Code Scanning

The code scanning API lets you retrieve and update code scanning alerts from a repository.

About the Code scanning API

The code scanning API lets you retrieve and update code scanning alerts from a repository. You can use the endpoints to create automated reports for the code scanning alerts in an organization or upload analysis results generated using offline code scanning tools. For more information, see "Finding security vulnerabilities and errors in your code."

Custom media type for code scanning

There is one supported custom media type for the code scanning REST API.

application/sarif+json

You can use this with GET requests sent to the /analyses/{analysis_id} endpoint. For more information about this operation, see "Get a code scanning analysis for a repository." When you use this media type with this operation, the response includes a subset of the actual data that was uploaded for the specified analysis, rather than the summary of the analysis that's returned when you use the default media type. The response also includes additional data such as the github/alertNumber and github/alertUrl properties. The data is formatted as SARIF version 2.1.0.

For more information, see "Media types."

List code scanning alerts for a repository

Works with GitHub Apps

Lists code scanning alerts.

To use this endpoint, you must use an access token with the security_events scope or, for alerts from public repositories only, an access token with the public_repo scope.

GitHub Apps must have the security_events read permission to use this endpoint.

The response includes a most_recent_instance object. This provides details of the most recent instance of this alert for the default branch (or for the specified Git reference if you used ref in the request).

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`tool_name`string The name of a code scanning tool. Only results by this tool will be listed. You can specify the tool by using either `tool_name` or `tool_guid`, but not both.
`tool_guid`stringnull The GUID of a code scanning tool. Only results by this tool will be listed. Note that some code scanning tools may not include a GUID in their analysis data. You can specify the tool by using either `tool_guid` or `tool_name`, but not both.
`page`integer Page number of the results to fetch. Default: `1`
`per_page`integer The number of results per page (max 100). Default: `30`
`ref`string The Git reference for the results you want to list. The `ref` for a branch can be formatted either as `refs/heads/<branch name>` or simply `<branch name>`. To reference a pull request use `refs/pull/<number>/merge`.
`direction`string The direction to sort the results by. Default: `desc` Can be one of: `asc`, `desc`
`sort`string The property by which to sort the results. Default: `created` Can be one of: `created`, `updated`
`state`string If specified, only code scanning alerts with this state will be returned. Can be one of: `open`, `closed`, `dismissed`, `fixed`

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`304`	Not modified
`403`	Response if GitHub Advanced Security is not enabled for this repository
`404`	Resource not found
`503`	Service unavailable

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/code-scanning/alerts

Response

Status: 200

[
  {
    "number": 4,
    "created_at": "2020-02-13T12:29:18Z",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/4",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/4",
    "state": "open",
    "fixed_at": null,
    "dismissed_by": null,
    "dismissed_at": null,
    "dismissed_reason": null,
    "rule": {
      "id": "js/zipslip",
      "severity": "error",
      "tags": [
        "security",
        "external/cwe/cwe-022"
      ],
      "description": "Arbitrary file write during zip extraction",
      "name": "js/zipslip"
    },
    "tool": {
      "name": "CodeQL",
      "guid": null,
      "version": "2.4.0"
    },
    "most_recent_instance": {
      "ref": "refs/heads/main",
      "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
      "environment": "{}",
      "state": "open",
      "commit_sha": "39406e42cb832f683daa691dd652a8dc36ee8930",
      "message": {
        "text": "This path depends on a user-provided value."
      },
      "location": {
        "path": "spec-main/api-session-spec.ts",
        "start_line": 917,
        "end_line": 917,
        "start_column": 7,
        "end_column": 18
      },
      "classifications": [
        "test"
      ]
    },
    "instances_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/4/instances"
  },
  {
    "number": 3,
    "created_at": "2020-02-13T12:29:18Z",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/3",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/3",
    "state": "dismissed",
    "fixed_at": null,
    "dismissed_by": {
      "login": "octocat",
      "id": 1,
      "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
      "type": "User",
      "site_admin": false
    },
    "dismissed_at": "2020-02-14T12:29:18Z",
    "dismissed_reason": "false positive",
    "rule": {
      "id": "js/zipslip",
      "severity": "error",
      "tags": [
        "security",
        "external/cwe/cwe-022"
      ],
      "description": "Arbitrary file write during zip extraction",
      "name": "js/zipslip"
    },
    "tool": {
      "name": "CodeQL",
      "guid": null,
      "version": "2.4.0"
    },
    "most_recent_instance": {
      "ref": "refs/heads/main",
      "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
      "environment": "{}",
      "state": "open",
      "commit_sha": "39406e42cb832f683daa691dd652a8dc36ee8930",
      "message": {
        "text": "This path depends on a user-provided value."
      },
      "location": {
        "path": "lib/ab12-gen.js",
        "start_line": 917,
        "end_line": 917,
        "start_column": 7,
        "end_column": 18
      },
      "classifications": []
    },
    "instances_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/3/instances"
  }
]

Get a code scanning alert

Works with GitHub Apps

Gets a single code scanning alert. You must use an access token with the security_events scope to use this endpoint with private repos, the public_repo scope also grants permission to read security events on public repos only. GitHub Apps must have the security_events read permission to use this endpoint.

Deprecation notice: The instances field is deprecated and will, in future, not be included in the response for this endpoint. The example response reflects this change. The same information can now be retrieved via a GET request to the URL specified by instances_url.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`alert_number`integerRequired The number that identifies an alert. You can find this at the end of the URL for a code scanning alert within GitHub, and in the `number` field in the response from the `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts` operation.

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`304`	Not modified
`403`	Response if GitHub Advanced Security is not enabled for this repository
`404`	Resource not found
`503`	Service unavailable

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts/{alert_number}

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/code-scanning/alerts/ALERT_NUMBER

Response

Status: 200

{
  "number": 42,
  "created_at": "2020-06-19T11:21:34Z",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/42",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/42",
  "state": "dismissed",
  "dismissed_by": {
    "login": "octocat",
    "id": 54933897,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
    "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "dismissed_at": "2020-02-14T12:29:18Z",
  "dismissed_reason": "false positive",
  "rule": {
    "id": "js/zipslip",
    "severity": "error",
    "security_severity_level": "high",
    "description": "Arbitrary file write during zip extraction (\"Zip Slip\")",
    "name": "js/zipslip",
    "full_description": "Extracting files from a malicious zip archive without validating that the destination file path is within the destination directory can cause files outside the destination directory to be overwritten.",
    "tags": [
      "security",
      "external/cwe/cwe-022"
    ],
    "help": "# Arbitrary file write during zip extraction (\"Zip Slip\")\\nExtracting files from a malicious zip archive without validating that the destination file path is within the destination directory can cause files outside the destination directory to be overwritten ...",
    "help_uri": "https://codeql.github.com/"
  },
  "tool": {
    "name": "CodeQL",
    "guid": null,
    "version": "2.4.0"
  },
  "most_recent_instance": {
    "ref": "refs/heads/main",
    "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "environment": "{}",
    "state": "dismissed",
    "commit_sha": "39406e42cb832f683daa691dd652a8dc36ee8930",
    "message": {
      "text": "This path depends on a user-provided value."
    },
    "location": {
      "path": "spec-main/api-session-spec.ts",
      "start_line": 917,
      "end_line": 917,
      "start_column": 7,
      "end_column": 18
    },
    "classifications": [
      "test"
    ]
  },
  "instances_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/42/instances"
}

Update a code scanning alert

Works with GitHub Apps

Updates the status of a single code scanning alert. You must use an access token with the security_events scope to use this endpoint with private repositories. You can also use tokens with the public_repo scope for public repositories only. GitHub Apps must have the security_events write permission to use this endpoint.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`alert_number`integerRequired The number that identifies an alert. You can find this at the end of the URL for a code scanning alert within GitHub, and in the `number` field in the response from the `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts` operation.
Body parameters
Name, Type, Description
`state`stringRequired Sets the state of the code scanning alert. You must provide `dismissed_reason` when you set the state to `dismissed`. Can be one of: `open`, `dismissed`
`dismissed_reason`string or null Required when the state is dismissed. The reason for dismissing or closing the alert. Can be one of: , `false positive`, `won't fix`, `used in tests`

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`403`	Response if the repository is archived or if GitHub Advanced Security is not enabled for this repository
`404`	Resource not found
`503`	Service unavailable

Code samples

patch/repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts/{alert_number}

curl \
  -X PATCH \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/code-scanning/alerts/ALERT_NUMBER \
  -d '{"state":"dismissed","dismissed_reason":"false positive","dismissed_comment":"This alert is not actually correct, because there'\''s a sanitizer included in the library."}'

Response

Status: 200

{
  "number": 42,
  "created_at": "2020-08-25T21:28:36Z",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/42",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/42",
  "state": "dismissed",
  "dismissed_by": {
    "login": "octocat",
    "id": 1,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
    "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "dismissed_at": "2020-09-02T22:34:56Z",
  "dismissed_reason": "false positive",
  "rule": {
    "id": "js/zipslip",
    "severity": "error",
    "security_severity_level": "high",
    "description": "Arbitrary file write during zip extraction (\"Zip Slip\")",
    "name": "js/zipslip",
    "full_description": "Extracting files from a malicious zip archive without validating that the destination file path is within the destination directory can cause files outside the destination directory to be overwritten.",
    "tags": [
      "security",
      "external/cwe/cwe-022"
    ],
    "help": "# Arbitrary file write during zip extraction (\"Zip Slip\")\\nExtracting files from a malicious zip archive without validating that the destination file path is within the destination directory can cause files outside the destination directory to be overwritten ...",
    "help_uri": "https://codeql.github.com/"
  },
  "tool": {
    "name": "CodeQL",
    "guid": null,
    "version": "2.4.0"
  },
  "most_recent_instance": {
    "ref": "refs/heads/main",
    "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "environment": "{}",
    "state": "dismissed",
    "commit_sha": "39406e42cb832f683daa691dd652a8dc36ee8930",
    "message": {
      "text": "This path depends on a user-provided value."
    },
    "location": {
      "path": "spec-main/api-session-spec.ts",
      "start_line": 917,
      "end_line": 917,
      "start_column": 7,
      "end_column": 18
    },
    "classifications": [
      "test"
    ]
  },
  "instances_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/hello-world/code-scanning/alerts/42/instances"
}

List instances of a code scanning alert

Works with GitHub Apps

Lists all instances of the specified code scanning alert. You must use an access token with the security_events scope to use this endpoint with private repos, the public_repo scope also grants permission to read security events on public repos only. GitHub Apps must have the security_events read permission to use this endpoint.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`alert_number`integerRequired The number that identifies an alert. You can find this at the end of the URL for a code scanning alert within GitHub, and in the `number` field in the response from the `GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts` operation.
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`page`integer Page number of the results to fetch. Default: `1`
`per_page`integer The number of results per page (max 100). Default: `30`
`ref`string The Git reference for the results you want to list. The `ref` for a branch can be formatted either as `refs/heads/<branch name>` or simply `<branch name>`. To reference a pull request use `refs/pull/<number>/merge`.

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`403`	Response if GitHub Advanced Security is not enabled for this repository
`404`	Resource not found
`503`	Service unavailable

Code samples

get/repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts/{alert_number}/instances

curl \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>" \
  http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/OWNER/REPO/code-scanning/alerts/ALERT_NUMBER/instances

Response

Status: 200

[
  {
    "ref": "refs/heads/main",
    "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "environment": "",
    "category": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "state": "open",
    "fixed_at": null,
    "commit_sha": "39406e42cb832f683daa691dd652a8dc36ee8930",
    "message": {
      "text": "This path depends on a user-provided value."
    },
    "location": {
      "path": "lib/ab12-gen.js",
      "start_line": 917,
      "end_line": 917,
      "start_column": 7,
      "end_column": 18
    },
    "classifications": [
      "library"
    ]
  },
  {
    "ref": "refs/pull/3740/merge",
    "analysis_key": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "environment": "",
    "category": ".github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml:CodeQL-Build",
    "state": "fixed",
    "fixed_at": "2020-02-14T12:29:18Z",
    "commit_sha": "b09da05606e27f463a2b49287684b4ae777092f2",
    "message": {
      "text": "This suffix check is missing a length comparison to correctly handle lastIndexOf returning -1."
    },
    "location": {
      "path": "app/script.js",
      "start_line": 2,
      "end_line": 2,
      "start_column": 10,
      "end_column": 50
    },
    "classifications": [
      "source"
    ]
  }
]

List code scanning analyses for a repository

Works with GitHub Apps

Lists the details of all code scanning analyses for a repository, starting with the most recent. The response is paginated and you can use the page and per_page parameters to list the analyses you're interested in. By default 30 analyses are listed per page.

The rules_count field in the response give the number of rules that were run in the analysis. For very old analyses this data is not available, and 0 is returned in this field.

You must use an access token with the security_events scope to use this endpoint with private repos, the public_repo scope also grants permission to read security events on public repos only. GitHub Apps must have the security_events read permission to use this endpoint.

Deprecation notice: The tool_name field is deprecated and will, in future, not be included in the response for this endpoint. The example response reflects this change. The tool name can now be found inside the tool field.

Parameters

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`owner`stringRequired The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
`repo`stringRequired The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
Query parameters
Name, Type, Description
`tool_name`string The name of a code scanning tool. Only results by this tool will be listed. You can specify the tool by using either `tool_name` or `tool_guid`, but not both.
`tool_guid`stringnull The GUID of a code scanning tool. Only results by this tool will be listed. Note that some code scanning tools may not include a GUID in their analysis data. You can specify the tool by using either `tool_guid` or `tool_name`, but not both.
`page`integer Page number of the results to fetch. Default: `1`
`per_page`integer The number of results per page (max 100). Default: `30`
`ref`string The Git reference for the analyses you want to list. The `ref` for a branch can be formatted either as `refs/heads/<branch name>` or simply `<branch name>`. To reference a pull request use `refs/pull/<number>/merge`.
`sarif_id`string Filter analyses belonging to the same