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title intro shortTitle product versions topics redirect_from
Customizing analysis with CodeQL packs
You can use {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs to run {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} queries maintained by other people, or to share {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} queries that you've developed.
Customizing analysis
{% data reusables.gated-features.codeql %}
fpt ghes ghec
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Advanced Security
Code scanning
CodeQL
/code-security/codeql-cli/about-codeql-packs
/code-security/codeql-cli/codeql-cli-reference/about-codeql-packs

About {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs

{% data reusables.code-scanning.codeql-cli-version-ghes %}

{% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs are used to create, share, depend on, and run {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} queries and libraries. {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs contain queries, library files, query suites, and metadata. You can customize your {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} analysis by downloading packs created by others and running them on your codebase.

There are{% ifversion codeql-model-packs %} three{% else %} two{% endif %} types of {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs: {% ifversion codeql-model-packs %}query packs, library packs, and model packs{% else %} query packs and library packs{% endif %}.

  • Query packs contain a set of pre-compiled queries that can be evaluated on a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} database. Query packs are designed to be run. When a query pack is published, the bundle includes all the transitive dependencies and pre-compiled representations of each query, in addition to the query sources. This ensures consistent and efficient execution of the queries in the pack.

  • Library packs are designed to be used by query packs (or other library packs) and do not contain queries themselves. The libraries are not compiled separately.{% ifversion codeql-model-packs %}

  • Model packs can be used to expand {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} analysis to recognize libraries and frameworks that are not supported by default. Model packs are currently in {% data variables.release-phases.public_preview %} and subject to change. During the {% data variables.release-phases.public_preview %}, model packs are available for {% data variables.code-scanning.codeql_model_packs_support %} analysis. For more information about creating your own model packs, see "AUTOTITLE."

{% endif %}

The standard {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs for all supported languages are published in the {% data variables.product.prodname_container_registry %}. If you installed the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} in the standard way, using the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} bundle, the core query packs are already downloaded and available to you. They are:

  • codeql/cpp-queries
  • codeql/csharp-queries
  • codeql/go-queries
  • codeql/java-queries
  • codeql/javascript-queries
  • codeql/python-queries
  • codeql/ruby-queries
  • codeql/swift-queries

You can also use the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} to create your own {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs, add dependencies to packs, and install or update dependencies. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."

You can publish {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs that you have created, using the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %}. For more information on publishing and downloading {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs, see "AUTOTITLE."

Downloading and using {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query packs

The {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} bundle includes queries that are maintained by {% data variables.product.company_short %} experts, security researchers, and community contributors. If you want to run queries developed by other organizations, {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query packs provide an efficient and reliable way to download and run queries{% ifversion codeql-model-packs %}, while model packs ({% data variables.release-phases.public_preview %}) can be used to expand {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} analysis to recognize libraries and frameworks that are not supported by default{% endif %}. For more information about query packs, see "AUTOTITLE." {% ifversion codeql-model-packs %} For information about writing your own model packs, see "AUTOTITLE."{% endif %}

Before you can use a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query pack to analyze a database, you must download any packages you require from the {% data variables.product.company_short %} {% data variables.product.prodname_container_registry %}. This can be done either by using the --download flag as part of the codeql database analyze command, or running codeql pack download. If a package is not publicly available, you will need to use a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} or {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} to authenticate. For more information and an example, see "AUTOTITLE."

Option Required Usage
<scope/name@version:path> {% octicon "check" aria-label="Required" %} Specify the scope and name of one or more {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query packs to download using a comma-separated list. Optionally, include the version to download and unzip. By default the latest version of this pack is downloaded. Optionally, include a path to a query, directory, or query suite to run. If no path is included, then run the default queries of this pack.
--github-auth-stdin {% octicon "x" aria-label="Optional" %} Pass the CLI the {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} or {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} created for authentication with {% data variables.product.company_short %}'s REST API from your secret store via standard input. This is not needed if the command has access to a GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable set with this token.

Note

If you specify a particular version of a query pack to use, be aware that the version you specify may eventually become too old for the latest version of {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} to make efficient use of. To ensure optimal performance, if you need to specify exact query pack versions, you should reevaluate which versions you pin to whenever you upgrade the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} you're using.

For more information about pack compatibility, see "AUTOTITLE."

Basic example of downloading and using query packs

This example runs the codeql database analyze command with the --download option to:

  1. Download the latest version of the octo-org/security-queries pack.
  2. Download a version of the octo-org/optional-security-queries pack that is compatible with version 1.0.1 (in this case, it is version 1.0.2). For more information on semver compatibility, see npm's semantic version range documentation.
  3. Run all the default queries in octo-org/security-queries.
  4. Run only the query queries/csrf.ql from octo-org/optional-security-queries
$ echo $OCTO-ORG_ACCESS_TOKEN | codeql database analyze --download /codeql-dbs/example-repo \
    octo-org/security-queries \
    octo-org/optional-security-queries@~1.0.1:queries/csrf.ql \
    --format=sarif-latest --output=/temp/example-repo-js.sarif

> Download location: /Users/mona/.codeql/packages
> Installed fresh octo-org/[email protected]
> Installed fresh octo-org/[email protected]
> Running queries.
> Compiling query plan for /Users/mona/.codeql/packages/octo-org/security-queries/1.0.0/potential-sql-injection.ql.
> [1/2] Found in cache: /Users/mona/.codeql/packages/octo-org/security-queries/1.0.0/potential-sql-injection.ql.
> Starting evaluation of octo-org/security-queries/query1.ql.
> Compiling query plan for /Users/mona/.codeql/packages/octo-org/optional-security-queries/1.0.2/queries/csrf.ql.
> [2/2] Found in cache: /Users/mona/.codeql/packages/octo-org/optional-security-queries/1.0.2/queries/csrf.ql.
> Starting evaluation of octo-org/optional-security-queries/queries/csrf.ql.
> [2/2 eval 694ms] Evaluation done; writing results to octo-org/security-queries/query1.bqrs.
> Shutting down query evaluator.
> Interpreting results.

Direct download of {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs

If you want to download a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} pack without running it immediately, then you can use the codeql pack download command. This is useful if you want to avoid accessing the internet when running {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} queries. When you run the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} analysis, you can specify packs, versions, and paths in the same way as in the previous example:

echo $OCTO-ORG_ACCESS_TOKEN | codeql pack download <scope/name@version:path> <scope/name@version:path> ...

Downloading {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs from multiple {% data variables.product.company_short %} container registries

If your {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs reside on multiple container registries, then you must instruct the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} where to find each pack. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."

Specifying which queries to run in a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} pack

Query specifiers are used by codeql database analyze and other commands that operate on a set of queries. The complete form of a query specifier is scope/name@range:path, where:

  • scope/name is the qualified name of a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} pack.
  • range is a semver range.
  • path is a file system path to a single query, a directory containing queries, or a query suite file.

When you specify a scope/name, the range and path are optional. If you omit a range then the latest version of the specified pack is used. If you omit a path then the default query suite of the specified pack is used.

The path can be one of: a .ql query file, a directory containing one or more queries, or a .qls query suite file. If you omit a pack name, then you must provide a path, which will be interpreted relative to the working directory of the current process. Glob patterns are not supported.

If you specify both a scope/name and path, then the path cannot be absolute. It is considered relative to the root of the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} pack.

Example query specifiers

  • codeql/python-queries - All the queries in the default query suite of the latest version of the codeql/python-queries pack.

  • codeql/[email protected] - All the queries in the default query suite of version 1.2.3 of the codeql/python-queries pack.

  • codeql/python-queries@~1.2.3 - All the queries in the default query suite of the latest version of the codeql/python-queries pack that is >= 1.2.3 and < 1.3.0.

  • codeql/python-queries:Functions - All queries in the Functions directory in the latest version of the codeql/python-queries pack.

  • codeql/[email protected]:Functions - All queries in the Functions directory in version 1.2.3 of the codeql/python-queries pack.

  • codeql/[email protected]:codeql-suites/python-code-scanning.qls - All queries in the codeql-suites/python-code-scanning.qls directory in version 1.2.3 of the codeql/python-queries pack.

  • suites/my-suite.qls - All queries in the suites/my-suite.qls file relative to the current working directory.

Tip

The default query suite of the standard {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} query packs are codeql-suites/<lang>-code-scanning.qls. Several other useful query suites can also be found in the codeql-suites directory of each pack. For example, the codeql/cpp-queries pack contains the following query suites:

  • cpp-code-scanning.qls - Standard Code Scanning queries for C++. The default query suite for this pack.
  • cpp-security-extended.qls - Queries from the default cpp-code-scanning.qls suite for C++, plus lower severity and precision queries.
  • cpp-security-and-quality.qls - Queries from cpp-security-extended.qls, plus maintainability and reliability queries.

You can see the sources for these query suites in the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} repository. Query suites for other languages are similar.

{% ifversion codeql-model-packs %}

Using model packs to analyze calls to custom dependencies

You can include published model packs in a {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} analysis with the --model-packs option. For example:

$ codeql database analyze /codeql-dbs/my-company --format=sarif-latest \
  --model-packs my-repo/my-java-model-pack \
  --output=/temp/my-company.sarif codeql/java-queries

In this example, the relevant queries in the standard query pack codeql/java-queries will use the dependency information from the model pack, my-repo/my-java-model-pack, to check for vulnerabilities in code that calls those dependencies.

You can specify multiple published model packs in an analysis.

For more information about writing your own model packs, see "AUTOTITLE."

{% endif %}

About published packs

When a pack is published for use in analyses, the codeql pack create or codeql pack publish command verifies that the content is complete and also adds some additional pieces of content to it:

  • For query packs, a copy of each of the library packs it depends on, in the precise versions it has been developed with. Users of the query pack won't need to download these library packs separately.

  • For query packs, precompiled representations of each of the queries. These are faster to execute than it would be to compile the QL source for the query at each analysis.

Most of this data is located in a directory named .codeql in the published pack, but precompiled queries are in files with a .qlx suffix next to the .ql source for each query. When analyzing a database with a query from a published pack, {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} will load these files instead of the .ql source. If you need to modify the content of a published pack, be sure to remove all of the .qlx files, since they may prevent modifications in the .ql files from taking effect.