Stop Hunting Blind: Build a Structured Bug Bounty Workflow

Stop Hunting Blind: Build a Structured Bug Bounty Workflow | by baler3ion - Freedium Milestone: 20GB Reached We’ve reached 20GB of stored data — thank you for helping us grow! Patreon Ko-fi Liberapay Close < Go to the original Stop Hunting Blind: Build a Structured Bug Bounty Workflow first of all free Palestine baler3ion Follow ~3 min read · April 5, 2026 (Updated: April 5, 2026) · Free: Yes اللهم انصر اخواننا في غزة وفك عن اسراهم وعن جميع المسلمين Introduction : Hi, I'm baler3ion . Most people skip introductions — so let's get straight to what matters. For a long time, I didn't share any write-ups on Medium. I believed I needed to find many bugs and build a strong bug bounty profile before I was "qualified" to share knowledge. But recently, I watched a talk by NahamSec, where he shared an important piece of advice: "Give back to the community." That changed my perspective. Link of his video : https://youtu.be/pbu7ElRTBrc?si=0aD8FiT-EXTfOP5M So I decided to start sharing my tips, tricks, recon workflow, and hunting methodology . Maybe it will help someone — especially beginners who are just getting started. First Advice: Your Hunting Workspace Matters One of the most underrated skills in bug bounty hunting is taking notes . Many hunters: . Work randomly without documenting anything . Or dump everything into one messy file The result? When you come back after a break — or try to chain bugs — you feel lost. You don't know where to start, and eventually, you abandon your notes and move to a new target. I've been there. That's why having a structured workspace is a game changer. My Bug Hunting Workspace Structure Here's the workspace I use whenever I pick a target. Feel free to customize it — and let me know if you have better ideas. use this command to create it automatically in Linux bash workspace.sh target-name bash script to create the workspace automatically in Linux: #!/bin/bash : << 'STRUCTURE' target-name/ |__ notes.md ├── questions.md ├── whitepaper.md ├── info/ │ ├── scope.md │ ├── accounts.md ├── recon/ │ ├── subdomains/ │ ├── urls/ ├── analysis/ │ ├── javascript/ │ ├── api-endpoints/ ├── testing/ └── reports/ STRUCTURE domain="$1" echo "Target: $domain" if [ -z "$1" ]; then echo "Usage: ./workspace.sh or bash workspace.sh " exit 1 fi TARGET=$(echo "$1" | sed 's/https\?:\/\///g' | sed 's/\//_/g') # Create directories mkdir -p "$TARGET"/{info,recon/{subdomains,urls},analysis/{javascript,api-endpoints},testing,reports} # Create files touch "$TARGET"/{notes.md,questions.md,whitepaper.md} touch "$TARGET"/info/{scope.md,accounts.md} touch "$TARGET"/analysis/javascript/{notes.md} touch "$TARGET"/analysis/api-endpoints/{notes.md} echo "✅ Created structure for $TARGET" Breakdown of Each Section notes.md This is where I write notes while exploring the target: Potential vulnerabilities Interesting functionalities Observations Example: - The server generates a profile token → test if it can be reused or if you can generates for other users questions.md Here, I document every question that comes to mind: Why does this endpoint exist? How does the application handle data? How does the app identify users(Email? Username? UUID? ID?) Where is data stored or transmitted(Cookies? API calls?) Are there different user roles (admin, member, viewer)? Were there past vulnerabilities? Can I bypass their fixes? This helps you think like a developer , not just a tester. whitepaper.md This is my idea dump : Random attack ideas Payloads Sometimes you discover something while testing another bug — this is where it goes so you can revisit it later. info/ scope.md Defines in-scope vs out-of-scope Helps avoid wasting time or violating program rules accounts.md Stores test accounts:(Emails,Passwords,Roles,Tokens ,JWT, session tokens..etc) recon/ subdomains/ Collected from tools and sources urls/ All gathered URLs Later used for : Parameter discovery, Secret hunting, JS analysis analysis/ javascript/ Analyze interesting JS files Extract: API keys, Hidden endpoints, Sensitive logic api-endpoints/ List endpoints worth testing: IDOR, Information disclosure, WAF bypass testing/ For each vulnerability type, I create a file: Example: xss.md Tested inputs Target subdomains Type (reflected/stored) Payloads (working / not working) reports/ Before submitting a bug, I write a full report: Example: rxss.md Full vulnerability details Steps to reproduce Impact This is useful because: You can revisit it later Try to bypass patches Turn it into a write-up Conclusion : This is the workspace I personally use while hunting. I hope it helps someone become more organized and effective. In the next write-ups, I'll break down: My full methodology My hunting process Real workflows with details Until then… Happy hunting 🐞 Follow me on twitter : https://x.com/_baler3ion #bug-bounty #bug-bounty-tips Reporting a Problem Sometimes we have problems displaying some Medium posts. If you have a problem that some images aren't loading - try using VPN. Probably you have problem with access to Medium CDN (or fucking Cloudflare's bot detection algorithms are blocking you).