license-compliance

name	license-compliance
description	Audits package dependency licenses using the Very Good CLI packages_check_licenses MCP tool. Flags non-compliant or unknown licenses and produces a compliance summary.
when_to_use	Use when user says "check licenses", "license audit", "are our dependencies compliant", "check dependency licenses", "license compliance", "review package licenses", "scan for license issues", or "pre-release license check".
argument-hint	[project-directory]
allowed-tools	Read Glob Grep mcp__very-good-cli__packages_check_licenses
model	sonnet
effort	medium

License Compliance

Dependency license auditor for Dart and Flutter projects — verifies that all package dependencies use licenses compatible with the project's requirements using the Very Good CLI MCP tools.

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Core Standards

Apply these standards to ALL license compliance work:

• Run packages_check_licenses MCP tool on the target project directory with licenses: true to display full license information
• Pass directory to the MCP tool when the project is not at the workspace root — monorepos with the project in a subdirectory (e.g. mobile/) require directory: 'mobile'
• A missing license is not "no license" — it means "all rights reserved" by default; always flag
• Transitive dependencies matter — a permissive package that depends on a GPL package still carries the GPL obligation
• Flag for manual review when in doubt — never assume compliance without a clear license identifier

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License Categories

Category	Licenses	Risk	Guidance
Permissive	MIT, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, Apache-2.0	Low	Safe for any use
Weak copyleft	LGPL-2.1, LGPL-3.0, MPL-2.0	Medium	Safe for dynamic linking; flag for static linking or modification
Strong copyleft	GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0	High	May require the entire project to adopt the same license
Unknown/Missing	None detected	High	Flag immediately for manual review

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Audit Process

1. Run License Check

Call the packages_check_licenses MCP tool on the target project directory. When the project lives in a subdirectory of the workspace (e.g. mobile/ in a monorepo), pass that path via the directory parameter.

2. Categorize Results

Classify each dependency license using the categories above. Pay attention to:

• Direct dependencies with strong copyleft licenses
• Transitive dependencies that introduce copyleft obligations
• Packages with no license or an unrecognized license identifier

3. Report Findings

Produce a structured compliance report:

## License Compliance Report

### Summary
- Total dependencies scanned: N
- Compliant: N
- Flagged: N

### Flagged Dependencies
| Package | License | Risk | Recommendation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| package_name | GPL-3.0 | High | Replace or obtain exception |

### Compliant Dependencies
All other dependencies use permissive licenses (MIT, BSD, Apache 2.0).

### Recommendations
1. [Most urgent action]
2. [Next action]