Shannon

Open source alternative to XBOW, GitHub Advanced Security and Semgrep

50.9K stars
AGPL-3.0
Active this week
Last commit 5 days ago

Last verified Nov 2, 2026

Run autonomous penetration tests against web applications and APIs, with every finding confirmed by a working exploit before it reaches your report.

Visit website GitHub50.9K Deploy on Hostinger

Read the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ

who it's for

Who Shannon is for#

Developers shipping code frequently who need CI/CD security testing

Engineers running continuous deployments who need exploitation-backed security testing on every pull request or release, without waiting for an annual engagement. Shannon integrates into the existing GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD pipeline and gates builds on proven vulnerabilities, not speculative scanner output. Results include reproduction steps for each confirmed finding.

Skip if:

Your application does not yet have a live staging environment that Shannon can run exploits against. Shannon requires both the source repository and a running target application; it cannot confirm vulnerabilities against source code alone.

DevSecOps teams integrating pentest findings into their pipeline artifacts

Platform or security engineers who want exploitation-confirmed findings as a standard pipeline artifact alongside SAST and dependency scans. Shannon outputs SARIF 2.1.0 for upload to GitHub code scanning, PDF and Markdown for documentation, and JSON for downstream tooling. The CI/CD component distinguishes an incomplete assessment from a completed scan with no findings.

Skip if:

Your team cannot obtain AI provider credentials or cannot complete cybersecurity pre-clearance with your chosen provider. Shannon requires a model API key before running; teams blocked by provider policy should evaluate Keygraph's Enterprise edition.

Security engineers validating findings before an engagement or compliance review

Practitioners who need a repeatable, exploit-confirmed baseline against a staging environment ahead of a compliance review or human engagement. Shannon's rules-of-engagement configuration, focus areas, and authenticated testing support allow scoped assessments. The PDF report includes reproduction steps and severity rankings built to be accepted by auditors, per the README.

Skip if:

You need a black-box pentest against a target with no source code access. Shannon's open-source edition requires the source repository to operate in whitebox mode. Black-box testing is available only in Keygraph's commercial Pro and Enterprise editions.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Security testing has a timing problem. Most engineering teams ship code daily but schedule penetration tests once a year, leaving roughly 364 days where newly introduced vulnerabilities can accumulate in staging and production with no exploitation-backed assessment in their path.

The specific pain is triage noise. Static analysis tools report potential vulnerabilities as candidates, not proven findings. Developers spend time reviewing issues that turn out to be unreachable code paths or false positives, and the real exploitable bugs often lack the reproduction steps needed to prioritize a fix. Security teams build workaround processes around tools that were never designed to close the loop between a code-level candidate and a confirmed, runnable exploit.

how Shannon solves it

How it solves it#

No exploit, no report

Every item in Shannon's report has a corresponding working proof of concept demonstrated against the running application. Static analysis candidates that cannot be exploited are discarded before the report runs. The final output contains only vulnerabilities with confirmed attack paths, reducing triage noise compared to scanners that report speculative findings.

Five-phase autonomous pentest from a single command

Shannon runs reconnaissance, parallel specialist vulnerability analysis, finding reconciliation, live exploitation, and report generation without manual intervention. Five specialist agents cover Injection, XSS, SSRF, Authentication, and Authorization in parallel, each reading the source for its own domain. A sixth exploitation agent handles findings outside those five classes.

CI/CD integration with severity-based build gates

Official GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD components run Shannon on pull requests, releases, or a schedule. Both integrations optionally fail the pipeline when Shannon proves a vulnerability at or above a configured severity threshold, counting only findings with status: exploited. A code-analysis hypothesis that was not confirmed by exploitation does not count toward gate thresholds.

Provider-agnostic bring-your-own-key inference

Shannon supports Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, AWS Bedrock, and any compatible API gateway or custom base URL. Local models via Ollama, vLLM, or LM Studio are also supported. Model requests go directly to your chosen endpoint; Keygraph never proxies source code or model traffic. You bring your own key and your own provider account.

Multi-format output: PDF, Markdown, JSON, and SARIF 2.1.0

Completed scans produce evidence-rich PDF and Markdown reports alongside structured JSON and SARIF 2.1.0. SARIF output is enabled by default for exploit-mode scans. The GitHub Action integration includes an upload-sarif option that publishes supported findings to GitHub code scanning. Each report includes reproduction steps and severity rankings alongside the exploit that proved each finding.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Exploit-confirmed output eliminates false-positive triageShannon's output is limited to what it can exploit. The final report contains only vulnerabilities with a working proof of concept, not a candidate list requiring manual validation. This is structurally different from pattern-based SAST: Shannon discards findings it cannot prove, so the triage queue is the entire finding population rather than a subset of a longer speculative list.
Runs entirely in your infrastructure with BYOK inferenceSource code analysis runs in an ephemeral Docker container in your environment. Model requests go directly to the provider endpoint you configure. Keygraph never proxies source or model traffic, making Shannon viable for teams with strict data-residency policies or air-gapped staging environments. A local model endpoint via Ollama or vLLM keeps all traffic inside your network.
AGPL-3.0 with no license fees on the open-source editionThe open-source edition is free to run. You pay only your own AI model costs. AGPL-3.0 permits running Shannon internally for any purpose, including commercial use by your team. The upgrade path to Keygraph Pro ($50 per active developer per month) or Enterprise adds black-box testing, dependency scanning, secrets scanning, and a findings management dashboard.
Active development with 50,000+ GitHub starsShannon has over 50,000 GitHub stars and 5,800 forks, with a last push on 2026-10-27. The project ships native GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD integrations, SARIF 2.1.0 output, resumable workspaces, and authenticated testing support. Only 10 open issues were present at the time of writing, indicating active maintenance relative to project scale.

Trade-offs

-AI model costs run against your own provider accountShannon does not include a free inference layer. Every scan draws against your AI provider account at your provider's usage rates. A full pentest of a large codebase across multiple agents and phases can consume significant tokens depending on the model you choose. Running targeted scans with a less expensive model reduces cost; the README provides suggested model IDs for different budget constraints.
-Anthropic and OpenAI require cybersecurity pre-clearance before scanningAnthropic and OpenAI apply real-time cybersecurity safeguards to security workloads that can interrupt a scan mid-run. The README explicitly requires completing their cybersecurity verification guidance before the first scan and links to a community discussion on the verification process. Teams using other supported providers (xAI, AWS Bedrock, Ollama) are not subject to this requirement.
-AGPL-3.0 restricts running a modified Shannon as a managed serviceThe AGPL-3.0 license requires distributing source code changes if you run a modified version of Shannon as a network service accessible to others. Teams that want to offer Shannon as a hosted product to customers must either keep modifications open source or use Keygraph's commercial Pro or Enterprise editions. Internal use by your own team, including commercial product development, is unrestricted.

versus alternatives

Shannon vs alternatives#

Shannon vs XBOW

Both Shannon and XBOW are AI-driven application security testing tools that require a working exploit before filing a finding. XBOW is a commercial managed service; Shannon is AGPL-3.0 and runs entirely in your own infrastructure.

Feature	Shannon	XBOW
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Deployment	Self-hosted, your infrastructure	Managed cloud service
Source access	Required (whitebox mode)	Optional
CI/CD integration	GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD	Yes
Exploit confirmation	Required for every finding	Yes
Pricing	Free (your model costs)	Commercial pricing

Shannon and XBOW share the core constraint that neither reports a finding without a working exploit. The practical difference is deployment model. Shannon runs in your CI/CD pipeline with your own model credentials; source code and model traffic stay in your environment. XBOW is a fully managed service. Teams with strict data residency requirements or budget constraints will find Shannon's self-hosted approach more practical; teams that prefer zero infrastructure management may find a managed service more suitable.

Shannon vs GitHub Advanced Security

GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) provides SAST, secret scanning, and dependency review integrated natively into GitHub repositories. Shannon adds live exploitation to the static candidates that code analysis produces.

Feature	Shannon	GitHub Advanced Security
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Finding type	Exploit-confirmed only	SAST candidates
Secret scanning	No (OSS edition)	Yes
Dependency review	No (OSS edition)	Yes
CI/CD integration	GitHub Actions with SARIF upload	Native GitHub integration

GHAS covers secrets and dependency vulnerabilities that Shannon's open-source edition does not address. Its SAST integrates natively into the GitHub workflow with no additional configuration. Shannon's contribution is exploitation confirmation: every finding it reports has a working proof of concept, whereas GHAS SAST reports candidates that require manual triage. Teams already using GHAS can run Shannon in the same GitHub Actions pipeline to validate which SAST candidates are actually exploitable before prioritizing remediation.

Shannon vs Semgrep

Semgrep matches code against vulnerability patterns across many languages, producing candidates for manual review. Shannon takes static analysis candidates as one input and attempts to prove each against the running application before filing a finding.

Feature	Shannon	Semgrep
License	AGPL-3.0	OSS engine / Proprietary (Code)
Analysis type	Live exploitation with code analysis	Pattern-based SAST
Finding validation	Working exploit required	Static pattern match
Self-hosting	Yes	Yes (OSS engine)
CI/CD integration	Yes	Yes

Semgrep has a free open-source engine and a commercial Code product that adds cross-file taint analysis and a managed rules library. Shannon's AGPL-3.0 edition is free to run with your own model costs. For broad pattern-matching coverage across a large polyglot codebase, Semgrep is the lighter-weight starting point with no model API dependency. For teams that need to know which static findings are actually exploitable before prioritizing remediation, Shannon adds the exploitation validation that static analysis alone cannot provide.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash

Shannon installs via npx; Docker is required for the worker container.
```bash
npx @keygraph/shannon@latest setup
npx @keygraph/shannon@latest start -u https://your-app.com -r /path/to/your/repo
```

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages: TypeScript

frequently asked

FAQ#

Can I self-host Shannon?

Yes. Shannon is designed to run entirely in your own infrastructure. It pulls a worker Docker image, mounts your target repository read-only in an ephemeral container, and writes all results to a local workspace. No source code or results are sent to Keygraph. You need Docker, Node.js 18+, and an AI provider account with cybersecurity usage cleared if you are using Anthropic or OpenAI.

Does Shannon support bring-your-own-key inference?

Yes. Shannon is provider-agnostic and requires you to provide your own model credentials. It supports Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, AWS Bedrock, and any compatible API gateway or custom base URL. Local models via Ollama, vLLM, and LM Studio are also supported. Model traffic goes directly to your chosen endpoint; Keygraph never proxies it. You bring your own key and manage your own provider account.

Does Shannon output SARIF?

Yes. Shannon produces SARIF 2.1.0 output by default for exploit-mode scans. The GitHub Action integration includes an upload-sarif option that publishes supported findings directly to GitHub code scanning. Alongside SARIF, Shannon produces PDF, Markdown, and JSON reports from each completed scan, each containing the reproduction steps and severity rankings of confirmed vulnerabilities.

Is Shannon a replacement for human penetration testers?

No. The README is explicit on this point. Shannon is designed to work alongside expert pentesters, not replace them. Great pentesters understand business context, chain attacks in ways nobody anticipated, and bring judgment that current models cannot match. Shannon solves a different problem: there is more software to test than security teams have time to cover. Shannon shifts testing left into the SDLC so that expert human time is reserved for risks that need someone who knows the organization.

What is the difference between Shannon and Keygraph Pro?

Shannon is the open-source edition: a whitebox pentester you run locally or in CI/CD against source-available applications, free under AGPL-3.0. Keygraph Pro is a commercial cloud-hosted edition at $50 per active developer per month that adds black-box pentesting (no source code needed), dependency and secrets scanning, a findings management dashboard with Jira sync, and fix pull requests with exploit replay for verified patches. A Community Program provides Pro at no cost for qualifying nonprofits and pre-Series-A startups with 20 or fewer active developers.

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Shannon vs XBOW

Feature	Shannon	XBOW
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Deployment	Self-hosted, your infrastructure	Managed cloud service
Source access	Required (whitebox mode)	Optional
CI/CD integration	GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD	Yes
Exploit confirmation	Required for every finding	Yes
Pricing	Free (your model costs)	Commercial pricing

Shannon vs GitHub Advanced Security

Feature	Shannon	GitHub Advanced Security
License	AGPL-3.0	Proprietary
Finding type	Exploit-confirmed only	SAST candidates
Secret scanning	No (OSS edition)	Yes
Dependency review	No (OSS edition)	Yes
CI/CD integration	GitHub Actions with SARIF upload	Native GitHub integration

Shannon vs Semgrep

Feature	Shannon	Semgrep
License	AGPL-3.0	OSS engine / Proprietary (Code)
Analysis type	Live exploitation with code analysis	Pattern-based SAST
Finding validation	Working exploit required	Static pattern match
Self-hosting	Yes	Yes (OSS engine)
CI/CD integration	Yes	Yes

Who Shannon is for#

Developers shipping code frequently who need CI/CD security testing

Skip if:

DevSecOps teams integrating pentest findings into their pipeline artifacts

Skip if:

Security engineers validating findings before an engagement or compliance review

Skip if:

The problem it solves#

How it solves it#

No exploit, no report

Five-phase autonomous pentest from a single command

CI/CD integration with severity-based build gates

Provider-agnostic bring-your-own-key inference

Multi-format output: PDF, Markdown, JSON, and SARIF 2.1.0

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Trade-offs

Shannon vs alternatives#

Shannon vs XBOW

Shannon vs GitHub Advanced Security

Shannon vs Semgrep

Quick start#

What it's built on#

FAQ#

Similar open-source tools#

Open source tools in these categories#

Security & Monitoring

DevOps & CI/CD

Developer Tools

Find open source alternatives to paid software

Who Shannon is for#

Developers shipping code frequently who need CI/CD security testing

Skip if:

DevSecOps teams integrating pentest findings into their pipeline artifacts

Skip if:

Security engineers validating findings before an engagement or compliance review

Skip if:

The problem it solves#

How it solves it#

No exploit, no report

Five-phase autonomous pentest from a single command

CI/CD integration with severity-based build gates

Provider-agnostic bring-your-own-key inference

Multi-format output: PDF, Markdown, JSON, and SARIF 2.1.0

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

Trade-offs

Shannon vs alternatives#

Shannon vs XBOW

Shannon vs GitHub Advanced Security

Shannon vs Semgrep

Quick start#

What it's built on#

FAQ#

Similar open-source tools#

Open source tools in these categories#

Security & Monitoring

DevOps & CI/CD

Developer Tools

Find open source alternatives to paid software