• DRIFT
  • HISTORY
  • DIFF
  • HUMAN

How to audit host configuration changes with your AI

Connect Censys to your AI client to monitor infrastructure. Once connected, your agent can pull historical data and compare host states instantly.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I audit host configuration changes with my AI?

Your AI pulls real-time and historical data from Censys to identify how specific IPs or services have changed. You'll get a clear view of configuration drifts and service updates. This breakdown shows you how to execute those audits.

Audit outcomes.

Where your findings land.

What you get after your AI runs the analysis.

DRIFT

Identify configuration drift

The AI compares current host states against previous snapshots. You'll see exactly which services or ports changed.

HISTORY

Track IP evolution

Your agent pulls historical data to show how an IP's footprint has changed. This reveals long-term infrastructure trends.

DIFF

Spot service mismatches

The AI highlights differences between specific hosts. This helps you find outliers in your fleet.

HUMAN

Review and remediate

The AI presents the findings, but you decide if a change was authorized. You handle the actual fix in your infrastructure.

The workflow

What your AI does when the request arrives.

The AI handles the data retrieval and comparison so you don't have to manually query the Censys database.

  1. Fetch host data

    The AI grabs the current configuration and service details for a specific target.

    get_host

  2. Retrieve history

    Your agent looks back at previous scans to see how the host looked in the past.

    get_host_history

  3. Compare states

    The AI calculates the delta between two points in time or between two different hosts.

    view_host_diff

  4. Summarize findings

    The agent translates raw technical differences into a clear report of what actually changed.

    get_host

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to trigger the audit immediately.

Starting points

Replace the IP addresses and service names with your actual targets.

Censys Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_s8bUKfbc9OS3leqa10RhKd63iRfAGn5ERJCnUH87/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Censys capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "censys-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_s8bUKfbc9OS3leqa10RhKd63iRfAGn5ERJCnUH87/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Show me the current configuration for IP 192.168.1.1.

  • Compare the current state of host 10.0.0.5 with its state from last month.

  • What are the differences between host 192.168.1.1 and host 192.168.1.2?

  • Check the history for service changes on IP 172.16.0.10.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Censys once, then ask.

Just link your account once. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can immediately start auditing hosts through your preferred AI client.

Connect Censys to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves.

  • 01

    Can the AI change my host configurations?

    No. The AI can only read data from Censys. You must make all configuration changes manually in your own environment.

  • 02

    Can the AI delete host records?

    No. The tools only allow for retrieving and comparing data. No write or delete permissions exist.

  • 03

    How does the AI know if a change was unauthorized?

    The AI only identifies that a change occurred. It doesn't know your internal change management policies, so you have to verify the intent.

  • 04

    Does the AI need my Censys API key?

    Yes, you provide the key during the connection process, but Vinkius manages the connection securely.

  • 05

    Can I compare two different IP addresses?

    Yes, the AI can pull data for two distinct hosts and show you how they differ.

  • More questions about Censys? The Connector page answers them. See everything the Censys Connector can do

Connect Censys to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more