Valca

Valca

AI coding security co-pilot — blocks insecure code at the moment of generation.

Formerly published as `vigilsec`. The package is now valca. Both the valca and vigil

commands work, so existing hooks and scripts keep running unchanged.

Valca intercepts every file an AI coding assistant writes and blocks it if CRITICAL or HIGH security findings are detected — before the file hits disk. It's the only tool that operates at generation time rather than post-commit.

AI writes file → valca scan → exit 2 → Claude Code blocks the write

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The Problem

AI coding assistants reproduce the most common patterns in their training data. The most common patterns are insecure defaults.

The clearest example: every existing IaC scanner (Checkov, Trivy, Snyk, Semgrep) misses the docker-compose port binding that exposes your database to the internet:

ports:

• "5432:5432" # ← binds to 0.0.0.0, bypasses UFW, reachable from anywhere

The correct form is "127.0.0.1:5432:5432". Valca catches it. Nothing else does.

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Install

pip install valca

Wire the Claude Code hook (one time):

valca init --global     # `valca init --global` also works

That's it. Every file Claude Code writes is now scanned before it saves. Reload Claude Code to activate.

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Network access

Valca's core scanning is fully offline — the package has zero runtime dependencies and the engine never sends your code, file paths, or findings anywhere.

Three rules do reach the network, because checking whether a dependency is vulnerable or fabricated is impossible offline. When a manifest (requirements.txt, package.json, lockfiles) is scanned, these rules send package names and version strings only to:

Your source code, file contents, file paths, and scan results are never transmitted. If your dependency inventory is itself sensitive, turn these rules off in .valcarc and Valca runs completely offline:

disabled_rules = ["VGL-PKG001", "VGL-PKG002", "VGL-PKG003", "VGL-PKG004"]

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Usage

# Scan a single file

valca scan docker-compose.yml

Scan a directory

valca scan ./my-project/

JSON output (for CI / dashboards)

valca scan ./my-project/ --format json

SARIF output (for GitHub Advanced Security)

valca scan ./my-project/ --format sarif > results.sarif

Only report HIGH and above

valca scan ./my-project/ --severity HIGH

Open feedback & waitlist form

valca feedback

Review what has been caught over time. Both commands read the local scan history — nothing leaves your machine.

# Findings log — what was caught, where, and when

valca log # 20 most recent findings valca log --severity CRITICAL # only criticals valca log --project api --since 2026-09-01 valca log --limit 100 --format json # for dashboards

Aggregate stats — rule frequency, severity mix, precision per rule

valca stats valca stats --format json

valca stats reports how often each rule fires and how often you suppressed it, so rules with poor precision in *your* codebase are visible rather than guessed at.

Exit codes:

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See It in Action

Blocking a vulnerable GitHub Actions workflow at write time:

In April 2026, researchers found that all three major AI coding agents (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Copilot) could be hijacked to exfiltrate ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and GITHUB_TOKEN via a hidden HTML comment in a GitHub issue. CVSS 9.4. No special access required.

Valca catches the vulnerable workflow (issues: trigger + AI agent + API key in env) before it reaches git — the only tool that does.

→ Full writeup: The Attack That Steals Your API Keys Through a GitHub Issue Comment

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Rules

116 rules across 27 categories. All built-in, stdlib-only, zero runtime dependencies.

This catalogue is generated from the rule registry — it cannot drift from the shipped engine.

Secrets & Credential Exposure (14 rules)

GitHub Actions — AI Agent Surface (13 rules)

AI Agent — Prompt Injection (9 rules)

Dockerfile Hardening (8 rules)

Docker Compose (7 rules)

Terraform (7 rules)

Deserialization & Path Traversal (5 rules)

MCP Server Security (5 rules)

Web Application Security (5 rules)

AI Agent — Excessive Agency (4 rules)

Authentication & Session (4 rules)