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Scan a website you own

Here's how to scan a website you own with Hardn. It takes about two minutes. (1:00)

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Step by step

The same steps as the video.

  1. 1

    Add your site

    Open Sites and choose Add site. Type the address people visit, choose Website, confirm you're allowed to test it, and continue.

    Use the address visitors use, for example https://www.example.com. Choose Website, Web app (a site with sign-in) or REST API.

  2. 2

    Prove you own it

    Now prove the site is yours. Add this TXT record where you manage your DNS, or upload a small file instead, then choose Check now.

    Hardn looks up who runs the site's DNS and hosting and shows the quickest way first. With Cloudflare, choose Connect Cloudflare and paste an “Edit zone DNS” API token for that domain: Hardn adds the record and checks it, and never keeps the token.

    Otherwise add a TXT record named _hardn-challenge.your-host with the value Hardn shows (it links to your DNS provider's page and says what to type in its Name box), serve a text file at /.well-known/hardn-verify.txt containing that value, or add the hardn-site-verification meta tag to your home page. Then choose Check now.

  3. 3

    Start your first scan

    Once it's verified, start your first scan. Hardn only reads your site, and never changes anything.

  4. 4

    Read your report

    When it finishes, you get a grade from A to F and every issue, most serious first. Open one to see exactly how to fix it.

    On a completed scan you can also Share report (a read-only link), download a PDF, or export SARIF.

  5. 5

    Keep it monitored

    Then switch on monitoring in the site's settings. Hardn rescans on schedule, and emails you when something new turns up.

    Open the site, choose Settings, and set Monitoring to daily, weekly or monthly. Your plan decides how often; alerts go to owners and admins by email and to your webhook.

If something goes wrong

Check now says it can't find the record.
New DNS records usually appear within minutes, sometimes up to an hour. Check the record name isn't doubled (some DNS hosts add your domain for you) and that the value matches exactly.
The file check fails.
The file must load over HTTPS on the same host, with no redirect to another host, and contain exactly the value Hardn shows.
Connect Cloudflare says the token can't edit DNS.
Create the token from the “Edit zone DNS” template and, under Zone Resources, include the site's domain. A Global API Key or a token for another domain won't work. Paste the whole token: Cloudflare shows it only once.
The report says bot protection answered instead of my site.
A challenge page (for example from a CDN's bot protection) answered Hardn's requests, so the scan isn't graded and no issues are closed. Let Hardn's requests through, then scan again.
I'm out of credits.
Scans your plan includes don't use credits. For the rest, add credits or change plan in Billing. A failed scan is refunded.

More walkthroughs

Still stuck? Email support@hardn.si and a person will reply.