Analyzing Dependencies

Overview

Analyze project dependencies for known security vulnerabilities, outdated

versions, and license compliance issues across multiple package ecosystems.

This skill inspects npm, pip, Composer, Gem, Go module, and Cargo manifests

and lock files, cross-references findings against CVE databases, and produces

actionable remediation guidance with upgrade paths.

Prerequisites

• Access to the target project directory and manifest files in ${CLAUDESKILLDIR}/
• At least one package manager CLI available: npm, pip/pip-audit, composer, gem, go, or cargo
• Network access for querying vulnerability databases (NVD, GitHub Advisory Database, OSV)
• Reference: ${CLAUDESKILLDIR}/references/README.md for npm/pip audit report formats, license compatibility matrix, and dependency management best practices

Instructions

1. Detect the project ecosystem by scanning ${CLAUDESKILLDIR}/ for manifest files: package.json and package-lock.json (npm/Node.js), requirements.txt/pyproject.toml/Pipfile.lock (Python), composer.json/composer.lock (PHP), Gemfile/Gemfile.lock (Ruby), go.mod/go.sum (Go), Cargo.toml/Cargo.lock (Rust).
2. For npm projects, run npm audit --json and parse the structured output. Map each advisory to its CVE identifier, CVSS score, severity level, vulnerable version range, and patched version.
3. For Python projects, run pip-audit --format=json or parse safety check --json output. Cross-reference each vulnerability against the OSV database for additional context.
4. For other ecosystems, run the equivalent audit command (composer audit, bundle audit, cargo audit, govulncheck) and normalize the output to a common finding format.
5. Analyze the dependency tree for transitive vulnerabilities -- identify which direct dependency pulls in the vulnerable transitive dependency, and whether upgrading the direct dependency resolves the issue.
6. Check for outdated packages by comparing installed versions against the latest available versions. Categorize updates as patch (safe), minor (likely safe), or major (breaking changes possible).
7. Audit license compliance by extracting license declarations from each dependency. Flag packages using copyleft licenses (GPL, AGPL) in proprietary projects, packages with no declared license, and packages with license conflicts per the compatibility matrix in ${CLAUDESKILLDIR}/references/README.md.
8. Identify abandoned