Guide
How to Detect and Block Cluely in Online Exams
Aiseptor is the network-layer security platform that detects and blocks Cluely by targeting the technique it must use to hide, not its process name. Cluely is an invisible AI overlay that feeds real-time answers on screen while hiding from screen capture and webcams. That's why lockdown browsers and proctors miss it, and why detection has to move to the layer where it actually lives.
The short answer
Cluely sets an operating-system screen-capture-exclusion flag so it never appears in a recording, a screen-share, or the window a lockdown browser controls. The reliable signals are the exclusion flag itself, the GPU and process footprint, and the network calls Cluely must make to an AI backend. Block those calls under a default-deny policy and the overlay can't produce answers even if it's running.
Why lockdown browsers and webcam proctoring miss Cluely
Every browser- and camera-based tool observes one surface: the exam window or the candidate in front of the lens. Cluely is an invisible AI overlay that runs as a separate OS-layer application and excludes itself from the screen-capture APIs those tools rely on. A candidate reading Cluely's answer off a transparent layer looks identical to a candidate reading the question. The technique is invisible by construction, so observing the screen harder doesn't help.
WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTUREthe Windows flag every capture-hiding overlay must setHow to detect and block Cluely
Five steps, ordered from least to most reliable. The last two are what actually hold up against a tool built to be invisible.
Stop trusting the screen
Cluely hides from screen capture and recording. Any method that depends on seeing the overlay (screen-share review, screenshots, a proctor watching) is defeated before it starts.
Check the screen-capture-exclusion flag
To hide from capture, an overlay must set an OS-level exclusion flag (on Windows, WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE). That flag is the invariant: every overlay that hides this way has to set it, so its presence is a reliable signal regardless of the app's name.
Watch GPU, process, and overlay signals
Enumerate top-most/overlay windows and processes, and watch for GPU VRAM deltas from a loaded model. These OS-level signals are visible even when the window is excluded from capture.
Block the AI backend at the network
Cluely must reach a large language model over the internet to generate answers. Route the device through a default-deny gateway that only allows assessment-approved destinations: the API calls never complete, so the overlay produces nothing even if it evaded detection.
Detect the technique, not the name
Renamed builds, open-source forks (OpenCluely, Pluely) and look-alikes such as Nistaro defeat process-name matching. Targeting the exclusion flag, GPU/process footprint, and blocked endpoints catches the never-before-seen overlay the same way it catches Cluely.
This is what network-layer exam security does: it combines OS-level technique signals with a default-deny network policy, so Cluely is both flagged and starved of the AI backend it needs. The same approach covers on-device LLMs running locally on Ollama or LM Studio.
Does Cluely work on LockDown Browser, Honorlock, Teams?
The short version: it works on anything that watches the screen or the browser window, because it is built to be absent from both. Tool by tool:
| On | Does Cluely work? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Respondus LockDown Browser, Safe Exam Browser, Examplify | Yes, it runs. | A lockdown browser controls one window. Cluely is a separate OS process outside it and excludes itself from screen capture, so the browser, and Respondus Monitor's recording, show a locked, clean session. Lockdown browser alternatives |
| Honorlock and Proctorio | Yes, unless the build is on their list. | Both vendors now say they block Cluely by name, which can refuse the current signed build at launch. A renamed build, or a fork such as OpenCluely, Pluely or Nistaro, is not on the list and runs as before. Honorlock comparison |
| Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet | Yes, by design. | The capture-exclusion flag removes the overlay from the shared screen the call transmits. The interviewer sees the candidate's screen without it. Nothing in a video call detects it. Technical interview security |
| CodeSignal, HackerRank, CoderPad and other browser-based assessments | Yes, it runs. | These platforms observe what happens inside the browser tab and, in some cases, behavioural signals around it. The overlay never enters the tab. For assessment platforms |
| Aiseptor | No. | The screen-capture-exclusion flag is detected on the device, the AI endpoints Cluely needs are blocked at the network layer under a default-deny policy, and the same holds for every fork because the technique, not the name, is what is checked. How network-layer detection works |
The name-list trap
Some proctoring tools now “block Cluely” by name, a fix that lasts until the next renamed build or open-source fork, like OpenCluely, Pluely or the macOS look-alike Nistaro. Each one walks straight through a name-list untouched.
Compare the approaches: Honorlock · Proctorio · all comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Can lockdown browsers detect Cluely?
No. A lockdown browser controls one browser window. Cluely runs as a separate OS-layer application that sets a screen-capture-exclusion flag, so it never appears inside the browser the lockdown tool controls. The overlay is outside the sandbox the lockdown browser can see.
Does Cluely work on LockDown Browser?
Yes. Respondus LockDown Browser locks the exam window; Cluely runs outside it as a separate process and marks itself excluded from screen capture, so LockDown Browser, and Respondus Monitor's recording, show a clean session. The same is true of Safe Exam Browser and Examplify. Only enforcement at the OS and network layer reaches the overlay.
Can Proctorio or Honorlock block Cluely?
Some proctoring vendors now name Cluely directly. Proctorio, for instance, states it blocks Cluely by preventing unauthorised applications from launching during an exam, and separately lists AI assistants it detects by name. Either way the control is keyed to a tool's identity, so it closes that one named binary and goes blind the moment the name changes: a renamed build, an open-source fork (OpenCluely, Pluely), or the next overlay walks straight through. Detection that targets the technique rather than the identity catches renamed and never-before-seen overlays the same way.
Is Cluely really undetectable?
Cluely is invisible to screen capture and webcams by design: it sets an OS screen-capture-exclusion flag so it doesn't appear in screen-share or recordings. But "invisible on screen" is not the same as "undetectable." The exclusion flag itself, the GPU and process footprint, and the network calls to its AI backend are all observable at the OS and network layer.
Can Cluely still work if the network blocks AI endpoints?
No. Cluely needs to reach a large language model over the internet to generate answers. Under a default-deny network policy that only allows assessment-approved destinations, Cluely's API calls never complete, so even an overlay that evaded process detection produces no answers during the exam.
Can Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet detect Cluely?
No. Cluely's capture-exclusion flag removes it from the shared screen those apps transmit, which is the point of the tool: the interviewer sees the candidate's screen with no overlay on it. Nothing in a video call detects it. Detection has to happen on the device, before and during the call, not inside the call.
Are OpenCluely, Pluely and Nistaro detected the same way as Cluely?
Yes, when detection targets the technique. OpenCluely and Pluely are open-source forks of Cluely; Nistaro is a macOS overlay marketed on the same invisibility to screen sharing and proctoring. All of them must set the platform's screen-capture-exclusion flag to hide (WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE on Windows, the window sharing type on macOS) and must reach a model to answer, so the flag, the GPU and process footprint, and the blocked endpoints catch them without anyone adding their names to a list.
How does Aiseptor detect Cluely?
Aiseptor detects the technique, not the name: the OS screen-capture-exclusion flag every hiding overlay must set, GPU VRAM deltas, overlay/process enumeration, and DNS/SNI requests to AI endpoints, and it blocks those endpoints at the network layer so the overlay can't fetch answers regardless of process name.
Catch the overlay that hides from the screen.
Aiseptor flags the technique and blocks the AI backend at the network layer, so Cluely and its renamed forks are caught the same way, with no webcam and no screen recording.