CLAUDE - Project Philosophy & Principles
Community Led Archive of Universal Dictionaries for Ethical Security
The Vision
This is not just a collection of text files. This is a living archive maintained by the security community, for the security community.
Every wordlist tells a story. Every password represents a pattern in human behavior. Every username is a glimpse into digital identity. This repository preserves that knowledge and makes it accessible.
Core Principles
1. Quality Over Quantity
We don’t collect every wordlist that exists. We curate the essential sets that security professionals actually need:
- Password dictionaries for brute-force testing
- Username collections for account enumeration
- Subdomain lists for reconnaissance
- Forced-browsing paths for web application testing
Standard: Every wordlist must have clear provenance, documented purpose, and validated quality.
2. Ethical Use
This repository exists to improve security, not undermine it:
- Wordlists help security teams test their defenses
- Penetration testers use these for authorized assessments
- Researchers analyze password patterns to educate users
- Developers test authentication systems against common attacks
Responsibility: We trust our community to use these resources ethically and legally.
3. Transparency
Every entry in this repository should be traceable:
- Where did this wordlist come from?
- When was it collected?
- How many unique entries does it contain?
- What is its intended use case?
Commitment: We maintain a comprehensive manifest with full metadata.
This repository belongs to everyone who contributes:
- Contributors add new wordlists with proper attribution
- Maintainers ensure quality and organization
- Users provide feedback on effectiveness
- The community decides what belongs
Promise: Every contribution is valued, credited, and preserved.
5. Evolution, Not Stagnation
The threat landscape changes. Password patterns evolve. Our wordlists must keep pace:
- Regular updates from new breach datasets (ethically sourced)
- Modern password patterns (passphrases, emoji passwords, etc.)
- Emerging patterns in usernames and domains
- Continuous improvement through automation
Goal: Stay relevant in 2025 and beyond.
Technical Philosophy
Simplicity
No complex dependencies. No proprietary formats. Just plain text files that work everywhere:
# It should always be this simple
cat passwords.txt | hydra -L users.txt -P - ssh://target
Automation
Quality should be automatic, not manual:
- CI/CD validates every contribution
- Scripts deduplicate and normalize
- Manifest generation is automatic
- Statistics update on every commit
Every wordlist deserves rich context:
{
"path": "passwords/common-passwords.txt",
"entries": 10000,
"unique": 9847,
"source": "SecLists Project",
"updated": "2025-11-16",
"purpose": "Most common passwords from breach data",
"encoding": "utf-8",
"sha256": "..."
}
Organization
Structure should guide users naturally:
passwords/ # Password dictionaries
├── common/ # Most frequently used
├── specialized/ # Targeted lists (years, keyboard patterns, etc.)
└── massive/ # Large comprehensive sets
usernames/ # Username collections
identities/ # Names, locations, etc.
infrastructure/ # Subdomains, directories, files
Design Decisions
Why Plain Text?
- Universal compatibility (every tool can read .txt)
- Easy to inspect, verify, and audit
- Simple to combine, filter, and customize
- Minimal storage with compression
- Readable by humans (code should be documentation)
- Available everywhere (no complex setup)
- Rich standard library (no heavy dependencies)
- Fast enough for our use case
Why CI/CD?
- Catches problems before they reach users
- Ensures consistent quality
- Documents what we care about (validated in tests)
- Builds trust in the repository
The Future
This repository should become:
- The Standard Reference - When someone needs a wordlist, they come here first
- A Living Dataset - Continuously updated with modern patterns
- A Learning Resource - Documentation teaches security concepts
- A Community Hub - Contributors collaborate and share knowledge
For Contributors
When you add a wordlist, ask yourself:
- Unique: Does this provide value that existing lists don’t?
- Sourced: Can I document where this came from?
- Clean: Is it deduplicated, validated, and properly formatted?
- Described: Will users understand what it’s for and how to use it?
If yes to all four, you’re ready to contribute.
For Users
When you use these wordlists:
- Test Legally: Only against systems you own or have authorization to test
- Contribute Back: Found a great wordlist? Share it with the community
- Report Issues: Bad data? Let us know so we can fix it
- Give Credit: Reference this repository in your work
Remember: The goal is not to break security, but to build it stronger.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo da Vinci
“Quality is not an act, it’s a habit.” - Aristotle