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Add a GitHub repository to Semgrep Managed Scans

Add GitHub repositories to your Semgrep organization in bulk without adding or changing your existing CI workflows through Managed Scans.

Permissions​

To add a repository, you must create and register a public Semgrep GitHub app and a private Semgrep GitHub App.

  • The public Semgrep GitHub app is required to easily add members of your GitHub org to your Semgrep org.
  • The private Semgrep GitHub app is required to enable code access for Managed Scans.

If you haven't completed the installation of public and private Semgrep GitHub apps, Semgrep prompts you to do so when adding a repository.

See Pre-deployment checklist > Permissions for more information about the permissions used by Semgrep.

Add a repository​

  1. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
  2. Click Scan new project > Semgrep Managed Scan.
  3. If you haven't completed the installation of public and private Semgrep GitHub apps, you are redirected to the Set up Managed Scans page, which facilitates the creation of both.
    1. Follow the steps in the page to create and register both a public and private Semgrep GitHub app.
  4. In the Enable Managed Scans for repos page, select the repositories you want to add to Semgrep Managed Scans.
    1. Optional: If you don't see the repository you want to add, click Can't find your project? and follow the troubleshooting steps provided.
  5. Select the repositories you want to scan from the list.
  6. Click Enable Managed Scans. The Enable Managed Scans dialog appears. By default, Semgrep runs both full and diff-aware scans.
  7. Optional: Disable PR or MR diff-aware scans by turning off the Enable PR/MR scans toggle. Enable Managed Scans dialog
  8. Click Enable.
  9. If you use the Semgrep Network Broker, you must edit your Broker configuration file; refer to Use Semgrep Network Broker with Managed Scans.

You have finished setting up a Semgrep managed scan.

  • After enabling Managed Scans, Semgrep performs a full scan in batches on all the repositories.
  • Once a repository has been added to Semgrep AppSec Platform, it becomes a project. A project in Semgrep AppSec Platform includes all the findings, history, and scan metadata of that repository.
  • Projects scanned through Managed Scans are tagged with managed-scan.

Troubleshoot your Semgrep GitHub app installation​

A complete installation is displayed in the Source Code Manager entry as follows:

GitHub entry with public and private GitHub app connection Figure. Semgrep AppSec Platform > Settings > Source Code Managers displaying a completed Managed Scans set-up.

You can also confirm a complete installation through your GitHub settings page, which should have two Semgrep apps:

GitHub settings page Figure. GitHub > Settings > Applications displaying both Semgrep apps. The private Semgrep app follows the convention Semgrep Code - YOUR_ORG_NAME.

If the page doesn't display any repositories​

  1. Ensure you have provided access to both the private and public Semgrep GitHub to the repositories you want to scan by following the steps in Permissions and synchronicity.
  2. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
  3. If the page doesn't display the repository you want to add, click Can't find your project? > Sync projects.
  4. If the page doesn't display any repositories, click Sync projects.
  5. Optional: Perform a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R).

Repositories must be accessible to both the public Semgrep GitHub app and the private Semgrep GitHub app.

Convert or migrate an existing Semgrep CI job​

You can immediately add any existing project to Managed Scans.

  1. Follow the steps in Add a repository.
  2. Delete the /.github/workflows/semgrep.yml file in your GitHub repository if appropriate.

If you plan to continue running some scans in GitHub Actions (for example, using Managed Scans to run weekly full scans but GitHub Actions for diff-aware scans) you can leave the workflow file in place, and edit it to reflect your desired configuration.

tip

Semgrep preserves your findings, scans, and triage history.

Scan management and configuration​

Manually run a full scan​

  1. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
  2. Search for your repository's name.
  3. Click the gear icon to access the settings page for that repository.
  4. Click Run a new scan.

Disable diff-aware scans on PRs​

  1. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
  2. Search for your repository's name.
  3. Click the gear icon to access the settings page for that repository.
  4. Click the toggle for diff-aware scans.

Delete a project​

  1. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Projects.
  2. Search for your repository's name.
  3. Click the gear icon to access the settings page for that repository.
  4. Click the dropdown at the header and click Delete project.

Revoke Semgrep's access to your repositories​

Remove the private app​

The following steps revoke the code access you previously granted Semgrep for all repositories you selected.

  1. In Semgrep AppSec Platform, click Settings > Source Code Managers.
  2. On the entry of the SCM you want to remove, click Remove app.
  3. Click Remove to confirm.

Limit access to specific repositories​

  1. Navigate to your GitHub settings page.
  2. On the entry of your private Semgrep GitHub app, click Configure. GitHub settings page
  3. Under Repository access, de-select the repositories you no longer want to grant Semgrep access to.

Appendices​

Permissions and synchronicity​

Both the public and private Semgrep GitHub app must have access to the repositories you want to scan.

To view the repositories you have granted access to:

  1. Navigate to your GitHub settings page.
  2. On the entry of your public Semgrep GitHub app, typically semgrep-app, Click Configure.
  3. Review the repositories under repository access.
  4. Perform steps 2 and 3 on the entry of your private Semgrep GitHub app.

Scan logs​

Most recent scan​

You can view logs for your most recent scan by clicking Projects > the project's latest scan time under Scan status.

Click the project's latest scan to view the log Figure. The Projects page. Click the project's latest scan (underlined) to view the log.

info

It can take a few minutes for your latest scan's logs to appear. However, if the logs do not update 15 minutes after the scan, there may be issues with the scan itself.

All scans​

  1. Click the project's Details page > Scans tab.
  2. Click the scroll icon under Logs to view the log for the particular entry.

Scan statistics​

Scan statistics, such as how many of your repositories are being scanned, the scan success rate, and so on, can be provided once a week upon request. Contact your Semgrep account manager to request scan statistics.

Git Large File Storage​

Semgrep Managed Scans skips files stored in Git Large File Storage (LFS). In general, Semgrep skips large files when scanning projects.

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