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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

Before proceeding, see Prerequisites to ensure that your machine meets Semgrep’s requirements.

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Set up Semgrep

Install the Semgrep CLI tool and confirm the installation: 
# macOS users only - ensure that you've added Homebrew to your PATH
# https://docs.brew.sh/FAQ#my-mac-apps-dont-find-homebrew-utilities
brew install semgrep

# macOS, Linux, Windows users - using pipx (recommended)
# See https://pipx.pypa.io/stable/how-to/install-pipx/ to install pipx
pipx install semgrep

# Or, if you use uv (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)
uv tool install semgrep

# confirm
semgrep --version

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Log in to your Semgrep account

1
Log in to your Semgrep account. Running this command launches a browser window, but you can also use the link that’s returned in the CLI to proceed:
semgrep login
2
In the Semgrep CLI login, click Activate to proceed.
WARNINGSemgrep scans triggered using semgrep ci fail if you aren’t signed in to your Semgrep account.

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Turn on cross-file analysis

To turn on cross-file analysis, which allows you to detect vulnerabilities across files and folders:
1
In Semgrep AppSec Platform, go to Settings > General > Code.
2
Click the Cross-file analysis toggle to turn this feature on.

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Scan your project

Semgrep provides two commands that you can use to start a scan from the CLI: Navigate to the root of your codebase, and run your first scan. The specific command you use depends on how you want to view the results. To view the results in the CLI: 
semgrep ci
To export the results to a plain text file: 
semgrep ci --text --text-output=semgrep.txt
To export the results to a SARIF file: 
semgrep ci --sarif --sarif-output=semgrep.sarif
To export the results to a JSON file: 
semgrep ci --json --json-output=semgrep.json
The JSON schema for Semgrep’s CLI output is in semgrep/semgrep-interfaces.
In addition to the --text, --json, and --sarif flags, which set the primary output formats, and the --output=<value> flag that saves the results to a file or posts to a URL, you can append --<format>-output=<file> to obtain additional output streams: 
# prints findings in SARIF format to standard output and writes in JSON format to `findings.json`.
semgrep ci --sarif --json-output=findings.json

# prints findings in text to standard out and writes JSON output to `findings.json`.
semgrep ci --json-output=findings.json

# prints text output to `findings.txt` and writes in SARIF to `findings.sarif`.
semgrep ci --output=findings.txt --sarif-output=findings.sarif

# writes text to `semgrep.txt`, JSON to `semgrep.json`, and SARIF to `semgrep.sarif`.
semgrep ci --text --output=semgrep.txt --json-output=semgrep.json --sarif-output=semgrep.sarif
Accepted values for <format>: text, json, sarif, gitlab-sast, gitlab-secrets, junit-xml, emacs, vim

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Test custom rules

Semgrep includes features to test the custom rules that you write: 
semgrep scan --test

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Publish custom rules

To share your rules by adding them to the Semgrep Registry: 
semgrep publish <path/to/rules>

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Scan without sending results to Semgrep

To scan your project using the configuration you’ve set up in Semgrep AppSec Platform without sending scan results to Semgrep, use: 
semgrep ci --dry-run
This can help verify the results of a specific ruleset or see how your findings change based on the rulesets you choose for your scans.

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Scan using Semgrep CE analysis (single-function)

To scan your project using exclusively open source Semgrep, even though you have proprietary cross-file analysis enabled in Semgrep AppSec Platform: 
semgrep ci --oss-only
INFOSee Semgrep AppSec Platform versus Semgrep Community Edition for information on the differences between Semgrep’s proprietary and open source analyses.

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Scan using specific Semgrep products

When you run semgrep ci, you scan your project with any product that is enabled in Semgrep AppSec Platform. To scan your project with just one product, run: 
# scan with Semgrep Code
semgrep ci --code

# scan with Semgrep Supply Chain
semgrep ci --supply-chain

# scan with Semgrep Secrets
semgrep ci --secrets

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Extend timeout thresholds

Depending on the file sizes in your project, you may need to increase the timeout threshold so that Semgrep doesn’t time out before the scan completes. You can control this value with the --timeout flag, which specifies the maximum time Semgrep spends scanning a single file. The default value is 5 seconds. Semgrep attempts to scan each file with this timeout value three times, but you can change this using the --timeout-threshold flag: 
# increase timeout to 45 seconds, try only 2 times
semgrep ci --timeout 45 --timeout-threshold 2

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Improve performance for large codebases

You can set the number of subprocesses Semgrep uses to run checks in parallel: 
semgrep scan -j NUMBER_OF_SUBPROCESSES
By default, the number of jobs Semgrep uses is equivalent to the number of cores detected on the system, but -j = 1 if you’re passing in --pro. For additional information, see Parallelization.

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Set log levels

Semgrep provides three levels of logging:
Log levelFlagDescription
DefaultNonePrints scan progress, findings information, warnings, and errors.
Verbose-v or --verboseIncludes everything printed when using the default logging level, adding a list of rules and details such as skipped files.
Debug--debugLogs the entire scan process at a high level of detail.

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Example usage

To set the logging level for a scan, include the flag when scanning your project: 
# run a scan and get debug logs
semgrep ci --debug

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Exit codes

The CLI commands semgrep ci and semgrep scan finish with exit code 0 as long as the scan completes, regardless of whether there were findings. To finish with exit code 1 when there are findings: When you run semgrep ci, you can pass in the --no-suppress-errors if you don’t want internal errors suppressed.

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Log out

To log out of your Semgrep account: 
semgrep logout