Mapping a Case End to End
How to use the built-in Mapping Tool: model the target, link identifiers, and pin the places that matter.
The Mapping Tool turns an investigation into something you can see and reason about. The Information tab is a graph of what you know; the Map tab is where it happened. The two are connected, so a coffee-shop pin can carry the Instagram account that checked in there.
- 1Create a project and set the target name. Pick Google Maps (richer place data, needs a key) or OpenStreetMap (free, no key) on first run.
- 2Open the Information tab. Add an identifier for every person, account, phone, vehicle, or address you confirm — each becomes a node.
- 3Wire nodes together by dragging from one node's handle to another. Drop a wire on empty space to spawn a connected node, Blender-style.
- 4Switch to the Map tab. Click anywhere to drop a pin; known places get their name, address, and icon filled in automatically.
- 5Link pins and identifiers: open a pin's card or an identifier's editor and attach the other side, with a short context note ("checked in on IG").
- 6Turn on "Connect pins" to trace a route, then save the whole thing to a single .osint.json file you can archive or share.
Add a node the first time you confirm something, then link to it. Duplicated entities fracture the graph and hide the relationships you are trying to find.
Reading the graph
- The shape of the graph is a finding: a cluster of accounts sharing a phone number, or a set of pins sharing one identifier, tells a story.
- Use the sidebar hover to light up linked pins on the map — great for spotting which places belong to which persona.
- Save often. The app also keeps local snapshots under "Continue recent" so a stray back-button won't lose your work.
A saved project can contain real people's addresses, numbers, and movements. Treat the .osint.json like a sensitive document: encrypt it, and share it only with those authorised to see it.
Painting the picture as you go
Do not save the graph for the end. Build it while you collect: each confirmed entity becomes a node the moment you find it, and each relationship is a link you can justify. The graph then does your analysis — clusters, bridges, and isolated leads appear on their own.
You have a name, two social handles, a phone number, and three placed photos, collected over an afternoon.
Method · Create the person node, then a node per handle, the phone, and each photo location. Draw a link from the phone to the handle you found on a marketplace, and from the handle to the two pins it checked into. Turn on "Connect pins" to trace the route between photos.
Result · The shape reveals that both handles share the one phone and the photos cluster around a single neighbourhood — a movement pattern you could not see in the tabs, now exportable as a single .osint.json.