reCAPTCHA is Google’s human-verification system that helps websites distinguish real users from automated abuse while keeping friction low for legitimate traffic. The project bundles client and server examples, language-specific helpers, and documentation patterns for integrating reCAPTCHA v2 and v3 flows into web forms and APIs. Its design philosophy is “risk-based”: most users pass silently based on behavioral signals, while higher-risk interactions may be challenged with an image, checkbox, or other verification step. Site owners register keys, embed a small client script, and verify tokens on the server to protect actions like sign-ups, logins, and form submissions. The ecosystem supports mobile and enterprise variants, but the repo focuses on common web integrations and best practices for verifying the token securely. Deployed correctly, reCAPTCHA reduces credential stuffing, bot sign-ups, and scraping without degrading the experience for typical users.
Features
- Risk-based scoring (v3) and interactive challenges (v2)
- Lightweight client script with server-side token verification
- Examples and helpers for popular back ends and frameworks
- Protection for sign-ups, logins, comments, and other sensitive actions
- Adjustable sensitivity to tune friction vs. protection
- Analytics to monitor scores, challenges, and traffic patterns