> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pentest-tools.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Assets

> Add, import, and manage assets and targets for your security testing

## Assets and targets

Pentest-Tools.com uses two related concepts for organizing what you scan:

| Concept    | Description                                                                                | Example                                                 |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Asset**  | A top-level resource you add to the platform. Assets are the unit for subscription limits. | `example.com`, `192.168.1.1`                            |
| **Target** | A specific scannable item associated with an asset. Tools run scans against targets.       | `https://example.com/app`, `https://example.com/api/v1` |

<Info>
  Your subscription's asset limit determines how many assets you can add. One asset can have multiple targets, all counted under that single asset.
</Info>

When you add a target, the platform automatically creates or associates it with the appropriate asset:

1. **You provide a target**: For example, `https://example.com/app`
2. **The system extracts the asset**: The hostname `example.com` becomes the asset
3. **Target links to asset**: The URL target is associated with the `example.com` asset
4. **Scans run on the target**: Tools scan the specific URL you provided

### Example: One asset, multiple targets

For the asset `example.com`, you might have these targets:

| Target                       | Type     |
| ---------------------------- | -------- |
| `example.com`                | Hostname |
| `https://example.com/`       | URL      |
| `https://example.com/app`    | URL      |
| `https://example.com/api/v1` | URL      |

All of these targets belong to the single `example.com` asset, counting as **one asset** toward your subscription limit.

## Adding a single target

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Assets">
    Go to **Assets** from the main navigation.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add target">
    Click the **Add target** button in the top right.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter target details">
    Provide the target (domain, IP address, or URL) and an optional description.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure alive check (optional)">
    Enable **Include only alive targets** to verify the target is reachable before adding it. See [Check alive](#check-alive) for details.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the target">
    Click **Add** to create the target. The asset is created automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Supported target formats

| Format          | Example                          | Asset created     |
| --------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| Domain          | `example.com`                    | `example.com`     |
| Subdomain       | `api.example.com`                | `api.example.com` |
| IP address      | `192.168.1.1`                    | `192.168.1.1`     |
| URL             | `https://example.com/app`        | `example.com`     |
| URL with port   | `https://example.com:8443/admin` | `example.com`     |
| IP range (CIDR) | `192.168.1.0/24`                 | Individual IPs    |
| IP range (dash) | `192.168.1.1-100`                | Individual IPs    |

<Note>
  CIDR notation supports masks from /24 to /30. Masks outside this range are rejected.
</Note>

<Note>
  Different tools accept different target types. For example, the Website Scanner requires a URL, while the Port Scanner accepts hostnames or IP addresses.
</Note>

## Importing multiple targets

You can import targets from a file or from AWS.

### Import from file

Import targets from a `.txt` file with one target per line. Optionally include descriptions after a comma.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open import dialog">
    Click the **Import** button and select **From file**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Prepare your file">
    Create a text file with targets and optional descriptions:

    ```
    www.example.com, Production website
    dev.example.com, Development server
    staging.example.com, Pre-prod environment
    192.168.1.0/24, Production network range
    10.10.0.1-255, Internal servers
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload and configure">
    Select your file and optionally enable **Include only alive targets** to filter unreachable hosts. See [Check alive](#check-alive) for details.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Import">
    Click **Import**. You'll receive a notification when the import completes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  For IP ranges, enable the [alive check](#check-alive) to avoid adding offline hosts. This takes longer but keeps your asset list cleaner.
</Tip>

### Import from AWS

If you have an AWS integration configured, you can import targets from your AWS infrastructure.

1. Click **Import** and select **From AWS**
2. Choose your AWS integration
3. Select the resource types to import
4. Click **Import**

<Info>
  AWS import requires a configured AWS integration. See [AWS integration](/capabilities/integrations/aws) for setup instructions.
</Info>

## Managing assets and targets

### Editing targets

You can update the description of existing targets:

1. Find the target in your asset list
2. Click the **Edit description** button
3. Update the description
4. Click **Save**

### Moving targets between workspaces

Move targets to a different workspace to reorganize your work:

1. Select one or more targets
2. Click **Move**
3. Choose the destination workspace
4. Confirm the move

<Note>
  Moving a target also moves its associated scan history and findings to the new workspace.
</Note>

### Deleting assets and targets

<Warning>
  Deleting an asset removes all associated targets, scans, findings, and attack surface data permanently. This action cannot be undone.
</Warning>

Use **Group by asset** to see assets as top-level rows and act on them directly.

#### To delete targets (keeping the asset)

1. Select the specific targets you want to remove
2. Click **Delete**
3. Confirm the deletion

#### To delete an entire asset

1. Select the asset
2. Click **Delete**
3. Confirm that you want to delete the asset and all its targets

## Asset discovery

Some tools find new items as a side effect of scanning:

* **Subdomain Finder** discovers subdomains under your domain asset
* **Website Recon** identifies web technologies, CMS platforms, and frameworks
* **Port Scanner** finds services that may expose web interfaces

Discovered items appear in the scan results. Results from Website Recon and Port Scanner are also merged into the [attack surface view](/capabilities/attack-surface) automatically. To add discovered subdomains or hosts as targets, add them manually from the scan results.

<Tip>
  Use the attack surface view to see all discovered hosts, ports, and technologies across your scans.
</Tip>

<Tip>
  After a [Subdomain Finder](/tools/subdomain-finder), [Domain Finder](/tools/domain-finder), or [Virtual Hosts Finder](/tools/virtual-hosts-finder) scan, you can add discovered items directly to your asset inventory. Select the rows you want in the results table and click **Add to assets**. Optionally enable **Include only alive targets** to filter out unreachable hosts before adding them.
</Tip>

## Check alive

When adding or importing targets, you can enable the **Include only alive targets** option to filter out unreachable hosts before they're added to your workspace.

### When to use it

The alive check is useful when:

* You're importing an IP range and want to skip offline hosts
* You're scanning an internal network with unused IP addresses in a CIDR block
* You want to confirm hosts are reachable before adding them

<Note>
  The alive check takes longer than adding targets directly, but results in a cleaner asset list with only reachable hosts.
</Note>

### How it works

The platform uses a customized version of Nmap's host discovery to determine if a target is alive. Multiple probe types are sent to maximize detection accuracy, as different network configurations and firewalls may block certain traffic.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="ICMP probes">
    * **Echo request**: Sends ICMP type 8 packets expecting echo replies. Often blocked by firewalls but reliable on internal networks.
    * **Timestamp request**: Sends ICMP queries expecting reply code 14. Useful when echo requests are blocked.
    * **Netmask request**: Sends ICMP queries expecting reply code 18. Another alternative when echo requests are blocked.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="TCP probes">
    * **SYN probes**: Sends empty TCP packets with the SYN flag to the top 100 ports.
    * **ACK probes**: Sends TCP packets with ACK flags, expecting RST responses.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="UDP probes">
    Sends UDP packets to common ports (53, 113, 161, 162, 497, 40125). An ICMP "port unreachable" response indicates the host is alive. This bypasses firewalls that only filter TCP traffic.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="IP protocol ping">
    Sends IP packets with various protocol numbers (ICMP, IGMP, IP-in-IP, TCP, SCTP) to detect hosts that respond to specific protocols.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Source port spoofing">
    Uses port 53 (DNS) as the source port to bypass poorly configured firewalls that permit traffic based on source port.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Asset limits

Your subscription includes limits for both added assets and scanned assets. These limits apply across all your workspaces and are shared among all team members on your account.

For detailed information about how asset limits work, see [Assets and limits](/account-billing/plans-and-limits/assets-and-limits).

## Best practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Use descriptive names">
    Add meaningful descriptions to targets so you and your team can quickly identify what each one represents.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Organize with workspaces">
    Group related assets in workspaces by project, client, or environment. This makes it easier to manage large inventories.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Clean up regularly">
    Remove decommissioned targets and assets to keep your inventory current and make room for new additions.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use alive checks for imports">
    When importing large lists (especially IP ranges), enable the [alive check](#check-alive) to filter out unreachable hosts automatically.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related topics

* [Assets and limits](/account-billing/plans-and-limits/assets-and-limits): How assets affect your subscription
* [Workspaces](/core/workspaces): Group assets by project or client
* [Attack surface overview](/capabilities/attack-surface): View all discovered targets
* [AWS integration](/capabilities/integrations/aws): Import targets from AWS