Leave the shadows behind. Block trackers. Protect your privacy.
A DNS blocklist targeting tracking, telemetry, analytics, and ad-serving domains — covering mainstream platforms, regional services, and niche app categories not typically covered by general-purpose blocklists.
Each entry in this list is the result of independent, per-platform
research rather than aggregation from existing third-party sources.
For every platform covered, the relevant subdomain infrastructure was
mapped and manually reviewed before any domain was classified as
tracking-related. The source material behind each category is
published in research/ for independent verification.
| Tier | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic | Confirmed tracking domains with minimal risk of affecting app functionality. |
| Aggressive | Basic tier plus additional domains that carry a small risk of affecting edge-case functionality (e.g. consent banners, A/B test flags, personalization). |
The Aggressive tier always includes everything in Basic.
Each category, and the combined list across all categories, is published in three formats, for both tiers:
| Format | Path pattern | Compatible with |
|---|---|---|
| Plain domain list | dist/<tier>/domains/<category>.txt |
Custom scripts, dnsmasq |
| Hosts file | dist/<tier>/hosts/<category>.txt |
Pi-hole, most hosts-based blockers |
| Adblock syntax | dist/<tier>/adblock/<category>.txt |
AdGuard Home, AdGuard, uBlock Origin |
Pi-hole or other hosts-based tools — add as an adlist source:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CorleoneSalute/SHADOW-BLOCKER-BLOCKLIST/main/dist/basic/hosts/all.txt
AdGuard Home, AdGuard, or uBlock Origin — add as a filter list:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CorleoneSalute/SHADOW-BLOCKER-BLOCKLIST/main/dist/basic/adblock/all.txt
Replace basic with aggressive for the stricter tier. To use a
single category instead of the full list, replace all.txt with the
category filename, for example:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CorleoneSalute/SHADOW-BLOCKER-BLOCKLIST/main/dist/basic/hosts/Cloud-Storage.txt
research/ source material behind each category (verification trail)
lists/categories/ canonical master lists (source of truth)
scripts/build.py generates dist/ from lists/categories/
dist/ generated output — do not edit directly
reports/ new-domain reports — see "Keeping this up to date"
90+ categories spanning mainstream and regional platforms, including
session replay & heatmap tools, data brokers, mental health apps,
consent management platforms, and other niches not typically covered
elsewhere. See lists/categories/ for the
complete list.
The following categories are under active research and intentionally not yet published. Categories with system-wide or platform-wide reach carry a higher risk of false positives that could affect core functionality, so each domain is being individually verified before release.
- Security & Bot Detection
- Android
- Telehealth & Digital Health
- Email Marketing
- Windows
- Job & Recruitment
- Adult Ecosystem
- Grocery & Food Delivery
- Video Editing & Creative Software
- News
This project is built on independent, from-scratch research rather than aggregation, but the approach was informed by ideas and techniques observed in the wider DNS-blocking community. Specific references:
- hagezi/dns-blocklists — some of the project's "native" lists were referenced when researching platforms with complex, multi-layered infrastructure.
- v2fly/domain-list-community — referenced for locating core domains of certain platforms.
Domain research and false-positive verification also relied on a range of publicly available cybersecurity and privacy resources.
New domains and categories are added through two parallel processes:
Manual research. New platforms and emerging tracking techniques are identified by following cybersecurity and technology news sources, then researched and classified individually using this project's methodology (see Methodology above).
Automated new-domain signals. A daily job checks several external
blocklists for domains added in the last 24 hours that aren't yet
covered here, and writes candidates to
reports/new-domain-suggestions.md. This is a research signal only —
nothing is added automatically. Every candidate is independently
researched and classified (platform, purpose, tier) before it's added
to a category file, the same as any other domain in this project.
Sources checked for new-domain signals: AdGuard SDNS Filter, StevenBlack, EasyPrivacy, 1Hosts, no-google, a-dove-is-dumb, and the native OEM lists from hagezi/dns-blocklists (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo/Realme, Vivo, LG WebOS, TikTok).
Reports of false positives, missing domains, or new platform research
are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.