DepShield MCP

<p align="center"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/🛡️_DepShield-MCP_Server-blue?style=for-the-badge" alt="DepShield MCP" /> </p>

<h3 align="center">Real-time dependency security for AI coding agents</h3>

<p align="center"> <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/depshield-mcp"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/depshield-mcp?style=flat-square&color=cb3837&label=npm" alt="npm version" /></a> <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/depshield-mcp"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/depshield-mcp?style=flat-square&color=blue&label=downloads" alt="npm downloads" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/devanshkaria88/depshield-mcp/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/devanshkaria88/depshield-mcp?style=flat-square" alt="license" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/devanshkaria88/depshield-mcp"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/devanshkaria88/depshield-mcp?style=flat-square" alt="GitHub stars" /></a> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/node-%3E%3D22-brightgreen?style=flat-square" alt="node version" /> </p>

<p align="center"> DepShield intercepts every package your agent tries to install, verifies it exists, checks it against CVE databases, and blocks vulnerable or hallucinated dependencies — <strong>before they touch your codebase</strong>. </p>

<p align="center"> Works with <strong>Cursor</strong> · <strong>Claude Code</strong> · <strong>Windsurf</strong> · <strong>Antigravity</strong> · <strong>Cline</strong> · any MCP-compatible IDE </p>

---

🤔 Why

AI coding agents pull packages from stale training data. They install outdated versions with known CVEs. They hallucinate package names that don't exist, opening the door to typosquatting attacks. They default to deprecated libraries when better alternatives exist.

There's no checkpoint between "agent decides to use a package" and "package lands in your project." DepShield is that checkpoint.

---

⚡ What It Does

Seven security tools exposed over the Model Context Protocol:

Tool	What it does
check_dependency	Pre-install gate — verifies a package exists on the registry and has no known CVEs. Your agent calls this before every install.
audit_project	Scans an entire package.json or requirements.txt and returns a full vulnerability audit report.
find_safe_version	Finds the newest version of a package with zero known vulnerabilities.
get_advisory_detail	Deep dive into a specific CVE/GHSA — full description, affected versions, fix info, references.
check_npm_health	Package health report card: weekly downloads, last publish date, maintainer count, license, deprecation status. Scored 0–100.
suggest_alternative	Finds better packages when one is vulnerable, deprecated, or abandoned.
deep_scan	Scans a package's transitive dependency tree for vulnerabilities, typosquats, and suspicious patterns.

Plus a depshield://status resource and a security_review prompt template for guided full-project audits.

Zero API keys required. DepShield uses free, open APIs: npm Registry, OSV.dev (Google's open vulnerability database), and PyPI.

---

🚀 Quick Start

Option 1: npx (no install)

Add to your IDE's MCP configuration and you're done. No global install needed.

Option 2: Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/devanshkaria88/depshield-mcp.git
cd depshield-mcp
npm install
npm run build

---

🔌 IDE Setup

<details> <summary><strong>Cursor</strong></summary>

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project-level):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "depshield": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "depshield-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or if you cloned the repo locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "depshield": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/depshield-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Optionally, copy .cursor/rules/dep-shield.mdc into your project's .cursor/rules/ directory. This rule forces the Cursor agent to call check_dependency before every package install.

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Claude Code</strong></summary>

claude mcp add depshield -- npx depshield-mcp

Or from a cloned repo:

claude mcp add depshield -- node /absolute/path/to/depshield-mcp/dist/index.js

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Windsurf</strong></summary>

Add to your Windsurf MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "depshield": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "depshield-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Any MCP-compatible tool</strong></summary>

DepShield uses stdio transport. Any tool that supports MCP over stdio can use it:

npx depshield-mcp

</details>

---

💡 Usage Examples

Once connected, your AI agent has access to all seven tools. Try these prompts:

<table> <tr> <td width="50%">

Pre-install check (automatic with .mdc rule)

"Add lodash for deep cloning"

Agent calls check_dependency → finds CVE → auto-upgrades to safe version

</td> <td width="50%">

Block hallucinated packages

"Install react-super-utils-pro for state management"

Agent calls check_dependency → package doesn't exist → blocks install, suggests alternatives

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>

Full project audit

"Run a security audit on this project's dependencies"

Agent calls audit_project on package.json → returns full vulnerability report

</td> <td>

Package health check

"Is this package well maintained?"

Agent calls check_npm_health → returns health score (0–100) with breakdown

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>

Supply chain deep scan

"Deep scan express for transitive vulnerabilities"

Agent calls deep_scan → scans dependency tree, flags suspicious patterns

</td> <td>

Advisory deep dive

"Tell me more about GHSA-jf85-cpcp-j695"

Agent calls get_advisory_detail → returns full CVE details, remediation info

</td> </tr> </table>

---

📖 Tools Reference

<details> <summary><code>check_dependency</code> — Pre-install gate</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	yes	—	Package name (e.g., lodash, express)
version	string	no	latest	Specific version to check
ecosystem	npm | pypi	no	npm	Package ecosystem

Returns: ✅ SAFE, ⚠️ VULNERABLE (with fix version), 🚫 BLOCKED (doesn't exist), or ⚠️ CANNOT VERIFY (registry unreachable).

</details>

<details> <summary><code>audit_project</code> — Full manifest audit</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
filePath	string	yes	—	Path to package.json or requirements.txt
includeDevDependencies	boolean	no	true	Include devDependencies in scan

Returns: Full audit report with summary stats, per-dependency vulnerability breakdown, severity counts, and risk verdict.

</details>

<details> <summary><code>find_safe_version</code> — Safe version finder</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	yes	—	Package name
ecosystem	npm | pypi	no	npm	Package ecosystem

Returns: The newest stable version with zero known vulnerabilities, with comparison of all checked versions.

</details>

<details> <summary><code>get_advisory_detail</code> — CVE/GHSA deep dive</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
vulnId	string	yes	—	Vulnerability ID (e.g., GHSA-jf85-cpcp-j695, CVE-2021-23337)

Returns: Full advisory with summary, severity, CVSS score, affected versions, fix versions, and reference links.

</details>

<details> <summary><code>check_npm_health</code> — Package health scoring</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	yes	—	npm package name

Returns: Health report card (0–100 score) based on: publish recency, weekly downloads, license, repository presence, deprecation status, and maintainer count.

</details>

<details> <summary><code>suggest_alternative</code> — Alternative package finder</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	yes	—	Package to find alternatives for
reason	string	no	—	Why an alternative is needed

Returns: Top 3 alternative packages with downloads, npm score, and publish date.

</details>

<details> <summary><code>deep_scan</code> — Transitive dependency scanner</summary>

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	yes	—	Package to deep scan
version	string	no	latest	Specific version to scan
depth	1 | 2	no	1	1 = direct deps, 2 = deps of deps

Returns: Dependency tree with vulnerability flags, suspicious pattern detection (newly added deps, nonexistent packages, low-download typosquat candidates), and risk verdict.

</details>

---

🔒 Cursor Rule (Optional)

The .cursor/rules/dep-shield.mdc file included in this repo forces the Cursor agent to automatically call check_dependency before every package install. Copy it to your project:

mkdir -p .cursor/rules
cp node_modules/depshield-mcp/.cursor/rules/dep-shield.mdc .cursor/rules/

This turns DepShield from a tool the agent can use into a gate the agent must pass through.

---

🧪 Testing

MCP Inspector (interactive UI for testing tools):

npm run inspect

Or:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

Raw stdio (quick verification):

printf '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0.0"}}}\n{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"check_dependency","arguments":{"name":"lodash","version":"4.17.20"}}}\n' | node dist/index.js 2>/dev/null

---

🌐 APIs Used

All free, no API keys required:

API	What it provides
npm Registry	Package existence, versions, metadata, search
npm Downloads API	Weekly download counts
OSV.dev	Open source vulnerability database (Google)
PyPI	Python package metadata

---

📁 Project Structure

depshield-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts                    # MCP server entry — tool/resource/prompt registration
│   ├── cache.ts                    # In-memory TTL cache (5 min)
│   ├── utils.ts                    # Severity parsing, version sorting, fetch helpers
│   ├── apis/
│   │   ├── npm-registry.ts         # npm registry, search, downloads
│   │   ├── osv.ts                  # OSV.dev vulnerability queries
│   │   └── pypi-registry.ts        # PyPI JSON API
│   └── tools/
│       ├── check-dependency.ts     # Pre-install gate
│       ├── audit-project.ts        # Full manifest audit
│       ├── find-safe-version.ts    # Safe version finder
│       ├── get-advisory-detail.ts  # CVE/GHSA deep dive
│       ├── check-npm-health.ts     # Package health scoring
│       ├── suggest-alternative.ts  # Alternative package finder
│       └── deep-scan.ts            # Transitive dependency scanner
├── .cursor/rules/
│   └── dep-shield.mdc             # Cursor agent rule (alwaysApply)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

---

📋 Requirements

• Node.js 22 or later
• An MCP-compatible AI coding tool

---

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.

Areas where help would be appreciated:

• Additional ecosystem support (Cargo, Go modules, Maven)
• Improved CVSS vector string parsing
• Integration tests with mocked API responses
• GitHub Actions CI pipeline

---

📄 License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

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<p align="center"> Built by <a href="https://github.com/devanshkaria88">Devansh Karia</a> </p>

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