Semgrep Security Scan Agent Skill

Run Semgrep static analysis scan on a codebase using parallel subagents.

Context cost
9.9k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
6 files · 46.4 kB1 script among them — read before you run
Licence
MITthe author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Run Semgrep static analysis scan on a codebase using parallel subagents. Supports two scan modes — "run all" (full ruleset coverage) and "important only" (high-confidence security vulnerabilities). Automatically detects and uses Semgrep Pro for cross-file taint analysis when available. Use when asked to scan code for vulnerabilities, run a security audit with Semgrep, find bugs, or perform static analysis. Spawns parallel workers for multi-language codebases.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

securitytesting

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md10.3 kB · preview
--- name: semgrep allowed-tools: - Bash - Read - Glob - Task - AskUserQuestion - TaskCreate - TaskList - TaskUpdate ---
22# Semgrep Security Scan
23
24Run a Semgrep scan with automatic language detection, parallel execution via Task subagents, and merged SARIF output.
25
26## Essential Principles
27
281. **Always use --metrics=off** — Semgrep sends telemetry by default; --config auto also phones home. Every semgrep command must include --metrics=off to prevent data leakage during security audits.
292. **User must approve the scan plan (Step 3 is a hard gate)** — The original "scan this codebase" request is NOT approval. Present exact rulesets, target, engine, and mode; wait for explicit "yes"/"proceed" before spawning scanners.
303. **Third-party rulesets are required, not optional** — Trail of Bits, 0xdea, and Decurity rules catch vulnerabilities absent from the official registry. Include them whenever the detected language matches.
314. **Spawn all scan Tasks in a single message** — Parallel execution is the core performance advantage. Never spawn Tasks sequentially; always emit all Task tool calls in one response.
325. **Always check for Semgrep Pro before scanning** — Pro enables cross-file taint tracking and catches ~250% more true positives. Skipping the check means silently missing critical inter-file vulnerabilities.
33
34## When to Use
35
36- Security audit of a codebase
37- Finding vulnerabilities before code review
38- Scanning for known bug patterns
39- First-pass static analysis
40
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,380 words
Files6
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈160
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
9,790
on trigger
The instruction body and 5 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
5.0%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 50% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

9.9k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md asks for Bash, which can write files and reach the network alike, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

The allowed-tools line of this skill’s own SKILL.md asks for Bash, which could do either, so neither is ruled out. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

6 files, 46.4 kB on disk. Mostly text — the instructions the model reads — with 1 script in it that your client would run only if the instructions tell it to.

  • SKILL.md10.3 kB
  • references/rulesets.md7.7 kB
  • references/scan-modes.md4.5 kB
  • references/scanner-task-prompt.md5.9 kB
  • scripts/merge_sarif.py6.6 kB
  • workflows/scan-workflow.md11.4 kB
What is not in it

A skill installs nothing and depends on nothing: it is a folder your client reads. This one carries 1 script beside the text, so the bundle is 6 files you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Semgrep Security Scan · 9.9k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/thewatcher01-semgrep-security-scan/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/semgrep-security-scan" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan ] || { mv .claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/semgrep-security-scan" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add thewatcher01/semgrep-security-scan

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/thewatcher01-semgrep-security-scan/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/semgrep-security-scan" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/semgrep-security-scan" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/semgrep-security-scan/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where. It appears as semgrep in Gemini CLI, Codex, Copilot and Grok (its own name); Claude Code lists it by the folder name, semgrep-security-scan.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencethewatcher01/semgrep-security-scan

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

Reviews

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Anybody with an account, one review each. It carries the version that was current when you wrote it, and the publisher may reply once.

Who wrote it

TH
TheWatcher01

Publishes on mcprush.

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