Open_Ultra_SAST/.agents/skills/openultrasast-scan/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
openultrasast-scan	OpenUltraSAST scan workflows - `ousast scan` in quick, standard or deep mode, the evidence ladder, `--fail-on` exit codes, recorded degradations, the run directory and `ousast mcp`. Use when running or planning a scan, reading a run directory, or wiring OpenUltraSAST into an agent.

OpenUltraSAST Scan

Use this skill to run ousast scan PATH --mode quick|standard|deep from an agent and to read what it wrote.

Workflow

1. Confirm the target is a local checkout (a path, not a URL).
2. Run through the project entry point: uv run ousast ... inside the repository, or ousast from an environment where it is installed. Never activate a virtualenv by hand.
3. Start with --mode quick unless the task needs the Joern model layer (standard) or sandboxed regression snippets (deep). Check the prerequisites below first; a mode whose engine is missing still exits 0 and records a degradation.
4. Read the printed scan_id= and run_dir= lines; the run directory is .openultrasast/runs/<scan-id>/.
5. Report the finding count, how many the verifier accepted, and every recorded degradation (manifest.json, key degradations). No findings plus a degradation is not a clean scan: the scan answered a smaller question than it was asked.
6. Never call a finding verified from its title or severity. verification.json holds the status.

Commands

uv run ousast scan <repo> --mode quick
uv run ousast scan <repo> --mode standard --fail-on verified
uv run ousast scan <repo> --mode deep --fail-on worth-fixing
uv run ousast scan <repo> --mode quick --config openultrasast.toml
uv run ousast mcp                 # the MCP server over stdio, for agent hosts

Modes and prerequisites

Mode	Adds	Needs	Without it
quick	language-scoped pattern rules, entry-point hints, ranking, verification, score; deterministic	nothing	-
standard	the MAP stage: complexity map, semantic overlay, authorization obligations, the Joern model layer (one code property graph per repository; taint, guard-dominance and configuration questions), deterministic fusion	Joern (shipped in the Docker image, with php-cli for PHP); a provider key for the residual LLM question	cpg_unavailable; without a key the LLM question is not asked and only the graph's entailed findings are reported
deep	nothing today: REGRESS was retired on 2026-10-13 (degradation regress_retired); execution proof belongs to the search-with-proof arm	-	-

Model stages read DEEPSEEK_API_KEY (every LLM call); with only OPENROUTER_API_KEY set, chat calls fall back to OpenRouter. An exported shell variable wins over .env silently. [models] hunter in the config enables the tool hunter in standard; it is off by default.

Exit code: --fail-on

Policy	Exit 1 when
never (default)	never
findings	any finding was reported
verified	any verification result is verified (accepted at static_corroboration or above)
worth-fixing	a deep-mode sandbox verdict is marked worth_fixing

A degradation never changes the exit code. Read manifest.json for it.

Recorded degradations

Each entry in manifest.json degradations is {"stage": ..., "reason": ...}. The ones to expect:

• cpg_unavailable (stage model): no Joern on the host; the model layer ran nothing.
• regress_retired (stage regress): deep mode requested the retired snippet stage; the scan equals standard.
• learning_endpoint_unavailable (stage model): no provider key resolved. The graph's entailed findings are still reported; the residual question is skipped. This is recorded in manifest.json but has no line in report.md's "What could not be analysed" section.
• hunter_model_unavailable (stage map): [models] hunter is unset, so the tool hunter did not run. Recorded on every standard scan without that setting; it is expected, not an error.
• coverage facts from the graph, rendered in report.md under "What could not be analysed": cpg_empty, cpg_build_failed, cpg_sharded, files_unparsed, query_failed, query_budget_reserved, query_too_expensive, budget_exhausted, regions_truncated, region_failed; plus max_findings_exceeded and facts_unavailable (overlay, obligations).

Prove the instrument read its input before believing a zero: manifest.json names the stages that ran and the files the preprocess step kept (preprocess/file_targets.json).

Evidence ladder

src/openultrasast/verification.py defines the levels in this order. A level moves one rung at a time and never backward.

Level	Meaning	Produced today by
suspicion	a rule, model or weak signal raised a hypothesis	the Joern model layer (its rung, model_entailed or suspicion, travels in the finding's tags), the tool hunter, authorization-obligation checks
static_corroboration	deterministic code evidence at the line	quick rules, the semantic overlay
crash_reproduced	an artifact-backed reproducer	nothing: there is no crash reproducer. Deep-mode sandbox verdicts (verdicts.json, worth_fixing) do not raise the level
root_cause_explained	independent verifier reasoning	nothing: the LLM judge was retired in v2.0.0
exploit_demonstrated	a demonstrated exploit	nothing
patch_validated	relevant checks re-run after a patch	nothing: there is no patch stage

The verifier's status per finding (verification.json): below static_corroboration is needs_evidence; static_corroboration with reachability unknown is rejected (the tie-breaker asks for call-graph, route, CLI, parser or dynamic evidence); static_corroboration with function-level reachability is accepted. verified means accepted at static_corroboration or above, and that is what --fail-on verified counts. There is no configurable report threshold: the [evidence] config section was retired in v2.0.0 and is ignored.

Run artifacts

Under .openultrasast/runs/<scan-id>/:

• report.md, report.sarif (SARIF 2.1.0 for code hosts and IDEs), manifest.json (stages, degradations, model payload)
• findings.json, verification.json, score.json, shadow_findings.json (rules shipped as shadow)
• harness.json: the resolved harness configuration the run used
• standard: fusion.json, complexity_map.json, overlay.json; deep: verdicts.json
• calibration/false_positive_learnings.json, rank/ranking.json, mapping/, preprocess/, trace/events.jsonl

Changed code only

ousast pre-push --base <rev> --head <rev> --artifact <file> <repo> replays a revision pair and reports only new or worsened defects (experimental; --mode advisory is the default and never blocks). The capability registry is empty, so every candidate is diagnostic.

MCP

ousast mcp serves a narrow MCP server over stdio (newline-delimited JSON-RPC) with ten tools: openultrasast.scan, status, findings, get_finding, evidence, artifacts, benchmark, explain, propose_patch (degrades visibly) and export_report. No tool runs a shell, Docker or a free-form command.

{ "command": "uv", "args": ["run", "ousast", "mcp"] }