Skill Scanner

A security scanner for AI Agent Skills that detects prompt injection, data exfiltration, and malicious code patterns. Combines pattern-based detection (YAML + YARA), LLM-as-a-judge, and behavioral dataflow analysis for comprehensive threat detection.

Supports OpenAI Codex Skills and Cursor Agent Skills formats following the Agent Skills specification.

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Highlights

• Multi-Engine Detection - Static analysis, behavioral dataflow, LLM semantic analysis, and cloud-based scanning
• False Positive Filtering - Meta-analyzer significantly reduces noise while preserving detection capability
• CI/CD Ready - SARIF output for GitHub Code Scanning, exit codes for build failures
• Extensible - Plugin architecture for custom analyzers

Join the Cisco AI Discord to discuss, share feedback, or connect with the team.

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Documentation

Guide	Description
Quick Start	Get started in 5 minutes
Architecture	System design and components
Threat Taxonomy	Complete AITech threat taxonomy with examples
LLM Analyzer	LLM configuration and usage
Meta-Analyzer	False positive filtering and prioritization
Behavioral Analyzer	Dataflow analysis details
API Reference	REST API documentation
Development Guide	Contributing and development setup

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Installation

Prerequisites: Python 3.10+ and uv (recommended) or pip

# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner

# Using pip
pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner

Cloud Provider Extras

# AWS Bedrock support
pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner[bedrock]

# Google Vertex AI support
pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner[vertex]

# Azure OpenAI support
pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner[azure]

# All cloud providers
pip install cisco-ai-skill-scanner[all]

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Quick Start

Environment Setup (Optional)

# For LLM analyzer and Meta-analyzer
export SKILL_SCANNER_LLM_API_KEY="your_api_key"
export SKILL_SCANNER_LLM_MODEL="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"

# For VirusTotal binary scanning
export VIRUSTOTAL_API_KEY="your_virustotal_api_key"

# For Cisco AI Defense
export AI_DEFENSE_API_KEY="your_aidefense_api_key"

CLI Usage

# Scan a single skill (static analyzer only)
skill-scanner scan /path/to/skill

# Scan with behavioral analyzer (dataflow analysis)
skill-scanner scan /path/to/skill --use-behavioral

# Scan with all engines
skill-scanner scan /path/to/skill --use-behavioral --use-llm --use-aidefense

# Scan with meta-analyzer for false positive filtering
skill-scanner scan /path/to/skill --use-llm --enable-meta

# Scan multiple skills recursively
skill-scanner scan-all /path/to/skills --recursive --use-behavioral

# CI/CD: Fail build if threats found
skill-scanner scan-all ./skills --fail-on-findings --format sarif --output results.sarif

Python SDK

from skill_scanner import SkillScanner
from skill_scanner.core.analyzers import StaticAnalyzer, BehavioralAnalyzer

# Create scanner with analyzers
scanner = SkillScanner(analyzers=[
    StaticAnalyzer(),
    BehavioralAnalyzer(use_static_analysis=True),
])

# Scan a skill
result = scanner.scan_skill("/path/to/skill")

print(f"Safe: {result.is_safe}")
print(f"Findings: {len(result.findings)}")

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Security Analyzers

Analyzer	Detection Method	Scope	Requirements
Static	YAML + YARA patterns	All files	None
Behavioral	AST dataflow analysis	Python files	None
LLM	Semantic analysis	SKILL.md + scripts	API key
Meta	False positive filtering	All findings	API key
VirusTotal	Hash-based malware	Binary files	API key
AI Defense	Cloud-based AI	Text content	API key

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CLI Options

Option	Description
--use-behavioral	Enable behavioral analyzer (dataflow analysis)
--use-llm	Enable LLM analyzer (requires API key)
--use-virustotal	Enable VirusTotal binary scanner
--use-aidefense	Enable Cisco AI Defense analyzer
--enable-meta	Enable meta-analyzer for false positive filtering
--format	Output: summary, json, markdown, table, sarif
--output PATH	Save report to file
--fail-on-findings	Exit with error if HIGH/CRITICAL found

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Example Output

$ skill-scanner scan ./my-skill --use-behavioral

============================================================
Skill: my-skill
============================================================
Status: [OK] SAFE
Max Severity: SAFE
Total Findings: 0
Scan Duration: 0.15s

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

Apache 2.0 - See LICENSE for details.

Copyright 2026 Cisco Systems, Inc. and its affiliates

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