managing-osv-scanner

name	managing-osv-scanner
description	Use when working with Osv Scanner — google OSV-Scanner for open-source vulnerability detection using the OSV database. Covers dependency scanning, SBOM analysis, vulnerability lookup, license checking, and guided remediation. Use when scanning projects for known vulnerabilities, analyzing dependency security, querying the OSV database for CVE details, or generating vulnerability reports for open-source components.
connection_type	osv-scanner
preload	false

OSV-Scanner Management Skill

Manage and analyze OSV-Scanner vulnerability findings, dependency scans, and OSV database queries.

CLI Conventions

Authentication

OSV API is public and free. For higher rate limits, use OSV_API_KEY if available.

CLI Tool

osv-scanner for local scanning, or OSV API at https://api.osv.dev/v1

Core Helper Functions

#!/bin/bash

# Local osv-scanner
osv_scan() {
    local target="$1"
    local extra_args="${2:-}"
    osv-scanner --format json $extra_args "$target" 2>/dev/null
}

# OSV API
osv_api() {
    local endpoint="$1"
    local data="${2:-}"

    curl -s -X POST \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        "https://api.osv.dev/v1${endpoint}" \
        -d "$data"
}

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Extract only needed fields with jq
• Target <=50 lines per script output
• Never dump full scan output

Discovery Phase

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== OSV-Scanner Version ==="
osv-scanner --version 2>&1 | head -1

echo ""
echo "=== Scan Project Directory ==="
osv_scan "--recursive ." \
    | jq '{total_packages: (.results | length), total_vulns: ([.results[].packages[].vulnerabilities[]?] | length)}'

echo ""
echo "=== Lockfiles Detected ==="
osv_scan "--recursive ." \
    | jq -r '.results[] | "\(.source.path)\t\(.source.type)\tpackages:\(.packages | length)"' | column -t

Analysis Phase

Vulnerability Overview

#!/bin/bash
SCAN_PATH="${1:-.}"

echo "=== Vulnerability Summary ==="
RESULTS=$(osv_scan "--recursive $SCAN_PATH")

echo "$RESULTS" | jq '{
    total_vulns: ([.results[].packages[].vulnerabilities[]?] | length),
    critical: ([.results[].packages[].vulnerabilities[]? | select(.database_specific.severity == "CRITICAL")] | length),
    high: ([.results[].packages[].vulnerabilities[]? | select(.database_specific.severity == "HIGH")] | length),
    affected_packages: ([.results[].packages[] | select(.vulnerabilities | length > 0)] | length)
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Vulnerable Packages ==="
echo "$RESULTS" | jq -r '.results[].packages[] | select(.vulnerabilities | length > 0) | "\(.package.name)\tv\(.package.version)\tvulns:\(.vulnerabilities | length)\t\(.vulnerabilities[0].id // "N/A")"' \
    | sort -t$'\t' -k3 -rn | column -t | head -20

CVE Lookup

#!/bin/bash
VULN_ID="${1:?Vulnerability ID required (e.g., CVE-2024-1234 or GHSA-xxxx)}"

echo "=== Vulnerability Details ==="
osv_api "/vulns/${VULN_ID}" \
    | jq '{
        id: .id,
        summary: .summary[0:100],
        severity: .database_specific.severity,
        published: .published[0:10],
        modified: .modified[0:10],
        affected_packages: [.affected[:5][] | {ecosystem: .package.ecosystem, name: .package.name, ranges: .ranges[0].events}],
        references: [.references[:3][].url]
    }'

Batch Query

#!/bin/bash
PACKAGE="${1:?Package name required}"
VERSION="${2:?Version required}"
ECOSYSTEM="${3:-npm}"

echo "=== Query Package Vulnerabilities ==="
osv_api "/query" "{\"package\":{\"name\":\"${PACKAGE}\",\"ecosystem\":\"${ECOSYSTEM}\"},\"version\":\"${VERSION}\"}" \
    | jq -r '{
        total: (.vulns | length),
        vulnerabilities: [.vulns[:10][] | {id: .id, summary: .summary[0:80], severity: .database_specific.severity, published: .published[0:10]}]
    }'

Guided Remediation

#!/bin/bash
SCAN_PATH="${1:-.}"

echo "=== Fix Suggestions ==="
osv-scanner fix --strategy=in-place --non-interactive --format json "$SCAN_PATH" 2>/dev/null \
    | jq -r '.fixes[]? | "\(.package.name)\t\(.package.version) -> \(.fixed_version)\tfixes:\(.vulnerabilities | length) vulns"' \
    | column -t | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Packages with Available Fixes ==="
osv_scan "--recursive $SCAN_PATH" \
    | jq -r '.results[].packages[] | select(.vulnerabilities | length > 0) | .vulnerabilities[] | select(.affected[0].ranges[0].events[] | select(.fixed != null)) | "\(.id)\tfixed_in:\(.affected[0].ranges[0].events[] | select(.fixed != null) | .fixed)"' \
    | sort -u | head -15 | column -t

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Osv Scanner Report
═══════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Ecosystems: OSV covers npm, PyPI, Go, Maven, crates.io, NuGet, and more -- specify correct ecosystem
• OSV vs CVE IDs: OSV has its own IDs (GHSA, PYSEC, etc.) -- map to CVE via aliases
• Lockfile required: Accurate scanning requires lockfiles (package-lock.json, go.sum, etc.)
• API rate limits: Public API has generous limits but batch queries are preferred for many packages
• SBOM input: Supports CycloneDX and SPDX SBOM formats via --sbom flag