# Dependency Audit > Audits direct and transitive dependencies for license compliance, maintenance health, CVEs, abandoned packages, and bloat. Triggers on: "audit dependencies", "license check", "dependency health", "abandoned packages", "unused dependencies", "license compliance", "supply chain", "dependency risk". - Skill: `mathews-tom/dependency-audit` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mathews-tom/dependency-audit` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mathews-tom/dependency-audit/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Security - Author: mathews-tom (https://skillmd.com/u/mathews-tom) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mathews-tom/dependency-audit --- # Dependency Audit Comprehensive dependency risk assessment: license compatibility analysis, maintenance health scoring, CVE detection, bloat identification, and transitive dependency risk mapping. Produces an actionable report with prioritized remediation steps organized by urgency (security → license → maintenance → bloat). ## Reference Files | File | Contents | Load When | | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | | `references/license-compatibility.md` | License compatibility matrix, copyleft detection, commercial-safe licenses | Always | | `references/health-metrics.md` | Maintenance health indicators, scoring criteria, abandonment detection | Always | | `references/bloat-detection.md` | Identifying unused deps, duplicate functionality, heavy transitive trees | Bloat analysis requested | | `references/cve-sources.md` | CVE databases, advisory sources, vulnerability severity interpretation | Security audit requested | ## Prerequisites - Access to the project's dependency files (`pyproject.toml`, `requirements.txt`, `package.json`, `Cargo.toml`, `go.mod`) - Lock file (for exact versions and transitive dependencies) - Project license (to determine compatibility requirements) ## Workflow ### Phase 1: Parse Dependency Tree 1. **Direct dependencies** — Packages explicitly declared in the project. 2. **Transitive dependencies** — Dependencies of dependencies. Often 10-50x the direct count. 3. **Version constraints** — Pinned (`==1.2.3`), ranged (`>=1.0,<2.0`), or floating (`*`). 4. **Development vs production** — Separate dev/test dependencies from production. Tools: - Python: `uv pip list`, `pip-audit`, `pipdeptree` - Node.js: `npm list --all`, `npm audit` - Rust: `cargo tree`, `cargo audit` ### Phase 2: Audit Licenses For each dependency: 1. **Identify the license** — Check package metadata, LICENSE file, pyproject.toml. 2. **Classify compatibility** — Against the project's own license: | License | Commercial OK | Copyleft | Risk Level | | ------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------- | ---------- | | MIT, BSD, ISC, Apache 2.0 | Yes | No | Low | | LGPL | With care | Weak | Medium | | GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0 | No (unless GPL project) | Strong | High | | AGPL | No (unless AGPL project) | Strong + network | Critical | | Unknown | Cannot determine | Unknown | Critical | 3. **Flag issues** — Copyleft licenses in proprietary projects, unknown licenses, license changes between versions. ### Phase 3: Assess Maintenance Health For each dependency, evaluate maintenance signals: | Indicator | Healthy | Warning | Abandoned | | -------------------- | -------------- | ----------- | ------------------------ | | Last release | < 6 months | 6-18 months | > 18 months | | Commits (90 days) | 10+ | 1-9 | 0 | | Open issues response | < 2 weeks | 2-8 weeks | > 8 weeks or no response | | Bus factor | 3+ maintainers | 2 | 1 | | CI status | Passing | Flaky | Failing or absent | ### Phase 4: Check Security 1. **Known CVEs** — Check against advisory databases: - Python: `pip-audit`, PyPI advisory database - Node.js: `npm audit`, GitHub Advisory Database - General: NVD (National Vulnerability Database) 2. **Severity classification** — CVSS score interpretation: | CVSS Score | Severity | Action | | ---------- | -------- | ---------------------- | | 9.0-10.0 | Critical | Upgrade immediately | | 7.0-8.9 | High | Upgrade within days | | 4.0-6.9 | Medium | Upgrade within weeks | | 0.1-3.9 | Low | Upgrade at convenience | 3. **Fix availability** — Is there a patched version? If not, what's the workaround? ### Phase 5: Detect Bloat 1. **Unused dependencies** — Dependencies imported nowhere in the codebase. 2. **Duplicate functionality** — Multiple packages doing the same thing (2 HTTP clients, 2 JSON parsers). 3. **Heavy transitive trees** — Packages that pull in dozens of sub-dependencies for a simple feature. 4. **Size analysis** — Large packages used for small functionality. ### Phase 6: Report Produce a prioritized report with action items. ## Output Format ```text ## Dependency Audit: {Project Name} ### Summary | Metric | Count | |--------|-------| | Direct dependencies | {N} | | Transitive dependencies | {N} | | License issues | {N} | | Maintenance concerns | {N} | | Security vulnerabilities | {N} | | Bloat candidates | {N} | ### License Compliance | Package | Version | License | Compatible | Issue | |---------|---------|---------|------------|-------| | {pkg} | {ver} | MIT | Yes | None | | {pkg} | {ver} | GPL-3.0 | No | Copyleft in proprietary project | | {pkg} | {ver} | Unknown | Unknown | License not identifiable | ### Maintenance Health | Package | Last Release | Commits (90d) | Maintainers | Status | |---------|-------------|---------------|-------------|--------| | {pkg} | {date} | {N} | {N} | {Healthy/Warning/Abandoned} | ### Security Vulnerabilities | Package | Version | CVE | Severity | Fix Available | Fixed In | |---------|---------|-----|----------|---------------|----------| | {pkg} | {ver} | {CVE-ID} | {severity} | {Yes/No} | {version} | ### Bloat Analysis | Package | Install Size | Used By | Recommendation | |---------|-------------|---------|----------------| | {pkg} | {size} | {usage description} | {Remove/Replace/Keep} | ### Action Items #### Immediate (Security) 1. Upgrade {pkg} to {version} — fixes {CVE-ID} ({severity}) #### Short-term (License) 1. Review {pkg} GPL usage — may require license change or removal #### Medium-term (Maintenance) 1. Find alternative to {pkg} — abandoned since {date} #### Long-term (Bloat) 1. Remove {pkg} — unused in codebase 2. Replace {pkg} with lighter alternative ### Transitive Risk - {direct-dep} depends on {transitive-dep} which has {issue} ``` ## Calibration Rules 1. **Production dependencies first.** Dev/test dependencies have lower risk since they don't ship to users. Audit production dependencies with higher scrutiny. 2. **Transitive risk is real.** A direct dependency with MIT license may pull in a GPL transitive dependency. Always check the full tree. 3. **Abandoned is not broken.** A mature, stable library that hasn't been updated in a year may be perfectly fine. Evaluate based on whether the library is "done" vs "neglected." 4. **Security is non-negotiable.** Critical and High CVEs must be addressed immediately. Medium CVEs should be tracked. Low CVEs can wait for the next dependency update cycle. ## Error Handling | Problem | Resolution | | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | No lock file available | Audit based on declared dependencies. Note that transitive analysis is incomplete without a lock file. | | License metadata missing | Check the package's repository for LICENSE file. Note packages where license cannot be determined. | | Package registry unavailable | Work from cached metadata and local lockfile data. | | Too many dependencies to audit manually | Prioritize: production deps first, then direct deps, then transitive deps with known issues. | ## When NOT to Audit Push back if: - The project is a prototype that won't ship — defer audit until production decision - The user wants dependency updates, not audit — different task (dependabot, renovate) - The project has no dependencies (pure standard library) — nothing to audit ## Rationalizations | Rationalization | Reality | |---|---| | "It's a trusted package" | Trust is not a security model — trusted packages get compromised (event-stream, ua-parser-js, colors.js) | | "Only a minor version bump" | Minor versions can introduce vulnerabilities, change behavior, or add transitive dependencies — semver is a promise, not a guarantee | | "We don't use the vulnerable function" | Transitive dependencies might — and attack surface includes any code loaded into the process | | "The CVE is low severity" | Low severity in isolation can be critical in your context — a "low" SSRF in an internal service with cloud metadata access is critical | | "We'll update when there's a known exploit" | Known exploits mean you're already behind — patch within SLA, not after breach | | "Too many dependencies to audit" | That's the problem, not an excuse — high dependency count IS a risk finding | ## Red Flags - Auditing only direct dependencies while ignoring transitive dependency tree - Dismissing CVEs without checking if the vulnerable code path is reachable - No license compatibility check — GPL in a proprietary codebase is a legal finding - Accepting "no known vulnerabilities" from a single scanner without cross-referencing - Ignoring dependency age — unmaintained packages with no updates in 2+ years are a risk - Skipping lockfile analysis (pinned vs. floating versions) ## Verification - [ ] Both direct and transitive dependencies scanned - [ ] Vulnerability scanner output captured: `npm audit` / `pip-audit` / `cargo audit` - [ ] Each CVE finding includes: severity, affected version range, upgrade path, reachability assessment - [ ] License compatibility verified against project license - [ ] Dependency age and maintenance status checked for top-level deps - [ ] Lockfile present and version pinning verified — no floating ranges in production