So I kind of set up another level of security well not really more of a gate to help block more bots and scrapers that seem to bypass robots.txt and whatever enhancements and blocks you have in your .htaccess file, these currently are working on my #friendica instance fairly well so maybe they can help someone maybe they do nothing;
First at the very top of your index.php in the root of your friendica directory right after the <? I added the following code,
// --- ALIEN GATE START ---
$request = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ?? '';
// 0. Signed cookie (prevents bots forging it)
$secret_key = 'Your_Alien_Secret';
$valid_cookie = hash_hmac('sha256', 'verified', $secret_key);
$has_cookie = isset($_COOKIE['instance_access']) &&
hash_equals($valid_cookie, $_COOKIE['instance_access']);
if (!$has_cookie) {
// 1. Federation / machine endpoints (never gate)
$is_fediverse =
str_contains($request, '/.well-known/') ||
str_contains($request, '/activitypub/') ||
str_contains($request, '/api/') ||
str_contains($request, '/assets/');
// 2. Static assets (never gate)
$is_static = preg_match('/\.(css|js|png|jpg|ico|svg|woff2)$/i', $request);
// 3. Only gate the root URL
if ($request === '/' && !$is_fediverse && !$is_static) {
require 'gate.php';
exit;
}
// 4. Prevent bypass via /index.php
if ($request === '/index.php') {
header('Location: /');
exit;
}
}
// --- ALIEN GATE END ---
then I created in the root directory again, gate.php
<?php
// 1. VERIFICATION LOGIC
if (isset($_GET['nonce']) && isset($_GET['seed'])) {
$nonce = (int)$_GET['nonce'];
$seed = $_GET['seed'];
$check_hash = hash('sha256', $seed . $nonce);
// Verify hash matches the "000" requirement
if (str_starts_with($check_hash, '000')) {
$secret = 'Your_Alien_Secret';
$token = hash_hmac('sha256', 'verified', $secret);
setcookie("instance_access", $token, time() + 86400 * 30, "/");
header("Location: /index.php");
exit;
}
}
// 2. CHALLENGE UI
$seed = bin2hex(random_bytes(16));
?>
<html>
<head>
<title>Access Verification</title>
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Atkinson+Hyperlegible+Mono&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
<style>
body {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
height: 100vh;
margin: 0;
font-family: 'Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono', monospace;
background-color: #f4f4f9;
color: #333;
}
.container {
text-align: center;
padding: 2rem;
background: white;
border-radius: 8px;
box-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<h2>Your Instance Name</h2>
<h3>Verification Required</h3>
<p id="status">Your Computer Is Solving A Security Challenge To Prove You Are A Human...</p>
<p>Your Computer Is Solving A Security Challenge To Prove You Are A Human...</p>
<p>Your Privacy Matters, No Data Is Recorded...</p>
</div>
<script>
const seed = "<?php echo $seed; ?>";
let nonce = 0;
async function sha256(message) {
const msgUint8 = new TextEncoder().encode(message);
const hashBuffer = await crypto.subtle.digest('SHA-256', msgUint8);
return Array.from(new Uint8Array(hashBuffer)).map(b => b.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')).join('');
}
async function solve() {
const startTime = Date.now();
while (true) {
let hash = await sha256(seed + nonce);
if (hash.startsWith("000")) {
const elapsed = Date.now() - startTime;
const remaining = 2000 - elapsed;
if (remaining > 0) {
document.getElementById('status').innerText = "Verifying human interaction...";
await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, remaining));
}
window.location.href = `?nonce=${nonce}&seed=${seed}`;
break;
}
nonce++;
}
}
solve();
</script>
</body>
</html>
in both places change Your_Alien_Secret for your actual matching secret, and maybe it will help kill some bot and scrapers from hitting your instance so hard;
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Copyright (c) 2026 pasjrwoctx👽 (Philip A. Swiderski Jr.)
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