Ju1y's Blog - Tools Share, Efficiency Up

Here, I share some tools and usage tips that I find useful in my study and practice. Utilizing these tools well can significantly improve the efficiency of managing notes, thoughts, and code during learning.

0x01 Note-Taking Tools

Online Notes: Notion

Taking good notes is an important habit in penetration testing. Organizing all enumerated information, screenshots, etc., in a clear and orderly manner can greatly improve efficiency in information retrieval. I highly recommend using Notion, as its built-in database, templates, and other features can efficiently manage notes.

Database Function: Notion can create databases for notes with various tags. I use this function to summarize and organize exercises, adding tags such as difficulty, system, category, and tech stack.

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Template Function: You can quickly create note templates for structured notes using “New Template”.

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I created a penetration testing note template, with common commands for quick access.

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Button Function: Notion allows buttons that trigger actions or call features. I use buttons to quickly call related notes on the right side for easy reference.

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Notion's Drawbacks: Although I love Notion and its powerful features, one big downside is online storage. The risk of data loss or data leaks always worries me.

Local Notes: Obsidian

The OffSec official materials recommend the Obsidian note-taking app, which I used for my notes in several exams afterward. A locally stored note-taking app gives me more peace of mind, and Obsidian's simple interface and convenient features are excellent.

0x02 Code Snippet Tool

SnippetsLab

SnippetsLab is a very simple and useful code snippet management tool that I use to store reusable code snippets.

While studying for OSEP, I recorded saved bypass codes, AMSI Bypass codes, shellcode encoding, etc.

While preparing for OSWE, I stored independent Python functions such as modules for XSS attacks, SQL-related requests, etc., and created an exploit script framework for quick copying and writing during the exam.

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In SnippetsLab, each code snippet can be highlighted according to different languages, and by clicking the ”</>” button in the upper right corner, you can quickly copy the code content. In the macOS status bar, clicking the icon also allows quick creation of code snippets.

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0x03 Efficiency Tool

Alfred

Alfred is truly an efficiency booster! It can be used for file retrieval, custom shortcuts, setting up workflows, clipboard management, and even for managing commonly used commands and code snippets!

Quick Actions: I set up some shortcuts to quickly launch applications. When setting up these types of shortcuts, I choose a fixed prefix, like ⌥+⌘, for easier memorization and to build usage habits.

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Clipboard Management: Alfred provides a very convenient clipboard management feature. You can call up clipboard content using a shortcut, view clipboard history, and instantly copy items by pressing Enter.

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Snippet Management: Besides clipboard functionality, Alfred also provides custom content snippet management. Alfred Snippets can be incredibly useful in pentesting by allowing us to manage and quickly access frequently used command-line snippets and scripts. We can categorize and store commonly used commands and payloads(For example, nmap scans, directory enumeration, privilege escalation checks, reverse shells, etc.). They can be quickly retrieved and copied using shortcuts, improving efficiency significantly.

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I organized command snippets by tool, using simple names to highlight main functions for easy searching. The right side contains frequently used commands that can be pasted instantly by pressing Enter.

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When writing commands, variables/parameters can be marked with ”<>” to differentiate them.

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Open Source: I've open-sourced some of my custom Alfred code snippets on GitHub. You're welcome to download and import them ☀️

https://github.com/JackJuly/useful-alfred-snippets

0x04 Screenshot Tool

Snipaste

Screenshot tools are essential for note-taking. Snipaste is a super convenient tool that can be summoned with a shortcut, supports automatic UI recognition, allows quick annotations, and can pin the screenshot as a floating window on the desktop. It's incredibly useful!

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0x05 Writing Tool

Typst

All my OffSec exam reports were written with Typst. Compared to LaTeX, Typst is simpler, more user-friendly, and very powerful. You can use this report template to create clean and professional exam reports.

https://gitlab.com/daniele_m/offsec-exam-report-template-typst

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0x06 Summary

The six tools mentioned above are ones I frequently use in my daily work. They help make note-taking, code management, and other tasks more organized, which greatly improves overall work efficiency. If anyone has other useful tools or tips they'd like to share, feel free to contact me via email.