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Strix — Agent Guide

Strix is an open-source autonomous AI pentesting tool. This file is for AI coding agents that want to use Strix (run security scans) or contribute to it.

Using Strix from an agent

Install the agent skills for step-by-step workflows:

npx skills add usestrix/strix
  • penetration-testing-with-strix — run a headless pentest against code, URLs, domains, or IPs and read results (covers both run modes below)
  • managed-pentesting-with-strix — drive the managed app.strix.ai platform via REST (no local Docker/LLM needed)
  • fix-security-vulnerabilities-with-strix — remediate findings and re-run Strix to verify
  • ci-security-scanning-with-strix — add PR scanning to CI/CD (self-hosted CLI or managed app)

Target-specific workflows built on the same engine:

  • application-security-testing — whole-product AppSec review: pick the right test per asset, then rank the results
  • web-app-penetration-testing — black-box pentest of a live web app or staging site
  • api-security-testing — REST/GraphQL APIs and the OWASP API Security Top 10 (BOLA/IDOR, authz)
  • owasp-top-10-testing — systematic OWASP Top 10 assessment with honest per-category coverage
  • find-security-vulnerabilities-in-code — white-box review of a repo or working tree

Two ways to run, same engine — pick per situation:

  • Open-source CLI (self-hosted): free, fully local, BYO LLM key, needs Docker. Best for local dev loops, air-gapped/offline, and full control.

    curl -sSL https://strix.ai/install | bash        # install
export STRIX_LLM="openrouter/z-ai/glm-5.3"        # any LiteLLM model id
export LLM_API_KEY="<key>"
strix -n -t ./ --scan-mode quick --max-budget 10  # headless scan; always use -n
    • Requires Docker running. Scans take minutes (quick) to hours (deep) — run in the background.
    • Exit codes (headless): 0 clean, 1 fatal error, 2 vulnerabilities found. A 0 only covers what was analyzed — check run.json (status, llm_usage.cost vs the budget) before calling a run clean.
    • Artifacts in strix_runs/<run-name>/: penetration_test_report.md, vulnerabilities/*.md, vulnerabilities.json, findings.sarif (SARIF 2.1.0), run.json.

  • Managed cloud (app.strix.ai): no Docker, no LLM key, no local install; adds team dashboards, scheduling, PR reviews, and downloadable PDF/DOCX reports (Enterprise plan). Best in sandboxed/CI environments and for teams. Use it when local infra isn't available.

    strix cloud login --scopes scans:read scans:write uploads:write billing:read
strix cloud domains add --domain example.com --asset-type web_app
strix cloud scans start --engagement-type live_test --domain-ids <uuid> --wait
strix cloud scans start --source . --dry-run --show-files --json  # review + capture source.archive_sha256
SOURCE_SHA256="<reviewed source.archive_sha256>"
strix cloud scans start --source . --approve-sha256 "$SOURCE_SHA256" --wait
strix cloud vulns list --severity critical
strix cloud billing topup --credits 20 --yes  # explicit approval after exit code 5
    • Account setup runs from the CLI too: strix cloud workspaces list|create|use (workspace is an alias and use accepts a displayed number, name, or ID), strix cloud session scopes|scopes set, strix cloud org members invite, strix cloud billing subscribe --plan strix_cloud, strix cloud billing portal, strix cloud integrations install github, and strix cloud domains verify <id>. Workspace switching preserves the server-side profile and can never widen past the login ceiling; ordinary switches do not reprompt. The last four end at a person: the command prints a link or a DNS record for the user to open or add, and it never completes the payment, installation, or DNS change for them.
    • Every REST operation has a strix cloud <resource> <verb> command. Run strix cloud to list them. Output is JSON when stdout is not a terminal (or with --json), and there are no prompts without a TTY. Binary downloads are the exception: redirect raw bytes intentionally, or combine --output FILE --json for structured download metadata. Exit codes: 0 success, 1 error, 2 usage, 4 auth or plan limit, 5 payment required. --token or STRIX_API_TOKEN is a stateless override and never replaces stored auth; set --workspace-id/STRIX_WORKSPACE_ID for an override CLI session. --data adds extra request fields as JSON, and accepts @file or - for standard input.
    • Local source uploads require uploads:write. For an agent/CI handoff, review scans start --source . --dry-run --show-files --json, capture source.archive_sha256, then rerun with the same --source, --exclude, and --include-* selection flags plus --approve-sha256 HASH. A changed snapshot is rejected. --yes approves only the snapshot built in that invocation, so reserve it for a deliberate human or one-shot approval rather than a digest-bound two-step handoff.
    • Git ignores, hidden files, .git, symlinks, dependency/build output, secret-like filenames, and nested archives are excluded by default; .strixignore and --exclude narrow the manifest further (a trailing / excludes a directory subtree). Limits: 20,000 files, 25 MiB/file, 250 MiB expanded, 50 MiB compressed. Source-only infers code_review; source plus a domain infers live_test.
    • The temporary local archive is always removed. A staged upload is deleted after a definitive rejection, but retained when a network error, 5xx, malformed success response, or interruption leaves the scan launch ambiguous. JSON reports its upload_id with launch_outcome_unknown: true, or with cleanup_unknown: true when automatic deletion cannot be confirmed. Check scans list before retrying; if no scan is linked, run uploads delete UPLOAD_ID.
    • Non-Enterprise scans consume the scope estimate (a default-tier source-only review currently starts at 60 credits); Enterprise scans are plan-included. A rejected launch does not consume credits.
    • Human output is compact and numbered; non-TTY output and --json retain full records. Enable tab completion with source <(strix completions zsh) (or bash), or strix completions fish | source.
    • The REST API works directly too: https://docs.app.strix.ai (OpenAPI: https://docs.app.strix.ai/openapi.json).

  • CLI docs index for LLMs: https://docs.strix.ai/llms.txt (full: https://docs.strix.ai/llms-full.txt). Managed API docs for LLMs: https://docs.app.strix.ai/llms.txt.

  • Only scan targets the user is authorized to test.

Contributing to this repo

  • Python 3.12+, managed with uv. Install dev deps: make dev-install.
  • Lint/format/type-check/security, all in one: make check-all (ruff, mypy, bandit).
  • Tests: uv run pytest.
  • Run from source: uv run strix --target <target>.
  • Layout: strix/agents (agent graph + prompts), strix/tools (proxy, browser, terminal, scanners), strix/runtime (Docker sandbox), strix/report (findings, SARIF), strix/skills (internal knowledge packs the pentest agents load — different from the consumer skills in skills/), strix/interface (CLI/TUI), containers/ (sandbox image).
  • Pre-commit hooks: make pre-commit (or uv run pre-commit install).