Opengrep - Open Source Code Security Engine

What is Opengrep?

Opengrep is a fork of Semgrep CE (Community Edition), launched in early 2025 by a consortium including JIT, Aikido Security, Endor Labs, and other companies. It was created in response to Semgrep's licensing changes that restricted community-contributed rules from being used in commercial products.

Key Differences from Semgrep:

• Fully open-source rules (no license restrictions)
• Community-driven governance
• No proprietary feature lock-in
• Compatible with Semgrep CE syntax and rules
• Focused on keeping critical features open
• Commercial integration friendly

When to Use Opengrep

Ideal scenarios:

• Quick security scans (minutes, not hours)
• Pattern-based vulnerability detection
• Using community rules without license concerns
• Commercial product integration requiring open-source SAST
• Dataflow and taint analysis within files
• Multi-language security scanning
• First-pass security analysis before deeper tools
• When Semgrep licensing is a concern

Consider CodeQL instead when:

• Need interprocedural taint tracking across files
• Complex data flow analysis across modules required
• Analyzing custom proprietary frameworks with deep integration

When NOT to Use

Do NOT use this skill for:

• Complex cross-file data flow analysis (use CodeQL)
• Binary or compiled code analysis without source
• Deep semantic analysis requiring full program analysis
• Runtime vulnerability detection
• Secrets scanning (use Gitleaks)
• Dependency scanning (use OSV-Scanner or Depscan)

Installation

# Homebrew
brew install opengrep

# pip
pip install opengrep

# pipx (recommended)
pipx install opengrep

# Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/opengrep/opengrep:latest

# From source
git clone https://github.com/opengrep/opengrep.git
cd opengrep
pip install -e .

# Verify
opengrep --version

Core Workflow

1. Quick Scan

# Auto scan with default rules
opengrep scan .

# Scan with specific ruleset
opengrep scan -f p/security-audit .

# Multiple rulesets
opengrep scan -f p/owasp-top-ten -f p/cwe-top-25 .

2. SARIF Output

# Generate SARIF report
opengrep scan --sarif -o results.sarif .

# SARIF with specific rules
opengrep scan -f p/security-audit --sarif -o results.sarif .

# Filter by severity in SARIF
opengrep scan \
  --severity=WARNING \
  --severity=ERROR \
  --sarif \
  -o results.sarif \
  .

3. Advanced Scanning

# Enable dataflow traces
opengrep scan --dataflow-traces .

# Taint analysis (intra-file)
opengrep scan --taint-intrafile .

# Experimental features
opengrep scan --experimental .

# Combined: dataflow + taint + experimental
opengrep scan \
  --dataflow-traces \
  --taint-intrafile \
  --experimental \
  .

4. Custom Rules

# Local rule files
opengrep scan -f /path/to/rules .

# Multiple rule directories
opengrep scan -f ./rules -f ./custom-rules .

# Exclude specific rules
opengrep scan \
  -f p/security-audit \
  --exclude-rule="rule-id-to-skip" \
  .

Rulesets

Public Rulesets

Community Rules

# Clone community rules
git clone https://github.com/opengrep/opengrep-rules.git

# Use community rules
opengrep scan -f opengrep-rules/ .

# Trail of Bits rules (fully open)
git clone https://github.com/trailofbits/semgrep-rules.git
opengrep scan -f semgrep-rules/rules .

Output Formats

# Text output (default)
opengrep scan .

# SARIF (for CI/CD)
opengrep scan --sarif .

# JSON
opengrep scan --json .

# JUnit XML
opengrep scan --junit-xml .

# GitLab SAST format
opengrep scan --gitlab-sast .

# Vim quickfix
opengrep scan --vim .

# Emacs format
opengrep scan --emacs .

Configuration

.opengrepignore

Create .opengrepignore:

tests/fixtures/
**/testdata/
generated/
vendor/
node_modules/
__pycache__/
*.test.js
*.spec.ts

Project Configuration

Create .opengrep.yml:

rules:
  - id: custom-hardcoded-secret
    languages: [python, javascript]
    message: "Hardcoded secret detected"
    severity: ERROR
    pattern: |
      $VAR = "$SECRET"
    metadata:
      cwe: "CWE-798"
      owasp: "A07:2021 - Identification and Authentication Failures"

  - id: sql-injection-risk
    languages: [python]
    message: "Potential SQL injection"
    severity: ERROR
    mode: taint
    pattern-sources:
      - pattern: request.args.get(...)
    pattern-sinks:
      - pattern: cursor.execute($QUERY)
    pattern-sanitizers:
      - pattern: int(...)

exclude:
  - tests/
  - vendor/

Use config:

opengrep scan --config .opengrep.yml .

CI/CD Integration (GitHub Actions)

name: Opengrep Security Scan

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 1'  # Weekly

jobs:
  opengrep:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'

      - name: Install Opengrep
        run: pip install opengrep

      - name: Run Opengrep
        run: |
          opengrep scan \
            -f p/security-audit \
            -f p/owasp-top-ten \
            --dataflow-traces \
            --taint-intrafile \
            --experimental \
            --sarif \
            -o opengrep-results.sarif \
            --severity=WARNING \
            --severity=ERROR \
            --exclude=test \
            --exclude=tests \
            .

      - name: Upload SARIF
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: opengrep-results.sarif
          category: opengrep

      - name: Upload Results
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: opengrep-results
          path: opengrep-results.sarif

Writing Custom Rules

Basic Rule Structure

rules:
  - id: dangerous-eval
    languages: [javascript, python]
    message: "Use of eval() is dangerous"
    severity: ERROR
    patterns:
      - pattern: eval($CODE)
      - pattern-not: eval("...")  # Literal strings okay

Pattern Syntax

Pattern Operators

Taint Mode

rules:
  - id: xss-vulnerability
    languages: [javascript]
    message: "User input flows to innerHTML (XSS risk)"
    severity: ERROR
    mode: taint
    pattern-sources:
      - pattern: req.query.$PARAM
      - pattern: req.body.$PARAM
    pattern-sinks:
      - pattern: $ELEMENT.innerHTML = $DATA
    pattern-sanitizers:
      - pattern: escapeHtml(...)
      - pattern: DOMPurify.sanitize(...)

Common Use Cases

1. Comprehensive Security Audit

# Multi-ruleset scan
opengrep scan \
  -f p/security-audit \
  -f p/owasp-top-ten \
  -f p/cwe-top-25 \
  --dataflow-traces \
  --experimental \
  --sarif \
  -o security-audit.sarif \
  .

2. Language-Specific Scan

# Python security
opengrep scan \
  -f p/python \
  --taint-intrafile \
  --sarif \
  -o python-security.sarif \
  ./src

# JavaScript/TypeScript security
opengrep scan \
  -f p/javascript \
  -f p/typescript \
  --dataflow-traces \
  --sarif \
  -o js-security.sarif \
  ./frontend

3. Pre-commit Hook

# Scan staged files only
git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACMR | \
  grep -E '\.(py|js|ts|go|java|rb)$' | \
  xargs opengrep scan -f p/security-audit

5. Diff Scan (Changed Files Only)

# Scan only modified files
git diff --name-only origin/main...HEAD | \
  xargs opengrep scan -f p/security-audit --sarif -o diff-scan.sarif

Suppressing False Positives

Inline Suppressions

# nosemgrep: rule-id
password = get_from_vault()

# Multiple rules
eval(safe_code)  # nosemgrep: dangerous-eval, code-injection

// nosemgrep: xss-vulnerability
element.innerHTML = sanitizedContent;

Configuration-Based Suppressions

# .opengrep.yml
exclude-rules:
  - rule-id-1
  - rule-id-2

exclude-paths:
  - tests/
  - generated/

Performance Optimization

# Limit to specific file types
opengrep scan --include='*.py' --include='*.js' .

# Exclude large directories
opengrep scan --exclude=node_modules --exclude=vendor .

# Set timeout per file
opengrep scan --timeout 60 .

# Disable experimental features for speed
opengrep scan -f p/security-audit .  # No --experimental

Comparing with Semgrep

Compatibility

Opengrep maintains compatibility with Semgrep CE:

• Same rule syntax (YAML)
• Same pattern language
• Same command-line interface
• Can use Semgrep rules directly

Key Differences

Migration from Semgrep

# Rules are compatible - just change binary
alias opengrep=semgrep  # For testing
opengrep scan -f p/security-audit .

# Update CI/CD configs
sed -i 's/semgrep/opengrep/g' .github/workflows/security.yml

Supported Languages

• Web: JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, TSX
• Backend: Python, Go, Java, Kotlin, Scala
• Systems: C, C++, Rust
• Mobile: Swift, Kotlin, Java
• Scripting: Ruby, PHP, Bash, Lua
• Infrastructure: Terraform, Dockerfile, YAML, JSON
• Other: C#, Elixir, Solidity, Apex

Limitations

• Intra-file taint only: Cross-file dataflow requires CodeQL
• Pattern-based: Can't understand complex program semantics
• No runtime analysis: Static analysis only
• Performance: Large codebases may be slow with all features enabled
• Experimental features: May have bugs or incomplete coverage

Rationalizations to Reject

References

• Repository: https://github.com/opengrep/opengrep
• Website: https://www.opengrep.dev/
• Rules Repository: https://github.com/opengrep/opengrep-rules
• Documentation: https://www.opengrep.dev/docs/
• Trail of Bits Rules: https://github.com/trailofbits/semgrep-rules
• Comparison with Semgrep: https://semgrep.dev/docs/faq/comparisons/opengrep
• Launch Announcement: https://www.aikido.dev/blog/launching-opengrep-why-we-forked-semgrep

Articles:

• Opengrep vs. Semgrep: Some Thoughts
• Launching Opengrep | Why we forked Semgrep
• Opengrep Launches as Free Fork After Semgrep License Shift