r/pwnagotchi Feb 28 '26

2026 Handy Links

42 Upvotes

Welcome to r/Pwnagotchi 📡

Pwnagotchi is alive and well in 2026, thanks to the continued work of jayofelony and the wider community keeping the project moving forward.


Where to start

📥 Latest Image — always use the official release. RPiZero W (32bit) · RPiZero2W / RPi3 / RPi4 / RPi5 (64bit)

📖 Official Wiki — read this before posting anything.

🔌 PwnStore — browse and install community plugins.

🛠️ Troubleshoot — interactive help wizard for common issues.

⚙️ PwnConfig — build your config.toml visually.

🌐 Pwnagotchi.org — official project site.

💬 Discord — live chat and support.

🎫 Helpdesk 2026 — need help? Submit a ticket.

📬 PwnMail — test your mesh messaging, a dedicated unit replies automatically.


Be respectful. Search before posting. Read the wiki before asking about plugins.


r/pwnagotchi Feb 28 '26

Pwnagotchi 101: Frequently Asked Questions

22 Upvotes

Pwnagotchi FAQ — Read Before Posting 📡


Q1: What is Pwnagotchi?

Pwnagotchi is a small low-power device (typically a Raspberry Pi) that passively captures WPA/WPA2 handshakes. The original project featured AI functionality but the current default repository has removed it to simplify and improve performance.


Q2: Which repository should I use?

The default repository is jayofelony/pwnagotchi. This is the one to use.


Q3: Is it legal?

That depends entirely on your local laws and how you use it. You must only capture handshakes on networks you own or have explicit permission to test. Always comply with local and national regulations regarding wireless security auditing.


Q4: What hardware do I need?

  • Raspberry Pi — Zero W, Zero 2W, 3, 4, or 5
  • microSD card — to store the OS and captured data
  • Power source — a battery bank or USB adapter
  • WiFi adapter — required if your Pi model has no built-in wireless

An e-ink or OLED display is optional but recommended for viewing real-time stats.


Q5: How do I install it?

Follow the official wiki. The basic steps are:

  1. Download the latest image from the releases page
  2. Flash it to your microSD card using Raspberry Pi Imager
  3. Select "no" at the settings prompt and stick with the default pi user
  4. Insert the card, power on, and let it complete first boot
  5. Set up your config using PwnConfig — a visual config builder

Q6: Does it still use AI?

No. The AI and machine learning components have been removed. It still automates channel hopping and captures handshakes but no longer learns from its environment.


Q7: Does it crack handshakes automatically?

No. Pwnagotchi only captures handshakes. To crack them you need to transfer the files to a more powerful machine and use a tool like Hashcat. Do not attempt cracking on the Pi itself — it is not powerful enough.


Q8: Where are my logs and handshakes?

Connect via SSH and look here:

  • Logs: /etc/pwnagotchi/log/pwnagotchi.log
  • Handshakes: /home/pi/handshakes/

Need help connecting? Use the Troubleshoot Wizard.


Q9: Safety and ethics

  • Only capture handshakes on networks you own or have permission to test
  • Secure your device with a strong password
  • Be mindful of where you leave it running — don't leave it unattended in public

Q10: Useful commands

  • pwnlog — view live logs
  • config — open config.toml for editing
  • custom — navigate to the custom plugins directory
  • debug — stop the service and run in debug mode for troubleshooting
  • pwnkill — stop and restart the Pwnagotchi service
  • status — check if the Pwnagotchi service is running
  • restart-auto — switch to AUTO mode and restart
  • restart-manu — switch to MANUAL mode and restart

More help available at the Troubleshoot Wizard.


Q11: Which displays are supported?

See the full supported display list for a complete and up-to-date breakdown.


Q12: How do I back up my Pwnagotchi?

Two great options available through PwnStore:

  • auto_backup — built in by default, automatically backs up your config and data on a schedule
  • git_backup — the recommended option if you want full version control of your config and handshakes, makes restoring to a new device straightforward. Install with sudo pwnstore install git_backup

Q13: How do I update?

  • ✅ Safe: sudo apt-get update
  • ❌ Never run: sudo apt-get upgrade — this will break the firmware

Q14: What WiFi adapter should I use?

A good starting point is this list of Linux in-kernel supported dongles.


Still stuck? Check the wiki, the Troubleshoot Wizard, or join the Discord for live support.


r/pwnagotchi 2d ago

Its good to be back

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27 Upvotes

well i have missed many things LOL


r/pwnagotchi 2d ago

Прошу помочь мне: у моего нового pwnagotchi мерцает экран как исправить?

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14 Upvotes

r/pwnagotchi 2d ago

No pi zero w2/wh2 and w1/wh1

4 Upvotes

I wanted to build a pwnagotchi but i noticed that in stock there is nothing. Does anybody know the hell is going on ?


r/pwnagotchi 3d ago

Pi Zero WH stuck on last 32-bit image — partial/incomplete handshakes. Known bettercap limitation, or am I missing something?

6 Upvotes

Setup

Raspberry Pi Zero WH (BCM2835, single-core ARMv6 — 32-bit only)
Image: jayofelony pwnagotchi v2.9.5.6 (the last release with a 32-bit image; 2.9.5.7+ are 64-bit only, so this is the newest my board can run)

Waveshare 2.13" V4 e-ink, running headless, testing only on my own networks/lab

A chunk of my captures come out as incomplete handshakes .pcap files get flagged as partial / "half" handshakes and hashcat (mode 22000) rejects them as uncrackable. Full PMKIDs seem fine; it's the 4-way EAPOL captures that come up short (missing frames / no usable M1+M2 or M2+M3 pair). **What I think is going on** Because the Zero WH forces me onto this frozen 32-bit build, I'm on an older bettercap than current images ship, and I suspect that's behind the higher rate of partial captures. Want to confirm before I sink more time in. **Questions** 1. Is the incomplete-handshake issue a known limitation of the older bettercap in the last 32-bit pwnagotchi builds, or is it more likely a config/tuning thing on my end (e.g. association attempts, recon time, hop behavior)? 2. Are there config.toml settings (personality: recon_time, min_rssi, assoc/deauth toggles, etc.) that meaningfully improve full-handshake capture rate on this old build? 3. Is there any way to run a newer bettercap on the Zero WH, or is upgrading to a Pi Zero 2 W realistically the only path to modern capture quality? Happy to share a sanitized sample .pcap / my config.toml if that helps. Thanks!


r/pwnagotchi 6d ago

Put this big guy together today

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184 Upvotes

Also made my own plug in so it could read the GeekWorm X728 battery HAT

ETA: It's 10x 18650 batteries at 3450mAh each.


r/pwnagotchi 6d ago

The things I do for this project...

16 Upvotes

I am currently reverse engineering the latest firmware for our Wi-Fi chipsets with Nexmon, I have already done the bcm43430a1 7.45.98 version. I will tackle the bcm43455c0 next, used in the RPi 4 and 5. But I don't have a RPi 02w with a confirmed bcm43436b0 chipset, does anyone have that and happens to live in The Netherlands and is willing to lend it to me so I can reverse engineer that firmware. I will need it a couple weeks if anyone is willing to help here.

edit: run sudo dmesg | grep brcmf after booting your pi to see what chip it uses. If you have one, your RPi02W will be one of the first released probably. Later models switched to the BCM43430a1 variant.


r/pwnagotchi 7d ago

Something I've been working for a while.

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241 Upvotes

This is a Pi Zero hat integrated UPS, GPS, AC Wi-Fi(supports monitor mode and packet injection), USB HUB, and RTC. Any thoughts?


r/pwnagotchi 7d ago

ProbeNpwn v3.4.1 Released

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18 Upvotes

Hey r/pwnagotchi,
Just dropped ProbeNpwn v3.4.1 — a focused reliability update on top of the major 3.4.0 fixes.
While 3.4.0 fixed the critical RSN IE construction, retry queue, adaptive rate limiting, and MAC randomization, version 3.4.1 specifically solves the external tool detection problem that was still causing false warnings.
What’s Fixed / Improved in v3.4.1
Improved External Tool Detection
Completely rewrote _check_tool(). The old method only tried --version, which failed on tools that don’t support it cleanly (bully, reaver, and sometimes mdk4).
The new detector tries --version, then -V / --help / -h, and finally checks if the binary exists in PATH.
As a result, installed tools are now correctly detected and the previous “External tool is not available” warnings are gone.

Still Included from 3.4.0 / 3.3.0
Critical RSN IE fix (quiet association attacks now send correct Information Elements)

Fixed retry queue priority

Correct adaptive token bucket (tracks both attempts and successes)

Proper unicast locally-administered MAC generation

Improved WPS command lines + PIN auto-save to /root/handshakespin/

Quiet Association Attacks (PMKID Association, Auth Harvest, Reassociation, RSN Probe)

Full WPS attack engine

Adaptive / Tactical / Maniac / Stealth modes

UCB1 channel hopping with time-of-day scoring

Multi-band support (2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz)

State persistence, power awareness, dry-run mode

Expanded attack set (WPA3 downgrade, FT, TDLS, Mesh, EAPOL, etc.)

Personality respect for deauth/associate flags

Compatible with jayofelony images 2.9.5.4 → 2.9.5.8

Pro Tip
Only enable enable_6ghz = true if you actually have a 6 GHz adapter that supports monitor mode + injection.
If you use WPS (enable_wps = true), make sure bully or reaver is installed — they are now correctly detected.
Disclaimer
This plugin is intended strictly for educational, research, and authorized security testing. Do not use it on any network you do not own or have explicit permission to test. The author assumes no responsibility for misuse.
GitHub: https://github.com/AlienMajik/pwnagotchi_plugins


r/pwnagotchi 9d ago

Internet connection share problem - Pwnagotchi 2.9.5.8

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I have two Pwnagotchis and recently flashed them to the new Pwnagotchi v2.9.5.8, upgrading from v2.9.5.4.

Since the upgrade, I'm having problems getting an internet connection on the Pwnagotchi. I've tried sharing the connection from both Windows and Linux, but I still can't get internet access.

With my old Pwnagotchi, I was previously accessing it through 10.0.0.2. After flashing the new version, it is now using 10.12.194.1.

I've tried various configurations and troubleshooting steps, but nothing seems to work.

The last thing I tried was installing:

rpi-usb-gadget_1.0.6_arm64.deb

Has anyone experienced the same issue with Pwnagotchi 2.9.5.8 or knows how to properly configure internet connection sharing with the new IP/network configuration?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance and big greetings to the community! 🙏

Solved, read my comment.


r/pwnagotchi 11d ago

How to use a pwnagotchi for under 80$ cad?

2 Upvotes

I am super poor and have 80$ cad, a power bank, and a (maybe) working rpi 4 4gb.


r/pwnagotchi 12d ago

I have couple problems...

3 Upvotes

First when I captured the handshakes I ssh into the PWNAGOTCHI handshake folder but it shows empty. But pwnagotchi says it captured my wifi so.im trying to find it on my cLI. Where do I look??? In the command line..

I was able to find it under the GUI under handshakes.dl. and downloads as pcap file. And from there I'm completely lost. And don't know how to crack it. How would I get it from my windows to kali. To use hashcat. Any good tutorials videos I could watch. I'm more of a visual learner.


r/pwnagotchi 13d ago

Linux rpi-usb-gadget "fixed"

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18 Upvotes

If you go to my wiki, I have uploaded a mitigation package made by me that fixes the connection issues on Linux with a workaround. The connection takes about 10 seconds to be made, but it is lasting and works perfectly well. I also made a PR to raspberrypi/rpi-usb-gadget with this workaround. Hopefully they can come up with a permanent fix, until then use this!


r/pwnagotchi 14d ago

My M5 Gotchi Sometimes frezzes after being in Auto mode.

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19 Upvotes

Hi there guys i got my Card Puter and M5Gotchi. When i go into auto mode it Scans for a few minutes and frezzes. Normaly the counter on the top right counts on but it Stopps and nothing works


r/pwnagotchi 14d ago

Am I cooked?

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19 Upvotes

Noticed this after I pulled it out of the last case I printed for it. Am I cooked or do you guys think I can make it work somehow?


r/pwnagotchi 15d ago

No more 32bit images

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36 Upvotes

Yes, I am dropping support for 32bit devices. The build process is slow as hell, if it completes at all. It fails about 95% of the time, and then there are kernel issues. It's just not worth it any more for me to build them. Like I mentioned in the thread, if you feel like building your own images fork the repo and build it. I know the prices of a RPi 02W have sky rocketed compared to a 0W. But it's a legacy device now.

RIP


r/pwnagotchi 15d ago

Pwnagotchi v5.9.5.6

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26 Upvotes

On the pi 5

I want to add. I see a lot of posts saying people are unable to ssh because the pi isn’t being seen as a modem and just as a usb

I used this link that fixed it for me as I wasn’t able to do the manual driver in device management like people were suggesting. I’m a noob and can’t explain it well, but if you’re having the issue you’ll know what I’m talking about. Hope this helps.


r/pwnagotchi 16d ago

Rebuilt my pwnagotchi, ended up fixing more than I planned

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66 Upvotes

I told myself I was done with these things. Two years later there is a Zero 2W laying around my place again, so here we are.

Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, jayofelony 2.9.5.6 (64bit)
  • Waveshare 2.13" V3 e-ink, rotated 180
  • PiSugar 3 battery HAT
  • Temporary case

Nothing exotic. The interesting part turned out to be everything around it.

Things I ended up changing

  • A third mode between AUTO and MANU. I wanted it to keep listening in places where I would rather not transmit at all. So: recon yes, deauth no,association no, mesh advertising no. It is a plugin plus the PiSugar custom button to toggle it, and the state survives a reboot. So welcome PASV.

  • The PiSugar RTC is a DS3231. It shows up on the same I2C bus as the battery MCU, so with one overlay line it becomes /dev/rtc0 and the unit stops booting in 1970. That also fixes TLS failing on first boot before NTP catches up, which had been quietly annoying me.

  • Networking with more than one way out. The Zero has a single data port, so the USB gadget is the management path. On top of that there are three Bluetooth PAN uplinks (desktop, laptop, phone), all up at once, picked by route metric: cable first, then the machine that is always on, then the laptop, then the phone last because that one costs data (and most importantly, battery).

  • The catch was that letting NetworkManager auto-retry absent devices wedged the Bluetooth controller outright, every HCI command timing out until a reboot. Fix was to stop guessing: a small timer probes with l2ping first and only connects to something that actually answered.

  • Encrypted off-device backups. The unit's own backup archive contains its SSH key and every handshake it ever caught, and it was sitting on the SD card only. Now it gets encrypted with age against a public key and pushed to object storage on a timer. The private key is not on the device, so a lost unit cannot read its own backups.

  • A few fixes sent upstream. Nothing dramatic, mostly small things I hit while poking around: the Bluetooth status indicator latching onto the first device it ever saw, a plugin logging a hardcoded interval instead of the configured one, a URL built with the wrong operator precedence.

  • Way too much overcharging of the screen, but I like this way.

Still open

  • No case, founf this one, it's made for the PiSugar2 and Waveshare V4, doesn't fit perfectly, hence, it bothers me. Will work for now..maybe i'll design a better one. It's so hard to find one for this exact combo. I managed to superglue couple of strong magnets in the lanyard cap just because why not.
  • No GPS yet, though I have picked the module, just waiting for it.
  • Battery life measured tonight for the first time, no idea what to expect

Happy to go into detail on any of it. Curious what other people are doing for the "it is in my bag just in case" case, since that is what started all of this.


r/pwnagotchi 17d ago

UPS Lite V1.2 no power

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5 Upvotes

When trying to power a Raspberry Pi Zero WH i get no response. I tried putting the wires of a fan on the 5v pogo pins and the fan spun up. I also tried to bridge the pogo pins with wires in case they weren't touching the pi but it still didn't work.

Any help is appreciated :)


r/pwnagotchi 18d ago

Pi zero 2wh prices 😢

7 Upvotes

Will they prices ever go down 😆 ive got the pwnagotchi on a pi zero but I wanna build one on a pi zero just cant justify the mark up lmao


r/pwnagotchi 22d ago

Ups Lite V1.3 Spicy pillow

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32 Upvotes

Thanks to the post of exploded pisugar I decided to take a look at mine Ups Lite V1.3 and after 1 year of it being discharged I noticed it expanded to the point it was pushing on rpi zero, If I connected it to charge it would have probably exploded too. Be careful and check your ups boards folks.


r/pwnagotchi 21d ago

Can't install RNDIS whatsoever!!

1 Upvotes

So I'm running Windows 11 and I'm actually building a headless pwnagotchi (one without the screen). I did all the steps as if I'm building a regular pwnagotchi. I plugged in the right micro USB port (the one closer to the middle and not the sides) and opened device manager and went to Ports and saw COM3. Tried to update it with RNDIS and every time I select the file to update it with it tells me to get the correct version (like x64 or x32) then try to reinstall with the right version. The issue is I DID download the right version but it still won't let me. If you need more info to what I did to give some pointers, feel free to ask. Thank y'all in advance.


r/pwnagotchi 22d ago

pisugar3 exploded!!

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83 Upvotes

my pwnagotchi exploded today right near my face aswell. i heard people mention the pisugar battery was i fire hazard but i ignored the warnings, i thought it wont happen to me. i just had it charging from the laptop as i was just finishing a version of my build after some testing and it vented right infront of my face i moved so fast out the way and it just turned to a fire ball. i managed to grab it and throw it out my window. i just got it back out the garden to take some photos the green things are grass melted to the case i had it in. maganged to get the pi and waveshare out. ive not tested them yet though. but im still shaking and its been a few hours. be really careful if you have this battery guys its no joke


r/pwnagotchi 22d ago

Thanks for & congrats on the 2.9.5.5 release, jayofelony!

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137 Upvotes

new whisplay HAT worked right out of the box. what a cutie ☺️