BOTBOOT

BOTBOOT is an open-source software framework designed to orchestrate automated tasks across multiple machines or processes. It focuses on scalable task distribution, stateful workflows, and telemetry for monitoring, enabling controlled experimentation with bot-like traffic and automated behavior in legitimate testing environments.

The project emerged in 2021 from a collaboration of researchers and developers seeking to simulate large-scale automated activity in a contained setting. The first stable release appeared in 2022, with ongoing development and community contributions that expanded its core capabilities and plugin ecosystem.

Architecture of BOTBOOT centers on a central orchestration engine, multiple worker nodes, a plugin system for task types, a message bus for coordination, and a data store for state and metrics. The design supports cross-platform operation, containerized deployment, and REST or streaming APIs to integrate with existing tooling and workflows.

Key features include distributed scheduling, rate limiting, pluggable task handlers, jitter and backoff strategies, and built-in testing utilities for evaluating behavior under varied loads. The framework is intended for legitimate use cases such as load testing, platform resilience assessment, and research into bot-metection and anti-abuse systems.

Security and ethics: BOTBOOT is designed for lawful, consent-based testing in lab or staging environments. It emphasizes responsible disclosure, anti-abuse controls, and compliance with applicable laws. Misuse to create or operate unauthorized botnets is discouraged, and users are advised to implement appropriate safeguards and oversight.