Docs / Moderation / Visual Moderation / Weapon Firearms and Knife Detection

Weapon Firearms and Knife Detection

weapon

Detect weapons, firearms and knives in Image and Videos with the Automated Sightengine API

Overview

The Weapon Detection API is an A.I.-based service to determine if images or videos contain weapons, along with additional details on the type of weapons and how they are being used.

Here is the list of concepts:

Weapon classes	Firearm	firearm
	Firearm gesture (beta)	firearm_gesture
	Firearm toy	firearm_toy
	Knife	knife
Firearm type	Animated firearm	firearm_type.animated
Firearm action	Aiming threat	aiming_threat
	Aiming at camera	aiming_camera
	Aiming safe	aiming_safe
	In hand not aiming	in_hand_not_aiming
	Worn not in hand	worn_not_in_hand
	Not worn	not_worn

Weapon classes

Firearm: Photos and illustrations containing a firearm
weapon.classes.firearm
- Rifles, handguns, revolvers, pistols
- Portable machine guns
- Other types of guns that are not visually distinguishable from actual firearms (such as airsoft, paintball, model guns)
Toy firearms are not included in this class.
Firearm gesture: Person doing the firearm gesture
weapon.classes.firearm_gesture
- Gesture to mimick a gun pointing at the camera or at someone
Firearm toy: Toys in the shape of a firearm
weapon.classes.firearm_toy
- Water guns, nerf guns, obvious cosplay guns
- This does not include hyper-realistic toys that look like the real thing.
Knife: Photos and illustrations containing a knife
weapon.classes.knife
- Common knives, cooking knives, cutlery
- Combat knives, throwing knives, sports knives
- Bladed weapons such as daggers, scabbards, cleavers, hatchets, axes...
This does not include shaving razors, scissors, saws, and other bladed tools that are not easily usable or intended to be used as weapons.

Firearm type

The firearm type section can be used to distiguish real firearms from firearms appearing in depictions, art or illustrations.

Animated firearm: Non-photographic (illustrative) depictions of firearms
weapon.firearm_type.animated
- Firearms appearing in drawings, paintings, illustrations
- Firearms appearing in animations and cartoons
- Firearms appearing in digital art and computer-generated designs
- Firearms appearing in video game graphics

Firearm action (beta)

The firearm action can be used to perform a fine-grained analysis of the way the firearm is being used.

Actions are ranked from the most concerning to the least concerning.

Aiming threat: Firearms being used to aim at a human
weapon.firearm_action.aiming_threat
- Firearms aiming at someone who is clearly visible in the image
- Views through a gunsight aimed at a human target
Aiming at camera: Firearms being used to aim at the camera or viewer
weapon.firearm_action.aiming_camera
- Firearms aiming at the camera (at the viewer of the image)
Aiming safe: Firearms aiming at a non-human target
weapon.firearm_action.aiming_safe
- Firearms aiming at a target that is clearly not human
- Firearms aiming at something that is not visible in the image
In hand not aiming: Firearms that are in someone's hand but not used to aim at anything or anyone
weapon.firearm_action.in_hand_not_aiming
- Firearms being held or simply touched but not aiming at anything or anyone
Worn not in hand: Firearms that
weapon.firearm_action.worn_not_in_hand
- Firearms in holsters
- Firearms placed on someone but not being touched by the hands
- Firearms held in an unusual way
Not worn:
weapon.firearm_action.not_worn
- Firearms that are neither touched, held or carried in any way

Use the model (images)

If you haven't already, create an account to get your own API keys.

Detect weapons

Let's say you want to moderate the following image:

You can either share a URL to the image, or upload the image file.

Option 1: Send image URL

Here's how to proceed if you choose to share the image URL:


curl -X GET -G 'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json' \
    -d 'models=weapon' \
    -d 'api_user={api_user}&api_secret={api_secret}' \
    --data-urlencode 'url=https://sightengine.com/assets/img/examples/example-tt-1000.jpg'


# this example uses requests
import requests
import json

params = {
  'url': 'https://sightengine.com/assets/img/examples/example-tt-1000.jpg',
  'models': 'weapon',
  'api_user': '{api_user}',
  'api_secret': '{api_secret}'
}
r = requests.get('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json', params=params)

output = json.loads(r.text)


$params = array(
  'url' =>  'https://sightengine.com/assets/img/examples/example-tt-1000.jpg',
  'models' => 'weapon',
  'api_user' => '{api_user}',
  'api_secret' => '{api_secret}',
);

// this example uses cURL
$ch = curl_init('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json?'.http_build_query($params));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$output = json_decode($response, true);


// this example uses axios
const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json', {
  params: {
    'url': 'https://sightengine.com/assets/img/examples/example-tt-1000.jpg',
    'models': 'weapon',
    'api_user': '{api_user}',
    'api_secret': '{api_secret}',
  }
})
.then(function (response) {
  // on success: handle response
  console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(function (error) {
  // handle error
  if (error.response) console.log(error.response.data);
  else console.log(error.message);
});

See request parameter description

Parameter	Type	Description
url	string	URL of the image to analyze
models	string	comma-separated list of models to apply
api_user	string	your API user id
api_secret	string	your API secret

Option 2: Send image file

Here's how to proceed if you choose to upload the image file:


curl -X POST 'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json' \
    -F 'media=@/path/to/image.jpg' \
    -F 'models=weapon' \
    -F 'api_user={api_user}' \
    -F 'api_secret={api_secret}'


# this example uses requests
import requests
import json

params = {
  'models': 'weapon',
  'api_user': '{api_user}',
  'api_secret': '{api_secret}'
}
files = {'media': open('/path/to/image.jpg', 'rb')}
r = requests.post('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json', files=files, data=params)

output = json.loads(r.text)


$params = array(
  'media' => new CurlFile('/path/to/image.jpg'),
  'models' => 'weapon',
  'api_user' => '{api_user}',
  'api_secret' => '{api_secret}',
);

// this example uses cURL
$ch = curl_init('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $params);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$output = json_decode($response, true);


// this example uses axios and form-data
const axios = require('axios');
const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');

data = new FormData();
data.append('media', fs.createReadStream('/path/to/image.jpg'));
data.append('models', 'weapon');
data.append('api_user', '{api_user}');
data.append('api_secret', '{api_secret}');

axios({
  method: 'post',
  url:'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/check.json',
  data: data,
  headers: data.getHeaders()
})
.then(function (response) {
  // on success: handle response
  console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(function (error) {
  // handle error
  if (error.response) console.log(error.response.data);
  else console.log(error.message);
});

See request parameter description

Parameter	Type	Description
media	file	image to analyze
models	string	comma-separated list of models to apply
api_user	string	your API user id
api_secret	string	your API secret

API response

The API will then return a JSON response with the following structure:

                  
                  
{
    "status": "success",
    "request": {
        "id": "req_gcTp4s63IAAni0lFOT7KK",
        "timestamp": 1714997478.552115,
        "operations": 1
    },
    "weapon": {
        "classes": {
            "firearm": 0.99,
            "firearm_gesture": 0.01,
            "firearm_toy": 0.01,
            "knife": 0.01
        },
        "firearm_type": {
            "animated": 0.01
        },
        "firearm_action": {
            "aiming_threat": 0.01,
            "aiming_camera": 0.01,
            "aiming_safe": 0.09,
            "in_hand_not_aiming": 0.02,
            "worn_not_in_hand": 0.01,
            "not_worn": 0.88
        }
    },
    "media": {
        "id": "med_gcTpqyOZ18IMsiMe4Ar28",
        "uri": "https://sightengine.com/assets/img/examples/example-tt-1000.jpg"
    }
}

See response description

Successful Response

Status code: 200, Content-Type: application/json

Field	Type	Description
status	string	status of the request, either "success" or "failure"
request	object	information about the processed request
request.id	string	unique identifier of the request
request.timestamp	float	timestamp of the request in Unix time
request.operations	integer	number of operations consumed by the request
weapon	object	results for the model
media	object	information about the media analyzed
media.id	string	unique identifier of the media
media.uri	string	URI of the media analyzed: either the URL or the filename

Error

Status codes: 4xx and 5xx. See how error responses are structured.

Use the model (videos)

Detecting Gore & Disgusting content in videos

Option 1: Short video

Here's how to proceed to analyze a short video (less than 1 minute):


curl -X POST 'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check-sync.json' \
  -F 'media=@/path/to/video.mp4' \
  -F 'models=weapon' \
  -F 'api_user={api_user}' \
  -F 'api_secret={api_secret}'


# this example uses requests
import requests
import json

params = {
  # specify the models you want to apply
  'models': 'weapon',
  'api_user': '{api_user}',
  'api_secret': '{api_secret}'
}
files = {'media': open('/path/to/video.mp4', 'rb')}
r = requests.post('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check-sync.json', files=files, data=params)

output = json.loads(r.text)


$params = array(
  'media' => new CurlFile('/path/to/video.mp4'),
  // specify the models you want to apply
  'models' => 'weapon',
  'api_user' => '{api_user}',
  'api_secret' => '{api_secret}',
);

// this example uses cURL
$ch = curl_init('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check-sync.json');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $params);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$output = json_decode($response, true);


// this example uses axios and form-data
const axios = require('axios');
const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');

data = new FormData();
data.append('media', fs.createReadStream('/path/to/video.mp4'));
// specify the models you want to apply
data.append('models', 'weapon');
data.append('api_user', '{api_user}');
data.append('api_secret', '{api_secret}');

axios({
  method: 'post',
  url:'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check-sync.json',
  data: data,
  headers: data.getHeaders()
})
.then(function (response) {
  // on success: handle response
  console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(function (error) {
  // handle error
  if (error.response) console.log(error.response.data);
  else console.log(error.message);
});

See request parameter description

Parameter	Type	Description
media	file	image to analyze
models	string	comma-separated list of models to apply
interval	float	frame interval in seconds, out of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (optional)
api_user	string	your API user id
api_secret	string	your API secret

Option 2: Long video

Here's how to proceed to analyze a long video. Note that if the video file is very large, you might first need to upload it through the Upload API.


curl -X POST 'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check.json' \
  -F 'media=@/path/to/video.mp4' \
  -F 'models=weapon' \
  -F 'callback_url=https://yourcallback/path' \
  -F 'api_user={api_user}' \
  -F 'api_secret={api_secret}'


# this example uses requests
import requests
import json

params = {
  # specify the models you want to apply
  'models': 'weapon',
  # specify where you want to receive result callbacks
  'callback_url': 'https://yourcallback/path',
  'api_user': '{api_user}',
  'api_secret': '{api_secret}'
}
files = {'media': open('/path/to/video.mp4', 'rb')}
r = requests.post('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check.json', files=files, data=params)

output = json.loads(r.text)


$params = array(
  'media' => new CurlFile('/path/to/video.mp4'),
  // specify the models you want to apply
  'models' => 'weapon',
  // specify where you want to receive result callbacks
  'callback_url' => 'https://yourcallback/path',
  'api_user' => '{api_user}',
  'api_secret' => '{api_secret}',
);

// this example uses cURL
$ch = curl_init('https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check.json');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $params);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$output = json_decode($response, true);


// this example uses axios and form-data
const axios = require('axios');
const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');

data = new FormData();
data.append('media', fs.createReadStream('/path/to/video.mp4'));
// specify the models you want to apply
data.append('models', 'weapon');
// specify where you want to receive result callbacks
data.append('callback_url', 'https://yourcallback/path');
data.append('api_user', '{api_user}');
data.append('api_secret', '{api_secret}');

axios({
  method: 'post',
  url:'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check.json',
  data: data,
  headers: data.getHeaders()
})
.then(function (response) {
  // on success: handle response
  console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(function (error) {
  // handle error
  if (error.response) console.log(error.response.data);
  else console.log(error.message);
});

See request parameter description

Parameter	Type	Description
media	file	image to analyze
callback_url	string	callback URL to receive moderation updates (optional)
models	string	comma-separated list of models to apply
interval	float	frame interval in seconds, out of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (optional)
api_user	string	your API user id
api_secret	string	your API secret

Option 3: Live-stream

Here's how to proceed to analyze a live-stream:


curl -X GET -G 'https://api.sightengine.com/1.0/video/check.json' \
    --data-urlencode 'stream_url=https://domain.tld/path/video.m3u8' \
    -d 'models=weapon' \
    -d 'callback_url=https://your.callback.url/path' \
    -d 'api_user={api_user}' \
    -d 'api_secret={api_secret}'


# if you haven't already, install the SDK with 'pip install sightengine'
from sightengine.client import SightengineClient
client = SightengineClient('{api_user}','{api_secret}')
output = client.check('weapon').video('https://domain.tld/path/video.m3u8', 'https://your.callback.url/path')


// if you haven't already, install the SDK with 'composer require sightengine/client-php'
use \Sightengine\SightengineClient;
$client = new SightengineClient('{api_user}','{api_secret}');
$output = $client->check(['weapon'])->video('https://domain.tld/path/video.m3u8', 'https://your.callback.url/path');


// if you haven't already, install the SDK with 'npm install sightengine --save'
var sightengine = require('sightengine')('{api_user}', '{api_secret}');
sightengine.check(['weapon']).video('https://domain.tld/path/video.m3u8', 'https://your.callback.url/path').then(function(result) {
    // The API response (result)
}).catch(function(err) {
    // Handle error
});

See request parameter description

Parameter	Type	Description
stream_url	string	URL of the video stream
callback_url	string	callback URL to receive moderation updates (optional)
models	string	comma-separated list of models to apply
interval	float	frame interval in seconds, out of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (optional)
api_user	string	your API user id
api_secret	string	your API secret

Moderation result

The Moderation result will be provided either directly in the request response (for sync calls, see below) or through the callback URL your provided (for async calls).

Here is the structure of the JSON response with moderation results for each analyzed frame under the data.frames array:

            
                  
{
  "status": "success",
  "request": {
    "id": "req_gmgHNy8oP6nvXYaJVLq9n",
    "timestamp": 1717159864.348989,
    "operations": 21
  },
  "data": {
    "frames": [
      {
        "info": {
          "id": "med_gmgHcUOwe41rWmqwPhVNU_1",
          "position": 0
        },
        "weapon": {
          "classes": {
            "firearm": 0.99,
            "firearm_gesture": 0.01,
            "firearm_toy": 0.01,
            "knife": 0.01
          },
          "firearm_type": {
            "animated": 0.01
          },
          "firearm_action": {
            "aiming_threat": 0.01,
            "aiming_camera": 0.01,
            "aiming_safe": 0.09,
            "in_hand_not_aiming": 0.02,
            "worn_not_in_hand": 0.01,
            "not_worn": 0.88
          }
        }
      },
    ...
    ]
  },
  "media": {
    "id": "med_gmgHcUOwe41rWmqwPhVNU",
    "uri": "yourfile.mp4"
  },
}

You can use the classes under the gore object to determine the gore level of the video.

Products

On this page

Weapon Firearms and Knife Detection

Overview

Weapon classes

Firearm type

Firearm action (beta)

Use the model (images)

Detect weapons

Option 1: Send image URL

Option 2: Send image file

API response

Successful Response

Error

Use the model (videos)

Detecting Gore & Disgusting content in videos

Option 1: Short video

Option 2: Long video

Option 3: Live-stream

Moderation result