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OSINT Tradecraft
OSINT Tradecraft
Investigation skills · Vol. 8

Surveillance & Tradecraft

The discipline behind the camera.

Mission planning, foot and vehicle surveillance (single and team), counter-surveillance, cover and persona, surveillance technology (GPS, ALPR, drone, pole, CSLI), interview methodology (PEACE, HIG, cognitive), authorized social engineering and red-team execution, source handling — plus executive protection and travel security (advance work, motorcade, protective intelligence, ISO 31030).

Skills
86
Categories
8
Format
Markdown · ZIP
License
One-time / per user
One-time
$119
Keep it current
+$10/mo updates

2026.6 edition · revised continuously

§ AOperator detail
Operator detail

The kind of specific ChatGPT won't give you.

Real example pulled from inside skill #597 — Delivery Impersonation Physical Entry Execution, included in this bundle. Ask any vanilla LLM for prop guidance on an authorized red-team engagement and you'll get either a refusal or a generic "wear a hi-vis vest." Here is what skill #597 actually says.

§ Prop Sourcing§ Persona Selection§ Defensibility note
Quoted · skill #597 · §Prop Sourcing — The Generic-Courier Red Bag

"A plain insulated red grocery bag — for example, a generic HorYg Reinforced Insulated Grocery Bag (~$15–25, no logo) — reads as 'food delivery' to anyone glancing at you, without being branded as any specific service."

  • No logo to invalidate the cover if the target knows which services they actually use.
  • Form factor matches DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub, Instacart, Caviar, any generic food-delivery.
  • Cheap enough to retire after a single engagement.
  • Plausible across corporate reception, residential lobby, apartment building, hotel corridor, gated community, mixed-use loading dock, condominium gate.
Defensibility note — also in §Prop Sourcing

"Owning a generic insulated bag is not pretense. Pretense begins when you pair it with a verbal claim of affiliation with a real corporation — that is where impersonation analysis applies. Inside an authorized red-team engagement, that claim is contractually backed. Outside one, it is not."

ChatGPT will not tell you this. Skill #597 will, every time.

§ BWith and without

What this bundle gives the agent that ChatGPT alone won't.

Prompt
> Plan a 3-day surveillance on this subject's residence and workplace.
Vanilla LLM

Vague 'set up surveillance' answer

Says park nearby, take pictures, don't be seen.

×No mission brief
×No team rotation plan
×No counter-surveillance check
×No log format
With OSINT Tradecraft

Full surveillance package

Runs surveillance-planning-and-mission-brief → static-observation-post-setup → mobile-vehicle-surveillance-team → counter-surveillance-detection → surveillance-log-and-timekeeping. Produces mission brief, rotation plan, comms plan, log template.

Mission brief generated
Vehicle rotation plan
Counter-surveillance check
Evidence-grade log format
§ CThe manifest

Every skill in this bundle.

All 86 skills, grouped by category. Every skill ships as a full folder — SKILL.md plus runnable scripts, legal references, and field checklists.

Surveillance / tradecraft

13 skills
  • 115Surveillance Planning and Mission Brief
  • 116Static Observation Post Setup
  • 117Mobile Foot Surveillance
  • 118Mobile Vehicle Surveillance Single
  • 119Mobile Vehicle Surveillance Team
  • 120Counter Surveillance Detection
  • 121Surveillance Detection Route Personal
  • 122Covert Photography Evidence Capture
  • 123Surveillance Log and Timekeeping
  • 124Opsec for Investigators
  • 125Communications Security Team
  • 126Cover and Persona Development
  • 654Surveillance Detection and Counter Surveillance Routes

Surveillance technology

8 skills
  • 304GPS Tracker Legality and Use
  • 305Body Camera Protocols and Redaction
  • 306Cctv Canvassing Workflow
  • 307Drone Surveillance Legality and Use
  • 308Pole Camera and Fixed Surveillance
  • 309CSLI Cell Site Data Investigation
  • 310Vehicle Telematics Onstar Tesla Investigation
  • 311TSCM Technical Surveillance Countermeasures Basics

Interviewing — core

6 skills
  • 127Interview Planning and Pretext
  • 128PEACE Model Interviewing
  • 129Cognitive Interview Technique
  • 130Detecting Deception Evidence Based
  • 131Witness vs Subject Interviewing
  • 132Taking and Transcribing Statements

Interview & interrogation — expanded

17 skills
  • 229Reid Technique and Its Critiques
  • 230HIG Rapport Based Interrogation
  • 231Strategic Use of Evidence SUE
  • 232Funnel and Cone Questioning
  • 233Interview Room Setup and Recording Standards
  • 234Tactical Empathy and Mirroring
  • 235Juvenile Interview Protocols
  • 236Vulnerable Witness Interview Protocols
  • 237Trauma Informed Interviewing
  • 238Forensic Interview of Children Ncac Model
  • 239Hostile Witness Handling
  • 240Interpreter and Translator Use in Interviews
  • 241Miranda Warning and Waiver Documentation
  • 242Custodial vs Non Custodial Analysis
  • 243Consent to Search Dialogue and Documentation
  • 244Confession Corroboration and False Confession Risks
  • 650Witness Credibility Assessment

Social engineering (lawful)

12 skills
  • 245Pretexting Framework Lawful
  • 246Vishing Engagement Design
  • 247Smishing Engagement Design
  • 248Phishing Campaign Design Authorized
  • 249Physical Pretext Tailgating Assessment
  • 250USB Drop Engagement Design
  • 251OSINT for Engagement Targeting
  • 252Pretext Call Script Development
  • 253Elicitation vs Interrogation vs Pretext
  • 254Defensive Social Engineering Training Design
  • 255BEC Business Email Compromise Investigation
  • 256Social Engineering Engagement Reporting

Source handling

5 skills
  • 341Chs Confidential Source Recruitment
  • 342Source Vetting and Reliability Grading
  • 343Source Motivation Analysis MICE RASCLSE
  • 344Source Tasking and Debriefing
  • 345Source Documentation and Deconfliction

Red Team and Adversary Tactics

15 skills
  • 597Delivery Impersonation Physical Entry Execution
  • 598Tailgating Execution Tradecraft
  • 599Phone Pretext Call Execution
  • 600Vishing Redirect and Pivot
  • 601Smishing Conversion and Handoff
  • 602Badge Cloning Execution Authorized
  • 603USB Drop Operational Execution
  • 604Dumpster Diving Authorized Execution
  • 605Social Engineering Conversation Control
  • 606Building Recon Pre Engagement No Entry
  • 607Pretext Blown Recovery Tradecraft
  • 646Red Team Rules of Engagement Drafting
  • 647Red Team Arrest and Detention Contingency
  • 648Red Team After Action Reporting Discipline
  • 649Client Debrief and Defensive Controls Translation

Executive protection & travel security

10 skills
  • 608Executive Protection Advance Work
  • 609Executive Protection Motorcade Fundamentals
  • 610Executive Protection Residence Security Survey
  • 611Protective Driver and Evasive Driving Tradecraft
  • 612Protective Intelligence and Threat Assessment for Ep
  • 613Hostile Environment Awareness Training Fundamentals
  • 614International Pre Travel Risk Assessment
  • 615Duty of Care and Iso 31030 Travel Security
  • 616Medical Evacuation and Trauma Readiness
  • 617Corporate Extortion and Virtual Kidnap Response
Optional add-ons · stack with this bundle
$10/mo · updates as we ship them

Skills that stay current.

Buy Surveillance & Tradecraft once to own it, frozen at this edition. Add the Update Subscription ($10/mo) and every revision to everything you own lands on your machine as we ship it — new case law, new platforms, new tactics. Cancel anytime; downloads stay yours.

How it works
$149 one-time · tool access

Give the agent real tools.

36 pre-vetted MCP servers (Maigret, Shodan, Wayback, EdgarTools, Etherscan, Volatility, +30 more) wired into Claude Code / Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf so your agent actually runs the tools — not just suggests them.

What's in the toolkit
$100 on its own · multi-agent

Run agents in parallel.

Orchestrator.md — one file that makes an advanced LLM automatically spin up multiple agents at once (people, businesses, case-facts review, report writing) and merge them into one case file. Free with the all-bundle package, or $100 on its own.

See the example
Ready

Give your agent the Surveillance & Tradecraft skill set.

Surveillance & Tradecraft — The discipline behind the camera. · OSINT Tradecraft