> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hackgate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# HackGATE Sites: How proxied test environments work

> A HackGATE site is a managed reverse proxy that routes researcher traffic to your origin via a hackgate.net subdomain, keeping your real server private.

A HackGATE site is a reverse proxy that sits in front of your application. When you create a site, HackGATE provisions a unique subdomain — for example, `yourapp-yourorg.hackgate.net` — and forwards all incoming researcher traffic to your origin URL. Your real application is never exposed directly to researchers.

## What is a HackGATE site

Each site maps one origin URL to one HackGATEd subdomain:

* **Origin** (`originName`): your application's URL, e.g. `https://www.example.com`
* **Proxy** (`hackgatedName`): the HackGATE subdomain, e.g. `www-myorg.hackgate.net`

Researchers connect only to the proxy subdomain. HackGATE handles authentication, rate limiting, block rules, and traffic logging before any request reaches your origin.

## Site lifecycle

| State         | Description                                                                                              |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Creating**  | You have submitted the origin URL. HackGATE is provisioning the proxy.                                   |
| **Deploying** | Deployment is in progress (`isDeploymentProgress: true`). The site is not yet reachable.                 |
| **Active**    | The proxy is live (`isActive: true`). Researchers can connect.                                           |
| **Disabled**  | The proxy is offline (`isActive: false`). Requests return a default page. You can re-enable at any time. |

After you create a site, all organization members receive an email. Deployment completes in approximately 4 minutes, at which point the site becomes active.

## Key site properties

| Property                 | Description                                                           |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `originName`             | The origin URL you provided when creating the site.                   |
| `hackgatedName`          | The auto-generated proxy subdomain on `hackgate.net`.                 |
| `isActive`               | Whether the proxy is currently accepting researcher connections.      |
| `isDeploymentProgress`   | `true` while the site is still being provisioned.                     |
| `startDate` / `stopDate` | Optional scheduled times to automatically enable or disable the site. |

## Activity log

HackGATE records an activity log for every site. Each entry contains a timestamp and one of three actions:

* **Deployed** — the site finished provisioning and became available.
* **Started** — the site was enabled (manually or via schedule).
* **Stopped** — the site was disabled (manually or via schedule).

## Usage tracking

HackGATE tracks usage as the number of unique days in a given month that the site was active and received traffic. You can query this per site for any year and month.

## Related pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a site" icon="plus" href="/sites/create">
    Deploy a proxied test environment by pointing HackGATE at your origin URL.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Enable and disable" icon="toggle-on" href="/sites/enable-disable">
    Toggle your site on or off to control researcher access.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scheduling" icon="clock" href="/sites/scheduling">
    Automate start and stop times to define precise pentest windows.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Credentials and instructions" icon="file-lines" href="/sites/credentials-instructions">
    Provide researchers with login details and testing scope.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hacker allowlist" icon="user-lock" href="/access/hacker-allowlist">
    Control which researchers can connect to your site.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Traffic analytics" icon="chart-bar" href="/analytics/traffic">
    Monitor researcher activity and API coverage across your environment.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>