anubis

Open-source proof-of-work bot mitigation proxy for web servers

Anubis is a Go-based middleware designed to filter AI scrapers and bots using proof-of-work challenges, launched by TecharoHQ. It surfaced only on Bluesky with no cross-platform traction, suggesting isolated community interest rather than broad adoption.

Why now: AI scraping backlash post-2024 has created ambient demand for bot defense tools, but Anubis specifically has no recent trigger event.

• Only Bluesky (bs) shows signal with rank 1, but Bluesky has only 12 total items in pool vs 100-1000 for major sources
• Zero presence on GitHub, Hacker News, X/Twitter, Reddit, Product Hunt, Dev.to despite those sources having substantial coverage
• Single-source verdict with 157 of 200 pool items in same band — this is statistically common noise pattern
• Ours rank 72 with score 4.4 indicates weak internal signal even before external validation

Considerations: Bluesky's tiny 12-item pool and rank 1 is likely algorithmic artifact or small-circle amplification, not organic demand. Bot mitigation is crowded (Cloudflare, DataDome, hCaptcha); new entrants need distribution or technical breakthrough, neither visible here. No GitHub stars velocity, no HN discussion, no developer complaints about alternatives — classic 'solution in search of problem' with fake momentum.

EMERGING SIGNAL · Ignore: Wait for GitHub star velocity >100/week or HN front-page appearance before reconsidering; current signal is Bluesky echo chamber.

Sources: Bluesky search: TecharoHQ/anubis