Offense

Offense

Security tools your AI agent can discover, call and verify.

Offense is a product by [Offense Research, Inc.](https://offenseresearch.com). Open-source software, optional paid hosting.

Give Pi, OMP, Hermes, Codex, Claude Code, Crush or another coding agent the tools to audit dependencies, inspect source and workflows, and test a proposed fix. Offense returns structured security evidence through CLI, MCP and HTTP. Your agent reads that evidence, investigates your code, makes authorized changes and runs your tests—with its existing model, repository access and permissions.

Open-source repository · Discord · Hosted service · Self-hosting · Contributing · Report a vulnerability

Start here: Give this to your agent · Add with a PR · Recipes · Install the CLI · Agent installation · Choose a mode · Local quick start · MCP setup · Self-hosted platform · Documentation · Troubleshooting · Community

Add Offense to your repository with a PR

Add Offense to your repo →

Enter your GitHub repository and base branch. The installer opens GitHub's prefilled workflow editor; review the file, choose Create a new branch, then open a pull request. No Offense account, API key or GitHub token is required. Offense prepares the link; you create and approve the PR on GitHub.

The starter adds free npm/pnpm dependency audits on pull requests using pinned, read-only GitHub Actions. It never installs or runs your app, edits code or calls paid Offense tools. Dependency metadata goes to OSV/npm; reports are retained as GitHub artifacts for seven days. Advisories are report-only; coverage warnings and scan errors fail the check. GitHub Actions usage limits and charges still apply. This is a dependency check, not the full tool catalog.

Review the template · Manual installation, privacy and updates

Give this to your agent

Paste this into your coding agent in the project you want to check:

Set up Offense for this project. Read the installation instructions at

https://github.com/offense-research/offense#install-the-offensesh-agent-skill and review the skill at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/offense-research/offense/main/.agents/skills/scanning-with-offense/SKILL.md

Reuse an existing reviewed Offense checkout or connection if available. Otherwise inspect the public source before using its helpers. Install the skill in this agent's project-local skill directory, preserving custom files and other agent settings. Tell me if a new session or project trust is needed.

Run only the offline dependency-input preview. Show the selected lockfiles, unsupported inputs and which execution mode would perform the real audit. Do not upload data, run a paid scan, install the target project's dependencies, edit application code, commit or push.

The first success is a real preview and an explicit scope, not “installed” without a command result. The agent needs terminal/filesystem access and Node; copying a skill does not give a chat-only client those capabilities. If it cannot read GitHub pages, use the raw skill URL or a reviewed local checkout.

Already configured? Ask: “Use Offense to check my app for security problems, explain the findings and consequences, and help me decide what to fix.” Offense infers relevant checks from the project, reports missing coverage, and asks only for the inputs or authorization those checks need. Assessment alone does not authorize application edits or paid calls. Narrow dependency and local-only requests keep their scope.

Start with one of the task prompts below. Prefer manual setup? Use the per-agent instructions.

Recipes from the landing page

Codex plugin

The native plugin is built from the same maintained skill and CLI in this repo. To try a local checkout with Codex:

codex plugin marketplace add /absolute/path/to/offense

codex plugin add offense@offense

Start a new Codex session, then ask $offense:offense to check your app and explain the findings. Installing does not log in, scan, buy credit or register MCP. The plugin reuses existing connections or its bundled CLI. Codex owns updates; credentials stay in the CLI's private configuration. If you already installed a manual Offense skill, choose which entry point to keep; customized skills and project instructions are never removed automatically.

Once these files are published on the repository's default branch, the intended remote registration is codex plugin marketplace add offense-research/offense, followed by codex plugin add offense@offense. The local path has been smoke tested; the remote command requires verification against that published ref. Public OpenAI directory listing is a separate submission, not part of this build.

Put the examples on offense.sh to work. Each recipe includes an agent prompt, prerequisites, commands, approval boundaries and the evidence to return. Start with a single reviewed run before adding recurring automation.

These are recipes for your agent, not installed schedules, hooks or bots. Local scanners need their pinned engines; hosted Gitleaks needs availability, upload approval and a spending ceiling. See the shared setup and limits.

What you can do

• Find vulnerable dependencies. Inventory npm/pnpm lockfiles, query OSV advisories and inspect upgrade options with the independent local engine.
• Give your agent actionable context. Produce structured findings and a repository-specific remediation prompt; use explicit triage and rehearsal commands when you need deeper evidence.
• Check source and GitHub Actions workflows. Run pinned Opengrep and Zizmor engines through the self-hosted API/MCP profile in isolated Docker containers.
• Discover tools before running them. Inspect coverage, supported inputs, availability and price quotes. A directory listing is not a promise that a tool is enabled on your deployment.
• Use the same job workflow across clients. Submit bounded jobs, retrieve results and preserve partial/failed outcomes through the CLI, MCP or HTTP API.

Offense is not an autonomous permission grant. A finding is not a confirmed exploit, an advisory match is not proof of reachability, and a partial scan is not a clean bill of health. Your agent remains responsible for reviewing changes and obtaining authorization before active testing, paid calls or publication.

From a finding to a reviewed fix

See From a finding to a reviewed fix.

Ask for the outcome you want

See Ask for the outcome you want.

What your agent should read and return

See What your agent should read and return.

Export a PDF report locally

See Export a PDF report locally.

Choose how to run it

The local engine and self-hosted profile do not require an Offense subscription or model-provider key. Advisory lookup still needs network access; “local” does not mean an offline advisory database. You pay your own infrastructure costs when self-hosting.

Install the CLI

See Install the CLI.

Homebrew — macOS and Linux

See Homebrew — macOS and Linux.

Stable GitHub release — Node.js 20+

See Stable GitHub release — Node.js 20+.

Ubuntu and Arch Linux

See Ubuntu and Arch Linux.

npx / npm exec — run without a global install

See npx / npm exec — run without a global install.

npm — install the command globally

See npm — install the command globally.

pnpm or Bun — one-off execution

See pnpm or Bun — one-off execution.

From a reviewed checkout — no package manager install

See From a reviewed checkout — no package manager install.

After installation

See After installation.

Quick start: local dependency analysis

Use Node.js 24 or newer, npm and Git. This path does not start a server, install Docker scanners or require an account.

git clone https://github.com/offense-research/offense.git

cd offense npm --prefix offense ci --ignore-scripts

Inspect the runtime and preview supported dependency inputs without network calls.

node offense/bin/offense.mjs doctor /absolute/path/to/your-project node offense/bin/off