socket

Socket CLI

CLI for Socket.dev security analysis

Usage

npm install -g socket
socket --help

Commands

• socket npm [args...] and socket npx [args...] - Wraps npm/npx with Socket security scanning

• socket fix - Fix CVEs in dependencies

• socket optimize - Optimize dependencies with @socketregistry overrides

• socket cdxgen [command] - Run cdxgen for SBOM generation

• socket patch <command> - Apply, manage, and rollback Socket security patches for vulnerable dependencies

Patch subcommands

Command	Description
socket patch scan	Scan installed packages for available security patches
socket patch get <uuid> --org <slug>	Download a patch by UUID and store it locally
socket patch apply	Apply downloaded patches to node_modules
socket patch rollback [purl|uuid]	Rollback patches and restore original files
socket patch list [--json]	List all patches in the local manifest
socket patch remove <purl|uuid>	Remove a patch from the manifest (rolls back by default)
socket patch setup [--yes]	Add socket patch apply to postinstall scripts
socket patch repair	Download missing blobs and clean up unused blobs

Quick start:

# Scan for available patches, download, and apply.
socket patch scan
socket patch apply

# Or download a specific patch by UUID.
socket patch get <uuid> --org <org-slug>
socket patch apply

# Add to postinstall so patches reapply on npm install.
socket patch setup --yes

Free patches work without authentication. For paid patches, set SOCKET_CLI_API_TOKEN and SOCKET_CLI_ORG_SLUG.

Aliases

All aliases support the flags and arguments of the commands they alias.

• socket ci - Alias for socket scan create --report (creates report and exits with error if unhealthy)

Reachability analysis

Socket reachability analysis comes in three forms:

• Full application reachability (formerly Tier 1): Analyzes your application together with its dependencies to determine whether vulnerable code is actually invoked from your code through the full dependency graph — the highest-precision reachability analysis. Run it with socket scan create --reach.
• Precomputed reachability (formerly Tier 2): Determines whether vulnerable code in transitive dependencies is reachable through your direct dependencies, using precomputed static analysis of dependency chains (no access to your application code required). In the CLI this is the fallback used when full application reachability cannot complete (see the --reach-continue-on-* flags).
• Dependency reachability (formerly Tier 3): Package-level filtering that detects which dependencies are actually used, so CVEs in unused/dead dependencies can be filtered out.

Flags

Output flags

• --json - Output as JSON
• --markdown - Output as Markdown

Other flags

• --dry-run - Run without uploading
• --debug - Show debug output
• --help - Show help
• --max-old-space-size - Set Node.js memory limit
• --max-semi-space-size - Set Node.js heap size
• --version - Show version

Configuration files

Socket CLI reads socket.yml configuration files. Supports version 2 format with projectIgnorePaths for excluding files from reports.

Environment variables

• SOCKET_CLI_API_TOKEN - Socket API token
• SOCKET_CLI_CONFIG - JSON configuration object
• SOCKET_CLI_GITHUB_API_URL - GitHub API base URL
• SOCKET_CLI_GIT_USER_EMAIL - Git user email (default: github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com)
• SOCKET_CLI_GIT_USER_NAME - Git user name (default: github-actions[bot])
• SOCKET_CLI_GITHUB_TOKEN - GitHub token with repo access (alias: GITHUB_TOKEN)
• SOCKET_CLI_NO_API_TOKEN - Disable default API token
• SOCKET_CLI_NPM_PATH - Path to npm directory
• SOCKET_CLI_ORG_SLUG - Socket organization slug
• SOCKET_CLI_ACCEPT_RISKS - Accept npm/npx risks
• SOCKET_CLI_VIEW_ALL_RISKS - Show all npm/npx risks

Contributing

Run locally:

npm install
npm run build
npm exec socket

Development environment variables

• SOCKET_CLI_API_BASE_URL - API base URL (default: https://api.socket.dev/v0/)
• SOCKET_CLI_API_PROXY - Proxy for API requests (aliases: HTTPS_PROXY, https_proxy, HTTP_PROXY, http_proxy)
• SOCKET_CLI_API_TIMEOUT - API request timeout in milliseconds
• SOCKET_CLI_COANA_LAUNCHER - How the reachability engine (@coana-tech/cli) is launched: auto (default; try npx, fall back to npm install + node if the launcher fails), npx (never fall back), or npm-install (skip npx entirely)
• SOCKET_CLI_DEBUG - Enable debug logging
• DEBUG - Enable debug package logging

See also

• Socket API Reference
• Socket GitHub App
• @socketsecurity/sdk