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

# Campaign Management

> Creating, launching, and managing phishing campaigns

Campaigns in Phishmonger represent complete phishing operations with email content, SMTP configuration, target lists, and tracking. This guide covers the full campaign lifecycle.

## Campaign Lifecycle

<Steps>
  <Step title="Creation">
    Campaign is created and saved with email content and SMTP settings
  </Step>

  <Step title="Target Addition">
    Target list is added or imported with email addresses and metadata
  </Step>

  <Step title="Testing">
    Test emails are sent to verify deliverability and appearance
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch or Schedule">
    Campaign is either sent immediately or scheduled for future start
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sending">
    Emails are sent sequentially with configured delay between sends
  </Step>

  <Step title="Monitoring">
    Events are tracked in real-time as targets interact with emails
  </Step>

  <Step title="Completion">
    Campaign ends when all targets have been sent emails or campaign is manually stopped
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Viewing Campaigns

### Campaign List

Navigate to the admin interface:

```
https://yourdomain.com/admin
```

The campaign list displays:

* Campaign name (clickable to access campaign details)
* SMTP server
* SMTP From address
* Phishing link
* ID parameter
* Email delay (seconds)
* Scheduled start time (if scheduled)
* Start timestamp (when campaign began sending)
* End timestamp (when campaign completed)
* Phishmarket ID (if created from remote template)
* Sending status (1 = currently sending, 0 = not sending)

### Campaign Details

Click any campaign name to access:

* Target management
* Campaign tracking
* Scheduling controls
* Campaign settings

## Creating Campaigns

Campaigns are created through the email capture workflow. See [Usage Guide](/phishmonger-docs/usage) for detailed instructions.

**Quick Summary**:

1. Navigate to "Create Campaign"
2. Capture email from Outlook or load from template
3. Edit email content and configure SMTP settings
4. Click "Save as Campaign"
5. Enter unique campaign name
6. Campaign is saved and appears in campaign list

## Campaign Configuration

### Email Content

**Storage**: Complete raw MIME message stored in the `email` column

**Includes**:

* All headers (SMTP and email headers)
* Email body (HTML and/or plain text)
* Embedded images and attachments
* Content-Type declarations
* Character encoding

**Editing**: Access via "Edit Campaign" to modify email content

### SMTP Configuration

**mail\_server** (string)

* Hostname or IP of target mail server or relay
* Examples: `mx.target-domain.com`, `smtp.sendgrid.net`

**smtp\_from** (string)

* Envelope sender address
* Must be from a domain you control
* Used for SPF/DKIM alignment

**secure** (0 or 1)

* 0: Port 25, no TLS (direct delivery)
* 1: Port 465, TLS (authenticated relay)

**username** (string)

* SMTP authentication username (optional)
* Required for authenticated relays

**password** (string)

* SMTP authentication password (optional)
* Stored in plaintext in database

<Warning>
  **Password Security**: Passwords are stored unencrypted in the SQLite database. Secure the database file appropriately.
</Warning>

**dkim** (0 or 1)

* 0: No DKIM signing
* 1: Sign emails with DKIM private key

### Campaign Parameters

**phishing\_link** (string)

* Base URL for phishing/payload delivery
* Example: `https://payload-domain.com`

**id\_parameter** (string)

* URL parameter name for target tracking
* Example: `id` results in `?id=abc123`

**delay** (integer)

* Seconds between each email send
* Default: 30 seconds
* Minimum: 1 second

**scheduled\_start** (integer or null)

* Unix timestamp (milliseconds) for scheduled start
* Null if not scheduled

**start\_timestamp** (integer or null)

* Unix timestamp (milliseconds) when campaign started sending
* Null if not yet started

**end\_timestamp** (integer or null)

* Unix timestamp (milliseconds) when campaign completed
* Null if not yet completed

**is\_sending** (0 or 1)

* 0: Campaign not currently sending
* 1: Campaign currently sending or scheduled

**market\_id** (integer)

* Phishmarket template ID if campaign was created from remote template
* 0 if created locally

## Editing Campaigns

To modify an existing campaign:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access Campaign">
    From admin interface, click campaign name
  </Step>

  <Step title="Navigate to Edit">
    The campaign details page provides access to edit functionality
  </Step>

  <Step title="Modify Settings">
    Change SMTP settings, email content, phishing link, or delay
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save Changes">
    Changes are immediately saved to the database
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **Active Campaign Editing**: Do not edit campaigns that are currently sending. Stop the campaign first.
</Warning>

### What Can Be Edited

**Allowed**:

* Email content (MIME message)
* SMTP settings (server, auth, DKIM)
* Phishing link and ID parameter
* Email delay

**Not Editable**:

* Campaign name (primary identifier)
* Historical timestamps (start, end)
* Sending status (managed automatically)

## Launching Campaigns

### Prerequisites

Before launching:

<Checklist>
  * [ ] Campaign created and saved
  * [ ] Target list added (at least one target)
  * [ ] Test email sent and verified
  * [ ] SMTP configuration tested
  * [ ] DNS records verified (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
  * [ ] Payload delivery server ready (if using)
</Checklist>

### Send Campaign Immediately

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access Campaign">
    Click campaign name from admin interface
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify Targets">
    Confirm target list is populated and correct
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Send Campaign">
    The "Send Campaign" button starts immediate sending
  </Step>

  <Step title="Monitor Progress">
    Campaign tracking page shows real-time email sending and events
  </Step>
</Steps>

**Campaign Behavior**:

* Emails sent sequentially with configured delay
* First target is sent immediately upon clicking "Send Campaign"
* Subsequent targets sent after delay interval
* Campaign continues until all targets marked as "phished"
* `EMAIL_SENT` events logged for each successful send
* `ERROR` events logged for failures

### Schedule Campaign

To start a campaign at a specific future time:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access Campaign Tracking">
    Navigate to campaign tracking page
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Schedule Time">
    Modify the datetime input field with desired start time
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Schedule Campaign">
    The "Schedule Campaign" button schedules the campaign
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirmation">
    Campaign status shows as scheduled
  </Step>

  <Step title="Automatic Start">
    Campaign automatically begins at scheduled time
  </Step>
</Steps>

**Important Notes**:

* All times are in the server's timezone (configured in `config.json`)
* Current server time is displayed when refreshing the page
* Update the time input to the desired start time before clicking "Schedule Campaign"
* Cannot schedule a campaign that is already sending

**Scheduled Campaign Behavior**:

* Campaign waits until scheduled time
* At scheduled time, first email is sent
* Subsequent emails sent with configured delay
* Can be cancelled before start time

## Stopping Campaigns

### Cancel Active Campaign

To stop a campaign that is currently sending:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access Campaign Tracking">
    Navigate to the campaign tracking page
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Cancel Campaign">
    The "Cancel Campaign" button stops email sending
  </Step>

  <Step title="Immediate Stop">
    No additional emails will be sent after cancel
  </Step>

  <Step title="Status Update">
    Campaign status changes to not sending (is\_sending = 0)
  </Step>
</Steps>

**Effects of Cancelling**:

* Current email being sent completes
* No additional emails are queued
* Targets marked as "phished=1" remain marked
* Targets marked as "phished=0" can be retried later
* End timestamp is set
* Can be restarted by clicking "Send Campaign" again

### Cancel Scheduled Campaign

Scheduled campaigns can be cancelled before they start:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access Campaign Tracking">
    Navigate to the campaign tracking page
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Cancel Campaign">
    Cancels the scheduled start
  </Step>

  <Step title="Status Update">
    Scheduled start time cleared, campaign not sending
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Campaign Statistics

### Database Queries

Get campaign statistics directly from the database:

**Total Targets**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';
```

**Emails Sent**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name' AND phished = 1;
```

**Emails Remaining**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name' AND phished = 0;
```

**Total Events**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM events WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';
```

**Events by Type**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT event_type, COUNT(*) as count
FROM events
WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name'
GROUP BY event_type;
```

**Click-Through Rate**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT
    (SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT target) FROM events WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name' AND event_type = 'CLICK') * 100.0 /
    (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name' AND phished = 1) as ctr;
```

### Campaign Duration

Calculate campaign duration:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT
    name,
    start_timestamp,
    end_timestamp,
    (end_timestamp - start_timestamp) / 1000.0 as duration_seconds,
    (end_timestamp - start_timestamp) / 60000.0 as duration_minutes
FROM campaigns
WHERE name = 'campaign_name';
```

## Managing Multiple Campaigns

### Campaign Naming Convention

Use clear, descriptive names:

**Good Examples**:

* `Q4_2023_Office365_Phish`
* `RedTeam_VPN_Campaign_Dec2023`
* `Awareness_Training_Test_1`

**Avoid**:

* `test`
* `campaign1`
* `asdf`

### Running Multiple Campaigns

Phishmonger supports multiple concurrent campaigns:

**Considerations**:

* Each campaign runs independently
* Shared SMTP server may have rate limits
* Monitor total sending rate across all campaigns
* Database handles concurrent writes
* WebSocket events are campaign-specific

**Best Practices**:

* Use different SMTP servers for concurrent campaigns when possible
* Stagger campaign start times to avoid simultaneous bursts
* Monitor server load and database performance
* Keep campaign delays reasonable (30+ seconds)

## Campaign Templates

Campaigns can be used as templates for future campaigns by duplicating and modifying:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Export Campaign Email">
    Query database to extract email content
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create New Campaign">
    Use email capture or template workflow
  </Step>

  <Step title="Load Previous Content">
    Paste email content or use template system
  </Step>

  <Step title="Modify as Needed">
    Update content, SMTP settings, and targets
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save with New Name">
    Save as a distinct campaign
  </Step>
</Steps>

**Database Query to Extract Campaign Email**:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT email FROM campaigns WHERE name = 'source_campaign_name';
```

## Deleting Campaigns

To remove a campaign completely:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Stop Campaign">
    If campaign is sending, cancel it first
  </Step>

  <Step title="Access Campaign">
    Navigate to campaign details
  </Step>

  <Step title="Delete Campaign">
    Use delete functionality (or API DELETE /delete\_campaign)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirmation">
    Campaign, associated targets, and events are removed
  </Step>
</Steps>

**What Gets Deleted**:

* Campaign record
* All targets for the campaign
* All events for the campaign

**What Does NOT Get Deleted**:

* Templates (unaffected)
* Other campaigns (unaffected)

<Warning>
  **Permanent Deletion**: Deleting a campaign cannot be undone. Export data first if needed for reporting.
</Warning>

**Database Deletion**:

```bash theme={null}
sqlite3 db/aquarium.db
```

```sql theme={null}
DELETE FROM campaigns WHERE name = 'campaign_name';
DELETE FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';
DELETE FROM events WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';
```

## Campaign Best Practices

### Before Launch

**Verify Deliverability**:

* Send test to your own inbox
* Send test to mail-tester.com (aim for 8/10 or higher)
* Test rendering on multiple clients (Outlook, Gmail, mobile)
* Verify all links work correctly

**Review Target List**:

* Remove duplicates
* Verify email format is correct
* Check for internal/team email addresses
* Confirm authorization scope includes all targets

**Timing Considerations**:

* Launch during business hours for better engagement
* Avoid Monday mornings and Friday afternoons
* Consider target organization's timezone
* Allow enough time to monitor campaign actively

### During Campaign

**Active Monitoring**:

* Keep campaign tracking page open
* Watch for ERROR events
* Monitor overall sending rate
* Check for unexpected patterns

**Response to Errors**:

* 450/451 errors: Greylist or rate limit - slow down
* 550 errors: Permanent failure - check address validity
* Connection refused: Mail server down or blocked
* Authentication failures: Verify SMTP credentials

**Campaign Control**:

* Pause campaign if suspicious activity detected
* Stop campaign if technical issues occur
* Adjust delay if rate limiting occurs

### After Campaign

**Reporting**:

* Export events for analysis
* Calculate success metrics (delivery rate, CTR)
* Document lessons learned
* Archive campaign data if needed

**Cleanup**:

* Stop campaign after completion
* Export data before deletion
* Delete campaign when no longer needed
* Clear old database entries

## Campaign Metrics

### Key Performance Indicators

**Delivery Rate**:

```
(Emails Sent / Total Targets) * 100
```

**Open Rate**:

```
(Unique Opens / Emails Sent) * 100
```

*Requires tracking pixel in email*

**Click-Through Rate (CTR)**:

```
(Unique Clicks / Emails Sent) * 100
```

**Submission Rate**:

```
(Credential Submissions / Unique Clicks) * 100
```

**Overall Success Rate**:

```
(Credential Submissions / Total Targets) * 100
```

### Reporting

Generate campaign report:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT
    c.name as campaign_name,
    COUNT(DISTINCT t.target_id) as total_targets,
    SUM(t.phished) as emails_sent,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN e.event_type = 'CLICK' THEN e.target END) as unique_clicks,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN e.event_type = 'POST_DATA' THEN e.target END) as submissions,
    (COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN e.event_type = 'CLICK' THEN e.target END) * 100.0 / SUM(t.phished)) as ctr,
    (COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN e.event_type = 'POST_DATA' THEN e.target END) * 100.0 / SUM(t.phished)) as success_rate
FROM campaigns c
LEFT JOIN targets t ON c.name = t.campaign
LEFT JOIN events e ON c.name = e.campaign
WHERE c.name = 'campaign_name'
GROUP BY c.name;
```

## Troubleshooting Campaigns

### Campaign Won't Start

**Symptoms**: Clicking "Send Campaign" has no effect

**Possible Causes**:

* No targets added to campaign
* All targets already marked as phished
* Campaign is already sending (is\_sending = 1)

**Solutions**:

```sql theme={null}
-- Check target count
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';

-- Check remaining targets
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM targets WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name' AND phished = 0;

-- Reset phished status if needed
UPDATE targets SET phished = 0 WHERE campaign = 'campaign_name';

-- Check sending status
SELECT is_sending FROM campaigns WHERE name = 'campaign_name';

-- Reset sending status if stuck
UPDATE campaigns SET is_sending = 0 WHERE name = 'campaign_name';
```

### Campaign Stuck Sending

**Symptoms**: Campaign shows as sending but no emails are going out

**Possible Causes**:

* Node.js process crashed
* Database lock
* SMTP connection hung

**Solutions**:

* Restart Node.js server
* Check server logs for errors
* Reset is\_sending flag in database

### Emails Not Delivering

**Symptoms**: ERROR events logged for all or most targets

**Common Error Codes**:

* **550 5.7.1**: SPF or authentication failure
* **550 5.1.1**: User unknown (invalid email address)
* **554**: Message rejected (content filtering)
* **Connection refused**: Port 25 blocked or mail server down

**Solutions**:

* Verify DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
* Check target email addresses are valid
* Review email content for spam triggers
* Verify SMTP server is reachable
* Try authenticated relay instead of direct delivery