ELK Stack for CAPTCHA Solving Log Analysis

When your CAPTCHA pipeline processes thousands of tasks, grep doesn't scale. The ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) lets you search, aggregate, and visualize solve logs — find error patterns, track latency trends, and diagnose issues in seconds.

Architecture

[CAPTCHA Workers] → JSON logs → [Filebeat] → [Logstash] → [Elasticsearch]
                                                                ↓
                                                           [Kibana]

Structured Logging

Python — JSON Log Output

import os
import json
import time
import logging
import sys
import requests

API_KEY = os.environ["CAPTCHAAI_API_KEY"]


class JSONFormatter(logging.Formatter):
    def format(self, record):
        log_entry = {
            "timestamp": self.formatTime(record),
            "level": record.levelname,
            "logger": record.name,
            "message": record.getMessage(),
        }
        # Add extra fields
        if hasattr(record, "captcha_id"):
            log_entry["captcha_id"] = record.captcha_id
        if hasattr(record, "captcha_type"):
            log_entry["captcha_type"] = record.captcha_type
        if hasattr(record, "solve_time"):
            log_entry["solve_time"] = record.solve_time
        if hasattr(record, "error_code"):
            log_entry["error_code"] = record.error_code
        if hasattr(record, "target_url"):
            log_entry["target_url"] = record.target_url
        if hasattr(record, "poll_count"):
            log_entry["poll_count"] = record.poll_count
        return json.dumps(log_entry)


# Configure logger
logger = logging.getLogger("captchaai")
logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
handler.setFormatter(JSONFormatter())
logger.addHandler(handler)

session = requests.Session()


def solve_captcha(sitekey, pageurl, captcha_type="recaptcha_v2"):
    extra = {"captcha_type": captcha_type, "target_url": pageurl}

    # Submit
    resp = session.post("https://ocr.captchaai.com/in.php", data={
        "key": API_KEY,
        "method": "userrecaptcha",
        "googlekey": sitekey,
        "pageurl": pageurl,
        "json": 1
    })
    data = resp.json()

    if data.get("status") != 1:
        logger.error("Submit failed", extra={
            **extra, "error_code": data.get("request")
        })
        return {"error": data.get("request")}

    captcha_id = data["request"]
    extra["captcha_id"] = captcha_id
    logger.info("Task submitted", extra=extra)

    # Poll
    start = time.time()
    poll_count = 0
    for _ in range(60):
        time.sleep(5)
        poll_count += 1
        result = session.get("https://ocr.captchaai.com/res.php", params={
            "key": API_KEY, "action": "get", "id": captcha_id, "json": 1
        }).json()

        if result.get("status") == 1:
            elapsed = round(time.time() - start, 2)
            logger.info("Solve success", extra={
                **extra,
                "solve_time": elapsed,
                "poll_count": poll_count
            })
            return {"solution": result["request"]}

        if result.get("request") != "CAPCHA_NOT_READY":
            logger.error("Solve failed", extra={
                **extra,
                "error_code": result.get("request"),
                "poll_count": poll_count
            })
            return {"error": result.get("request")}

    logger.error("Solve timeout", extra={
        **extra,
        "error_code": "TIMEOUT",
        "poll_count": poll_count
    })
    return {"error": "TIMEOUT"}

JavaScript — Structured Logging

const axios = require("axios");

const API_KEY = process.env.CAPTCHAAI_API_KEY;

function log(level, message, fields = {}) {
  const entry = {
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    level,
    message,
    service: "captcha-worker",
    ...fields,
  };
  console.log(JSON.stringify(entry));
}

async function solveCaptcha(sitekey, pageurl, captchaType = "recaptcha_v2") {
  const fields = { captchaType, targetUrl: pageurl };

  const submitResp = await axios.post("https://ocr.captchaai.com/in.php", null, {
    params: {
      key: API_KEY, method: "userrecaptcha",
      googlekey: sitekey, pageurl, json: 1,
    },
  });

  if (submitResp.data.status !== 1) {
    log("error", "Submit failed", { ...fields, errorCode: submitResp.data.request });
    return { error: submitResp.data.request };
  }

  const captchaId = submitResp.data.request;
  fields.captchaId = captchaId;
  log("info", "Task submitted", fields);

  const startTime = Date.now();
  let pollCount = 0;

  for (let i = 0; i < 60; i++) {
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 5000));
    pollCount++;

    const pollResp = await axios.get("https://ocr.captchaai.com/res.php", {
      params: { key: API_KEY, action: "get", id: captchaId, json: 1 },
    });

    if (pollResp.data.status === 1) {
      const solveTime = ((Date.now() - startTime) / 1000).toFixed(2);
      log("info", "Solve success", { ...fields, solveTime: parseFloat(solveTime), pollCount });
      return { solution: pollResp.data.request };
    }

    if (pollResp.data.request !== "CAPCHA_NOT_READY") {
      log("error", "Solve failed", { ...fields, errorCode: pollResp.data.request, pollCount });
      return { error: pollResp.data.request };
    }
  }

  log("error", "Solve timeout", { ...fields, errorCode: "TIMEOUT", pollCount });
  return { error: "TIMEOUT" };
}

module.exports = { solveCaptcha };

Filebeat Configuration

# filebeat.yml
filebeat.inputs:

  - type: log
    paths:

      - /var/log/captcha-worker/*.log
    json:
      keys_under_root: true
      add_error_key: true
      message_key: message

output.logstash:
  hosts: ["logstash:5044"]

Logstash Pipeline

# logstash-captcha.conf
input {
  beats {
    port => 5044
  }
}

filter {
  # Parse JSON logs
  json {
    source => "message"
    target => "captcha"
  }

  # Add computed fields
  if [captcha][solve_time] {
    mutate {
      add_field => {
        "solve_time_bucket" => "fast"
      }
    }
    if [captcha][solve_time] > 30 {
      mutate { update => { "solve_time_bucket" => "medium" } }
    }
    if [captcha][solve_time] > 90 {
      mutate { update => { "solve_time_bucket" => "slow" } }
    }
  }

  # Extract date
  date {
    match => ["[captcha][timestamp]", "ISO8601"]
    target => "@timestamp"
  }
}

output {
  elasticsearch {
    hosts => ["elasticsearch:9200"]
    index => "captcha-logs-%{+YYYY.MM.dd}"
  }
}

Elasticsearch Index Template

{
  "index_patterns": ["captcha-logs-*"],
  "template": {
    "settings": {
      "number_of_shards": 1,
      "number_of_replicas": 0
    },
    "mappings": {
      "properties": {
        "captcha_type": { "type": "keyword" },
        "captcha_id": { "type": "keyword" },
        "error_code": { "type": "keyword" },
        "solve_time": { "type": "float" },
        "poll_count": { "type": "integer" },
        "target_url": { "type": "keyword" },
        "level": { "type": "keyword" },
        "message": { "type": "text" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Kibana Dashboard Panels

Useful Queries

# All errors in the last hour
level:error AND @timestamp:[now-1h TO now]

# Timeout errors for reCAPTCHA
error_code:TIMEOUT AND captcha_type:recaptcha_v2

# Slow solves (> 60 seconds)
solve_time:>60

# Errors for a specific target URL
level:error AND target_url:"example.com"

# Specific CAPTCHA ID investigation
captcha_id:"73519847"

Troubleshooting

FAQ

How long should I retain CAPTCHA logs?

30 days for operational logs. 90 days if you need trend analysis. Use Elasticsearch ILM to automatically delete old indices.

Can I use OpenSearch instead of Elasticsearch?

Yes. OpenSearch is API-compatible with Elasticsearch. The Logstash output plugin, Filebeat, and Kibana alternatives (OpenSearch Dashboards) work the same way.

Should I log the CAPTCHA solution text?

No. Solutions are single-use tokens with no diagnostic value. Logging them adds storage cost and could create security issues. Log only metadata (ID, type, latency, status).

Next Steps

Search and analyze your CAPTCHA logs — get your CaptchaAI API key and set up ELK.

Related guides:

• Structured Logging
• Datadog Monitoring
• OpenTelemetry Tracing