Security & Quality

npm Audit Security Scanning

Scan project dependencies for known vulnerabilities using npm audit and fix issues automatically.

Claude Code Cursor Copilot Windsurf Gemini CLI Codex

Overview

npm audit is a built-in security feature of the npm CLI that scans your project's dependency tree for known vulnerabilities. It checks every installed package against the GitHub Advisory Database, reporting vulnerabilities with severity levels (low, moderate, high, critical) and providing remediation guidance.

The audit command analyzes both direct and transitive dependencies, identifying the full chain from your project to the vulnerable package. For each vulnerability, it reports the affected versions, the severity, a description of the issue, and the path through your dependency tree. The `npm audit fix` command can automatically update packages to patched versions when compatible updates are available.

npm audit can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines using `npm audit --audit-level=high` to fail builds when high or critical vulnerabilities are found. The `--json` flag provides machine-readable output for custom tooling. For cases where fixes require major version bumps, `npm audit fix --force` will apply breaking changes, though this should be used with caution and thorough testing.

Who Is This For?

Scan dependencies for known security vulnerabilities
Automatically fix vulnerable packages with npm audit fix
Add audit checks to CI/CD pipelines
Generate vulnerability reports for compliance

Installation

Setup for Claude Code

npm audit

Configuration

// Run in CI pipeline
// npm audit --audit-level=high --production

// package.json script
{
  "scripts": {
    "security:audit": "npm audit --audit-level=moderate",
    "security:fix": "npm audit fix",
    "preinstall": "npm audit --audit-level=high"
  }
}