# External Recon

> Use this tool when you need to conduct external network reconnaissance, identify potential security vulnerabilities, and gather intelligence on target domains. It provides capabilities for DNS lookups, email security checks, port scanning, and WHOIS lookups, generating outputs such as domain enumerations, IP addresses, and open ports. Ideal for security professionals, it streamlines the reconnaissance process, enabling systematic discovery and assessment of target domains.

Canonical page: https://skillsregistry.net/skills/timsonner-external-recon  
JSON: https://api.skillsregistry.net/v1/skills/timsonner-external-recon

## Description

External-recon is an MCP server implementation for VS Code that provides penetration testers with network reconnaissance capabilities. Built on FastMCP and inspired by Renae Schilg's work, this Python-based server exposes tools for DNS lookups, email security checks (SPF, DMARC, DKIM), port scanning, and WHOIS lookups. The server enables AI assistants to systematically enumerate domains, discover IP addresses and subdomains, assess email security measures, and identify open ports - making it particularly valuable for security professionals conducting external reconnaissance against target domains.

## Trust

- **Trust score (0–1):** 0.99
- **Verification tier:** verified
- **Last scanned:** 2026-09-28

## Facts

- **Version:** 1.0.0
- **Skill type:** atomic
- **Execution layer:** mcp-remote
- **Runtime environment:** api
- **Category:** communication
- **Updated:** 2026-09-28

## Source

- **Source listing:** [PulseMCP](https://www.pulsemcp.com/servers/timsonner-external-recon)
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/timsonner/mcp-vscode-template>

## Use it

Resolve this record through the SkillsRegistry MCP server (no auth, read-only):

```
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user skillsregistry https://api.skillsregistry.net/mcp
```

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_skill",
    "arguments": {
      "slug": "timsonner-external-recon"
    }
  }
}
```

REST: `GET https://api.skillsregistry.net/v1/skills/timsonner-external-recon` · pull for local use: `GET https://api.skillsregistry.net/v1/skills/timsonner-external-recon/pull`

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SkillsRegistry indexes agent skills from public registries and GitHub. Skills we have analysed are scanned with Circle-IR and scored on six dimensions; each listing states its scan coverage. More: https://skillsregistry.net/llms.txt