An AI That Tries to Break Your App First
Strix is an open-source AI agent that probes your website for real security holes — the same ones a hired hacker would look for, at near zero cost.
A security audit used to cost $10,000
If you've ever launched a product that handles customer data — bookings, payments, anything personal — someone in the room probably said "we should get a pentest." Then someone looked up the price and the conversation quietly died.
Strix is an open-source project that does something genuinely surprising: it sends a small team of AI agents loose on your own app, instructs them to think like attackers, and has them try real break-in techniques — not just a checklist, but actual attempts. When they find something, they show you the proof. No vague warnings, no long PDF you'll never read.
It checks for the ten most common ways web apps get compromised — the industry calls this the OWASP Top 10. Things like: can a stranger read another customer's private data? Can someone inject malicious commands through a form field?
What makes this feel different from similar tools is that it connects to your development process automatically. Every time your team makes a code change, Strix runs its checks. Small teams who couldn't justify a dedicated security person now have something that watches the door for them.
It works with the AI models you might already be paying for — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — and takes about five minutes to set up.
Words worth knowing
Pentest (penetration test): A paid professional who tries to break into your app on purpose, to find holes before a real attacker does.
OWASP Top 10: A well-known list of the ten most common ways web applications get hacked. Think of it as the standard checklist every security professional uses.
Open-source: Software anyone can download, inspect, and use for free. The code is public, so the community can spot problems in it too.
CI/CD: The automated pipeline that runs every time your developers update the code. Strix plugs into this so security checks happen continuously, not just once.
If you collect any customer data, it's worth a conversation with whoever built your product about whether something like this is already running — or could be.