sbom

name	sbom
description	Commands and guidelines for generating a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) locally in SPDX and CycloneDX formats using syft. You MUST load this skill when asked to create, generate, or update an SBOM.
license	MIT

Skill: sbom

Guidelines and commands for generating a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) to provide visibility into the dependency tree, enabling compliance reporting, vulnerability tracking, and supply chain risk assessment.

When to Use

• When required to generate compliance reports for software supply chain security.
• To produce an inventory of all third-party dependencies used in a project.
• When configuring a CI/CD pipeline step that requires SPDX or CycloneDX artifacts.

When Not to Use

• For routine unit testing or local syntax linting.
• When specifically auditing source code for logic vulnerabilities (use security-audit instead).
• If the repository strictly uses another proprietary SBOM generator mandated by the organization.

Common Pitfalls

• Missing Transitive Dependencies: Generating an SBOM from source code without resolving lockfiles, leading to an incomplete dependency tree.
• Format Confusion: Assuming a single JSON format is sufficient without verifying whether the downstream consumer requires SPDX or CycloneDX.
• Stale Generation: Generating the SBOM before the final build step, resulting in an inaccurate representation of the shipped artifact.

Core Process

1. Install Syft: Ensure the syft CLI tool is installed for SBOM generation.
2. Generate SBOM: Run the project's build command to produce SBOM artifacts.
3. Verify Output: Confirm the generation of both SPDX and CycloneDX JSON formats.

Quick Start

# 1. Install syft (if not already installed)
curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/syft/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin

# 2. Generate SBOM
make sbom

Commands / Usage Patterns

• Install syft: curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/syft/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin
• Generate Artifacts: make sbom
• Expected Artifacts: The generation command typically produces sbom.spdx.json (SPDX JSON format) and sbom.cdx.json (CycloneDX JSON format).

Best Practices

• Always ensure the SBOM generation captures both direct and transitive dependencies.
• Verify that package versions, licenses, and hashes are included in the generated output for integrity verification.