What is a Monocle assessment?
A Monocle assessment is an encrypted payload generated for each session. It contains information about how a user is connecting, such as VPN usage, proxy detection, and anonymized status. You can decrypt and evaluate this data in your backend, or analyze it directly in the Monocle UI.
Similar questions
What is Monocle?
Monocle is a traffic intelligence tool that identifies anonymized traffic such as VPNs, proxies, and datacenter connections, and provides insights into how users are connecting to your application.
Does Monocle block traffic?
No, not by default. Monocle evaluates traffic and returns a decision (such as Block or Allow); your system is responsible for enforcing that decision. The exception is supported edge integrations, such as Cloudflare, where Monocle can enforce decisions directly.
Can we decrypt Monocle assessments ourselves instead of calling an API?
Yes — this is already supported at no extra cost. Every Monocle application has both a Secret Key (for the hosted Decryption API) and a Private Key (for manual backend decryption) available in the Monocle Dashboard. Backend decryption lets your own server decrypt the Monocle Assessment locally using the Private Key, without making a call to Spur's Decryption API.
Do I need a backend to use Monocle?
No. You can use Monocle to gain visibility into traffic intelligence via the Monocle UI without acting on it. With a supported integration like Cloudflare, traffic can be enforced directly from the UI based on policy configuration. A backend is only required if you want to decrypt assessments or apply custom enforcement logic.
What is the difference between Raw Assessment and Policy API?
With Raw Assessment, you decrypt and evaluate traffic yourself for full control. With the Policy API, Monocle evaluates traffic and returns a decision directly, which is simpler to implement.
Related guides & explainers
Understanding Monocle Application Health Status
Each Monocle application shows a health status dot indicating whether it's actively sending traffic. Learn what each color means, how to set each application's health threshold, how health alert emails work, and what to check if an application goes quiet.
Expanding IP and Service Rows in the Explorer
Click any IP or service row in the Monocle Explorer's breakdown tables to expand an inline detail panel, without leaving the table.
What "Client Proxies" Means in Spur Data
"Client Proxies" in Spur data describes proxy-network activity Spur observed coming from an IP — it does not mean the IP is owned or operated by the listed provider.
Why the Organization Field Isn't Available the Same Way Across Spur's Data Feeds
The Context API's per-IP organization field isn't guaranteed in every data feed. Each feed has a different schema and covers a different slice of IP space, so field availability varies by feed.