Reference Documentation

Comprehensive technical reference, API documentation, troubleshooting guides, and frequently asked questions for ProRT-IP.

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Technical Specification v2.0

Complete technical specification covering architecture, implementation details, and design decisions.

Topics:

• System architecture and component design
• Network protocols and packet structures
• Performance characteristics and benchmarks
• Security model and privilege handling
• Database schema and storage optimization
• Platform support and compatibility matrix

When to use: Detailed understanding of ProRT-IP internals, architecture decisions, or implementation details.

API Reference

Complete API documentation for ProRT-IP's public interfaces, configuration options, and plugin system.

Topics:

• Core scanning APIs (SYN, Connect, UDP, Stealth)
• Service detection and OS fingerprinting APIs
• Configuration and timing options
• Output and export interfaces
• Plugin system and Lua integration
• Rate limiting and performance tuning

When to use: Integrating ProRT-IP into applications, developing plugins, or programmatic usage.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions covering installation, usage, performance, and best practices.

Topics:

• General questions (comparison to Nmap, platform support, legality)
• Installation and setup (dependencies, privilege configuration)
• Usage questions (scanning networks, service detection, OS fingerprinting)
• Performance questions (packet rates, optimization, distributed scanning)
• Common errors (permissions, file limits, networking issues)
• Best practices (timing templates, incremental saves, progress monitoring)

When to use: Quick answers to common questions, installation guidance, or usage examples.

Troubleshooting Guide

Comprehensive troubleshooting procedures for all ProRT-IP issues across platforms.

Topics:

• Common issues (permission denied, packet capture failures, timeouts)
• Platform-specific issues (Linux, Windows, macOS)
• Performance issues (slow scanning, high memory, CPU bottlenecks)
• Output and export problems
• Database issues
• IPv6 support status
• Advanced troubleshooting tools
• Getting help and reporting bugs

When to use: Diagnosing errors, fixing platform-specific problems, or performance optimization.

Common Reference Paths

Installation Issues

1. libpcap not found → FAQ: Installation and Setup
2. Permission denied → Troubleshooting: Permission Denied Errors
3. Running without root → FAQ: How do I run without root/sudo?

Usage Guidance

1. Fast network scanning → FAQ: What's the fastest way to scan a /24 network?
2. Service detection → FAQ: How do I detect service versions?
3. OS fingerprinting → FAQ: How do I perform OS fingerprinting?

Performance Optimization

1. Slow scans → FAQ: Why is my scan slow?
2. Packet rates → FAQ: How many packets per second?
3. Memory usage → Troubleshooting: High Memory Usage
4. Performance profiling → Troubleshooting: Performance Profiling

Platform-Specific Help

1. Linux → Troubleshooting: Linux
2. Windows → Troubleshooting: Windows
3. macOS → Troubleshooting: macOS

Technical Details

1. Architecture → Technical Specification: Architecture
2. Scan types → Technical Specification: Scan Types
3. Performance → Technical Specification: Performance Characteristics
4. Security → Technical Specification: Security Model

API Integration

1. Core APIs → API Reference: Core APIs
2. Configuration → API Reference: Configuration
3. Plugin system → API Reference: Plugin System
4. Output formats → API Reference: Output Formats

Reference Document Comparison

Quick Reference Cards

Essential Commands

# Fast network scan
prtip -sS -p 80,443,22,21,25 --max-rate 100000 192.168.1.0/24

# Service detection
prtip -sS -sV -p 1-1000 target.com

# OS fingerprinting
prtip -sS -O target.com

# Full scan with service detection
prtip -sS -sV -p- -T4 target.com

# Stealth scan with evasion
prtip -sS -f -D RND:10 --ttl 64 target.com

Timing Templates

-T0  # Paranoid (5 min timeout, 1-10 pps, IDS evasion)
-T1  # Sneaky (15 sec timeout, 10-100 pps, unreliable networks)
-T2  # Polite (1 sec timeout, 100-1K pps, Internet scanning)
-T3  # Normal (1 sec timeout, 1K-10K pps, default)
-T4  # Aggressive (500ms timeout, 10K-100K pps, LANs)
-T5  # Insane (100ms timeout, 10K-100K pps, fast LANs)

Output Formats

-oN results.txt      # Normal output
-oX results.xml      # XML output (Nmap-compatible)
-oG results.gnmap    # Greppable output
-oJ results.json     # JSON output
-oA results          # All formats (txt, xml, json)
--with-db            # SQLite database storage

Debug Logging

RUST_LOG=info prtip -sS target.com     # Basic logging
RUST_LOG=debug prtip -sS target.com    # Detailed logging
RUST_LOG=trace prtip -sS target.com    # Maximum verbosity

Version-Specific Notes

v0.4.0 (Phase 4 Complete)

• Partial IPv6 support (TCP Connect only)
• 8 scan types available
• Service detection: 500+ services
• OS fingerprinting with Nmap database
• PCAPNG packet capture
• Rate limiting with -1.8% overhead

v0.5.0 (Phase 5 Complete)

• Full IPv6 support (all scan types)
• TLS certificate analysis
• Enhanced service detection (85-90% accuracy)
• Idle scan implementation
• Lua plugin system
• Comprehensive fuzz testing (230M+ executions)
• 54.92% code coverage
• 2,102 tests passing

v0.6.0+ (Planned)

• Terminal UI (TUI) interface
• Network optimizations
• Interactive target selection
• Configuration profiles
• Enhanced help system

External Resources

Official Documentation

• GitHub Repository
• Release Notes
• Issue Tracker

Community

• GitHub Discussions
• Security Policy
• Contributing Guide

See Also

• User Guide - Step-by-step usage instructions
• Getting Started - Installation and first scan
• Features - Detailed feature documentation
• Advanced Topics - Performance tuning and optimization
• Development - Contributing and architecture