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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.semgrep.dev/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Prerequisites and permissions

Semgrep Managed Scanning (SMS) requires one of the following plans:
  • GitLab Premium
  • GitLab Ultimate
  • GitLab Self Managed
You must provide a GitLab group access token or personal access token to Semgrep. The token must have the api scope assigned to it. During SMS onboarding, the group or user to which the token is assigned must have one of the following roles:
  • Maintainer
  • Owner
  • Admin
This is because managed scans of GitLab repositories require the enablement of webhooks to facilitate diff-aware scans and the creation of pull request comments by Semgrep. The webhooks are enabled by default when you set up Managed Scans and add GitLab as a source code manager. Once onboarding is complete, you can downgrade the role assigned to the token to Developer. See Pre-deployment checklist > Permissions for more information about the permissions used by Semgrep.

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Enable Semgrep Managed Scans and scan your first repository

1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Click Scan new project > Semgrep Managed Scan.
3
In the Enable Managed Scans for repos page, select the repositories you want to add to Semgrep Managed Scans.

i. Optional: If you don’t see the repository you want to add, click Can’t find your project? and follow the troubleshooting steps provided.
4
Click + Connect more.
5
Select GitLab.
6
In the Set up Managed Scans page that appears, provide the information needed by Semgrep to connect to your GitLab project:

i. Select GitLab Cloud or GitLab Self-Managed.

ii. Provide your Access token.

iii. Provide your GitLab group.

iv. For GitLab Self-Managed users only: provide the GitLab URL.

v. Click Connect.
7
Repeat the steps above for each additional GitLab group you’d like added to Semgrep.
You have finished setting up a Semgrep managed scan.
  • After enabling Managed Scans, Semgrep performs a full scan in batches on all the repositories.
  • Once a repository has been added to Semgrep AppSec Platform, it becomes a project. A project in Semgrep AppSec Platform includes all the findings, history, and scan metadata of that repository.
  • Projects with a Managed Scan configuration are tagged with managed-scan, regardless of whether the project is actively being scanned by Semgrep Managed Scans or not. The Projects list also contains pending scans and scans that never started.

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Add additional GitLab projects

You can enable Semgrep Managed Scans for additional repositories after onboarding using the following steps:
1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Click Scan new project > Semgrep Managed Scan.
3
In the Enable Managed Scans for repos page, select the repositories you want to add to Semgrep Managed Scans.

i. Optional: If you don’t see the repository you want to add, click Can’t find your project? and follow the troubleshooting steps provided.
4
Select the repositories you want to scan from the list.
5
Click Enable Managed Scans. The Enable Managed Scans dialog appears. By default, Semgrep runs both full and diff-aware scans.
6
Optional: Disable PR or MR diff-aware scans by turning off the Enable PR/MR scans toggle.
7
Click Enable.

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If the page doesn’t display any repositories

1
Ensure that you’ve connected your GitLab account by following the steps in Connect a source code manager and confirm the PAT is created with the required API scope by someone assigned the role of Maintainer or Owner.

i. Once you successfully create the connection, the role for the person who owns the token can be downgraded to Developer.
2
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
3
If the page doesn’t display the repository you want to add, click Can’t find your project? > Sync projects.
4
If the page doesn’t display any repositories, click Sync projects.
5
Optional: Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R).

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Convert or migrate an existing Semgrep CI job

You can immediately add any existing project to Managed Scans.
1
Follow the steps in Enable Semgrep Managed Scans.
2
Delete the .gitlab-ci.yml file in your GitLab repository if appropriate.
If you plan to continue running some scans in GitLab CI/CD Pipelines (for example, using Managed Scans to run weekly full scans but GitLab CI/CD Pipelines for diff-aware scans) you can leave the workflow file in place, and edit it to reflect your desired configuration.
TIPSemgrep preserves your findings, scans, and triage history.

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Scan management and configuration

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Manually run a full scan

1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Search for your repository’s name.
3
Click the gear icon to access the settings page for that repository.
4
Click Run a new scan > Rule-based detection.
You can manually run a full scan for both primary and non-primary branches.

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Re-run a failed scan or a scan that never finished

1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Click on the project name.
3
Find the scan that failed or never finished using the Status column, and click Details to open the Scan logs dialog.
4
Ensure that you’re on the Overview tab of the Scan logs dialog, then click Retry scan.

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Disable diff-aware scans on PRs

1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Search for your repository’s name.
3
Click the window icon under Details to access the settings page for that repository.
4
Click the toggle for diff-aware scans.

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Delete a project

1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Search for your repository’s name.
3
Click the window icon under Details to access the settings page for that repository.
4
Click the dropdown at the header and click Delete project.
To delete an archived project:
1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
2
Switch to the Not Scanning tab of the Projects page.
3
Select the checkbox to Show archived projects.
4
Search for the archived repository’s name.
5
Click the window icon under Details to access the settings page for that repository.
6
Click the dropdown at the header and click Delete project.

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Configure fail open to prevent diff-aware scans from blocking pull requests and merge requests

By default, diff-aware managed scans are set to fail open if a scan errors out or takes too long. This means that diff-aware scans are marked as successful on the pull request (PR) or merge request (MR), even if they haven’t completed after the specified timeout, allowing you to make the Semgrep status check required in your source code manager (SCM) while not blocking someone from merging a PR or MR if the check encounters an unexpected issue or takes too long.
Sample pull request showing the status of a diff-aware scan.

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How fail open works

1
If enabled, the fail open feature is triggered whenever you open a PR or MR.
2
Initially, Semgrep sends an update to mark the PR or MR as pending.
3
Once the diff-aware scan begins, the PR or MR is updated to a status of running.
4
The diff-aware scan completes, and the PR or MR is updated to a status of succeeded or failed.
5
If the diff-aware scan is in pending or running status longer than the configured timeout, then the fail open process updates the PR or MR to display a status of succeeded. This prevents the Semgrep scan from blocking the developer from merging their changes.
If Semgrep marks a PR or MR as succeeded, you can merge the PR or MR without waiting for the diff-aware scan to complete. However, if the PR or MR is still open and the scan completes after the fail open timeout is reached, Semgrep can still report the findings and mark the status as failed.

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Configure fail open

By default, fail open is enabled. However, you can disable this feature and adjust the timeout value:
1
Sign in to Semgrep AppSec Platform.
2
Go to Settings > General > Managed Scans.
3
Click the Fail open toggle to turn off this feature.
4
Set the Timeout value in minutes. The default value is 10 minutes, the minimum value is 1 minute, and the maximum value is 60 minutes.
Semgrep AppSec Platform settings page with fail open configuration options.

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Disable webhooks

Semgrep Managed Scans of GitLab projects require webhooks. The webhooks are enabled by default when you add GitLab as a source code manager when setting up Managed Scans. You can disable webhooks at any time by following these steps:
1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, go to Settings > Source code managers.
2
Find your GitLab connection, and click the toggle to disable Incoming webhooks.

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Revoke Semgrep’s access to your repositories

The following steps revoke the code access you previously granted Semgrep for all repositories you selected.
1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Settings > Source Code Managers.
2
On the entry of the SCM you want to remove, click Remove app.
3
Click Remove to confirm.

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Turn off Managed Scans for specific repositories in Semgrep AppSec Platform

1
Sign in to Semgrep AppSec Platform.
2
Go to Projects and find the project you no longer want scanned with Semgrep Managed Scanning. Click the project’s Details page > Settings tab.
3
Toggle the switch for Managed diff scans to turn off scans of new pull requests and merge requests and Managed full scans to turn off full scans of the base branch.
Semgrep AppSec Platform toggles to turn off managed scans of repositories

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Appendices

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Scan logs

To view your scan logs in Semgrep AppSec Platform, go to Projects, then click on the project name. The projects in the list are sorted by scan date, with the most recent scans listed first.
INFOIt can take a few minutes for your latest scan logs to appear. However, if the logs do not update 15 minutes after the scan, there may be issues with the scan itself.

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Scan statistics

Scan statistics, such as how many of your repositories are being scanned, the scan success rate, and so on, can be provided once a week upon request. Contact your Semgrep account manager to request scan statistics.