About GuardianShield
GuardianShield is an open-source MCP server that adds security checks for code, inputs, outputs, and dependencies. It combines vulnerability and secret scanning with PII and prompt-injection detection, configurable safety profiles, and audit logging.
Key features
- 01Scan code for vulnerabilities and secrets
- 02Trace cross-line data flows
- 03Check dependencies for known CVEs
- 04Detect prompt injection and PII
- 05Apply five safety profiles
- 06Store and query audit history
Use cases
- 01Scan source code during development
- 02Review dependencies for known vulnerabilities
- 03Check agent inputs and outputs for risks
- 04Track findings and enforce severity thresholds
MCP support
GuardianShield exposes security scanning, dependency auditing, profile management, and audit-log tools to MCP clients. It can be registered with clients such as Claude Code, VS Code, and Cursor.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
uvx guardianshieldGUARDIANSHIELD_PROFILEDefault safety profile (general, education, healthcare, finance, children)GUARDIANSHIELD_AUDIT_PATHPath to the SQLite audit databaseGUARDIANSHIELD_DEBUGSet to 1 for debug loggingLocal servers need a runtime on your machine (e.g. Node.js 18+). Config file locations differ by client; see your client’s docs.
Tools
27Saved tool list · updated 2w ago
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| code | string | Yes | The source code to scan. |
| engines | array | No | Optional list of engine names to use for this scan. |
| language | string | No | Optional programming language hint. |
| file_path | string | No | Optional file path for context in findings. |
Details
From the project READMEGuardianShield
Universal AI security layer — an open-source MCP server for code scanning, PII detection, prompt injection defense, secret detection, dependency auditing, and audit logging.
Zero dependencies · 27 MCP tools · 5 safety profiles · 108+ detection patterns
Features
- Code Vulnerability Scanning — SQL injection, XSS, command injection, path traversal with CWE IDs and auto-fix remediation
- Cross-line Data Flow Analysis — DeepEngine tracks tainted data from sources to sinks across multiple lines using AST-based taint propagation (Python) and regex (JS/TS)
- Dependency Security — Version-aware CVE matching against OSV.dev for PyPI, npm, Go, and Packagist ecosystems
- Manifest Parsing — Auto-detects 11 formats (requirements.txt, package.json, yarn.lock, go.mod, composer.json, and more)
- Prompt Injection Defense — 9+ detection patterns for instruction override, role hijacking, ChatML injection
- PII Detection — Email, SSN, credit card, phone, IP — with automatic redaction in findings
- Secret Detection — AWS keys, GitHub tokens, Stripe keys, JWTs, passwords, connection strings
- Safety Profiles — 5 built-in profiles (general, education, healthcare, finance, children)
- Audit Logging — SQLite-backed scan history with finding retrieval and filtering
Install
pip install guardianshield
Quick Start
# Register with Claude Code
claude mcp add guardianshield -- guardianshield-mcp
# Or run directly
guardianshield-mcp
Editor Integration
# Claude Code
claude mcp add guardianshield -- guardianshield-mcp
# VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)
{"servers": {"guardianshield": {"type": "stdio", "command": "guardianshield-mcp"}}}
# Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)
{"mcpServers": {"guardianshield": {"command": "guardianshield-mcp"}}}
# Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)
{"mcpServers": {"guardianshield": {"command": "guardianshield-mcp"}}}
MCP Tools
Scanning
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
scan_code | Scan source code for vulnerabilities and hardcoded secrets |
scan_file | Scan a single file (auto-detects language from extension) |
scan_directory | Recursively scan a directory with filtering and progress streaming |
scan_input | Check user/agent input for prompt injection attempts |
scan_output | Check AI output for PII leaks and content violations |
check_secrets | Detect hardcoded secrets and credentials |
scan_files | Scan multiple files in one call |
scan_diff | Parse unified diff and scan only added lines |
Dependency Security
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
check_dependencies | Check packages for known CVEs via OSV.dev (PyPI, npm, Go, Packagist) |
sync_vulnerabilities | Sync the local OSV vulnerability database |
parse_manifest | Parse any supported manifest file (11 formats) into dependency objects |
scan_dependencies | Scan a directory for manifest files and check all deps for vulnerabilities |
False Positive Management
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
mark_false_positive | Mark a finding as false positive (flags future matches) |
list_false_positives | List active false positive records with optional filter |
unmark_false_positive | Remove a false positive record by fingerprint |
Engine Management
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
list_engines | List available analysis engines with capabilities |
set_engine | Set active analysis engines for code scanning |
Three engines ship built-in: regex (line-by-line pattern matching, enabled by default), deep (cross-line taint tracking), and semantic (structure-aware confidence adjustment).
CI & Developer Workflow
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
export_sarif | Export findings as SARIF 2.1.0 JSON for GitHub Code Scanning and CI |
save_baseline | Save current findings as a baseline for delta scanning |
scan_with_baseline | Scan code and report only new findings vs. baseline |
check_quality_gate | Evaluate findings against severity thresholds (pass/fail/warn) |
scan_files | Scan multiple files in one call |
scan_diff | Parse unified diff and scan only added lines |
Configuration & Utilities
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
get_profile | Get current safety profile configuration |
set_profile | Switch safety profile (general, education, healthcare, finance, children) |
test_pattern | Test a regex pattern against sample code for custom pattern development |
audit_log | Query the security audit log |
get_findings | Retrieve past findings with filters |
shield_status | Get health, configuration, and OSV cache statistics |
Configuration
Set environment variables to customize behavior:
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
GUARDIANSHIELD_PROFILE | Default safety profile | general |
GUARDIANSHIELD_AUDIT_PATH | Path to SQLite audit database | ~/.guardianshield/audit.db |
GUARDIANSHIELD_DEBUG | Enable debug logging (1) | disabled |
Documentation
Full documentation: sparkvibe-io.github.io/GuardianShield
License
Apache 2.0
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.