds of sites. maigret adds recursive pivots and richer per-profile data extraction.

socialscan

Reports whether an email or username is available, taken, or invalid. A different question from maigret's dossier building.

infoga

Gathers email-account intelligence such as IP, host, and country. A complementary OSINT axis to username search.

faq

maigret questions

maigret is an OSINT username tool that collects a dossier on a person from a single handle. It checks that username against thousands of sites, records the profile URL for every confirmed account, and extracts data the pages expose. It grew out of the Sherlock lineage and ships a large built-in site database.

Run maigret yourself

A username feeds maigret, which searches thousands of sites and writes the collected dossier as a queryable output.

Run maigret in Trickest View the workflow

Facts on this page come from the live Trickest tool library.

Name

Type

Flag

Description

usernames

STRING

One or more usernames to search by (separated by spaces).

site

STRING

--site

Limit analysis to only the specified sites.

Find every account tied to a username across thousands of sites

What maigret does

Where maigret fits

Build a dossier from a single username

Pivot across linked identities

Scope a run to relevant sites

Produce analyst-ready reports

maigret inputs and flags

Run maigret

Choosing maigret

sherlock

socialscan

infoga

maigret questions

More OSINT tools

dnsdumpster-dns-lookup

dnsdumpster-host-search

dnstwist

enumerepo

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Infoga

Run maigret yourself

Find every account tied to a username across thousands of sites

What maigret does

Where maigret fits

Build a dossier from a single username

Pivot across linked identities

Scope a run to relevant sites

Produce analyst-ready reports

maigret inputs and flags

Run maigret

Choosing maigret

sherlock

socialscan

infoga

maigret questions

More OSINT tools

dnsdumpster-dns-lookup

dnsdumpster-host-search

dnstwist

enumerepo

favup

Infoga

Run maigret yourself