How to Run Holehe from the Command Line: Installation, Usage, and Options

Holehe installs as a pip package with a console script entry point at holehe.core:main, enabling you to execute OSINT email investigations by typing holehe user@example.com followed by optional flags to filter results, disable colors, or export data to CSV.

Holehe is an open-source OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tool maintained in the megadose/holehe repository that checks email addresses against over 120 online services. Designed specifically for command-line workflows, Holehe exposes a terminal interface that parses arguments via argparse and orchestrates asynchronous checks using trio. Understanding how to run Holehe from the command line requires familiarity with its entry point configuration in setup.py and the core execution logic defined in holehe/core.py.

Installation and Entry Point Configuration

Holehe is distributed as a Python package and registers a console script during installation. In setup.py (lines 15-16), the entry point is defined as:

entry_points = {'console_scripts': ['holehe = holehe.core:main']}

When you run pip install holehe, pip generates a platform-specific wrapper script named holehe that invokes the main() function located in holehe/core.py. This main function accepts no arguments directly; instead, it parses sys.argv using argparse (lines 80-96) and delegates execution to the asynchronous maincore routine.

Basic Command Line Usage

After installation, you can run Holehe from the command line by passing a target email address as the positional argument:

holehe user@example.com

This executes the full suite of over 120 site-modules, printing a coloured summary indicating which services have an account associated with the supplied address. The command initiates the following chain:

1. The holehe binary calls holehe.core:main as defined in setup.py.
2. main() parses command-line arguments and sets up the execution context.
3. The trio nursery spawns concurrent tasks via launch_module (lines 18-22 and 66-71 in holehe/core.py) to run each OSINT check asynchronously.

Command Line Options and Flags

The ArgumentParser configuration in holehe/core.py supports several optional flags to control output format and execution behavior:

Flag	Description
--only-used	Show only sites where the email is known to exist, filtering out negative results.
--no-color	Disable ANSI colour codes in terminal output.
--no-clear	Prevent the screen from being cleared before displaying results.
-NP, --no-password-recovery	Skip password-recovery checks on sites that support them.
-C, --csv	Export the results to a CSV file.
-T, --timeout <seconds>	Set the network request timeout (default is 10 seconds).

Practical examples:

Show only successful hits, disable colours, and save to CSV:

holehe target@example.org --only-used --no-color -C

Increase the timeout to 20 seconds and skip password recovery probes:

holehe victim@domain.net --timeout 20 --no-password-recovery

Alternative Execution Methods

You can run Holehe without installing the console script by invoking Python directly. Both methods below call the same main entry point and accept identical arguments.

Using the module execution syntax:

python -m holehe.core user@example.com

Or using the inline command flag:

python -c "import holehe.core; holehe.core.main()" user@example.com

These approaches are useful when testing local modifications to holehe/core.py or when running the tool in isolated environments where modifying the system path is undesirable.

Summary

• Entry Point: The holehe command is generated from setup.py (lines 15-16) and maps to holehe.core:main.
• Core Logic: The main() function in holehe/core.py parses arguments with argparse (lines 80-96) and runs the async maincore routine.
• Concurrency: Execution uses a trio nursery to launch over 120 OSINT modules via launch_module (lines 66-71).
• Flexibility: Run via installed binary holehe, or directly via python -m holehe.core.
• Output Control: Use --only-used, --no-color, and -C to customize result presentation and export.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I install Holehe to run it from the command line?

Install the package using pip: pip install holehe. This creates the holehe console script by reading the entry_points dictionary in setup.py, which points to holehe.core:main. Once installed, the command is available globally in your terminal.

What is the difference between holehe and python -m holehe.core?

Both invoke the same main() function in holehe/core.py. The holehe command is a convenience wrapper generated by pip, while python -m holehe.core executes the module directly without requiring the console script to be installed on your system path.

How can I export Holehe results to a CSV file?

Append the -C or --csv flag to your command: holehe email@example.com -C. This writes the investigation results to a CSV file in the current working directory, containing columns for the service name, email existence status, and recovery method availability.

Why does Holehe clear my terminal screen, and how do I stop it?

Holehe clears the screen by default to provide a clean output interface for the coloured results table. To prevent this behavior, add the --no-clear flag to your command. This preserves existing terminal content while still printing the OSINT results.

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