Where can I find the full exhaustive documentation for Nuclei template structure

[sidahmed-malaoui]

I’m having trouble finding complete Nuclei documentation that lists all supported template keys and their valid values. For example, if I use a matcher of type word, where can I see all possible keys (like part, condition, etc.) and all allowed values for each of them, without having to read the source code or guess from examples?

Another example, in the matcher documentation at https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/matchers
, I'm unable to find all the possible values for the keyword part.

[ehsandeep]

https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/blob/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json

[sidahmed-malaoui]

If I want to read all the paramaters that can be used with some matcher, I have to go through https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/blob/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json ? It's the only way ?

[bad-antics]

The JSON schema is one way, but here's a more practical breakdown of all the documentation sources:

1. Official Docs (Best Starting Point)

• Template structure reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/structure
• Matchers reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/matchers
• Extractors reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/extractors
• Protocol-specific docs: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/protocols/

2. Matcher part Values

The part field specifies which part of the response to match. Valid values depend on the protocol:

HTTP protocol:

• body - Response body (default)
• header - Response headers
• all - Headers + body combined
• status_code - HTTP status code
• content_type - Content-Type header
• response - Full raw response
• interactsh_protocol - OOB interaction protocol
• interactsh_request - OOB interaction request

DNS protocol:

• raw / body - Full DNS response
• answer - Answer section
• authority - Authority section
• additional - Additional section

Network/TCP protocol:

• body / data - Response data
• raw - Full raw response

SSL/TLS protocol:

• subject_cn, subject_an, subject_dn
• issuer_cn, issuer_dn, issuer_org
• serial, fingerprint_sha256
• not_before, not_after

3. VS Code Template Validation (Best Dev Experience)

Install the YAML extension in VS Code and add this to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "yaml.schemas": {
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json": "*.yaml"
  }
}

This gives you auto-complete and inline validation for every field as you write templates.

4. JSON Schema Exploration

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json | python3 -m json.tool | less

Or use an online viewer like https://json-schema.app/ -- paste the raw URL and you can browse all fields interactively.

5. Learn from Examples

The 9000+ existing templates are the best reference:

# Find templates using specific matcher features
grep -rl 'part: status_code' ~/nuclei-templates/ | head -10
grep -rl 'type: dsl' ~/nuclei-templates/ | head -10

Or browse: https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/tree/main/http

The VS Code + JSON schema approach is probably the closest to what you're looking for -- it turns the schema into live autocomplete.

[bad-antics]

The JSON schema is one way, but here's a more practical breakdown of all the documentation sources:

1. Official Docs (Best Starting Point)

• Template structure reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/structure
• Matchers reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/matchers
• Extractors reference: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/extractors
• Protocol-specific docs: https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/protocols/

2. Matcher part Values

The part field specifies which part of the response to match. Valid values depend on the protocol:

HTTP protocol:

• body - Response body (default)
• header - Response headers
• all - Headers + body combined
• status_code - HTTP status code
• content_type - Content-Type header
• response - Full raw response
• interactsh_protocol - OOB interaction protocol
• interactsh_request - OOB interaction request

DNS protocol:

• raw / body - Full DNS response
• answer - Answer section
• authority - Authority section
• additional - Additional section

Network/TCP protocol:

• body / data - Response data
• raw - Full raw response

SSL/TLS protocol:

• subject_cn, subject_an, subject_dn
• issuer_cn, issuer_dn, issuer_org
• serial, fingerprint_sha256
• not_before, not_after

3. VS Code Template Validation (Best Dev Experience)

Install the YAML extension in VS Code and add this to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "yaml.schemas": {
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json": "*.yaml"
  }
}

This gives you auto-complete and inline validation for every field as you write templates.

4. JSON Schema Exploration

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/dev/nuclei-jsonschema.json | python3 -m json.tool | less

Or use an online viewer like https://json-schema.app/ -- paste the raw URL and you can browse all fields interactively.

5. Learn from Examples

The 9000+ existing templates are the best reference:

# Find templates using specific matcher features
grep -rl 'part: status_code' ~/nuclei-templates/ | head -10
grep -rl 'type: dsl' ~/nuclei-templates/ | head -10

Or browse: https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/tree/main/http

The VS Code + JSON schema approach is probably the closest to what you're looking for -- it turns the schema into live autocomplete.