README

A Laravel CLI tool that scans your application for common security risks: authorization gaps, unsafe query input, and mass assignment vulnerabilities.

Why Guard?

Most static analysis tools answer:
“Is this code valid?”

Guard answers a different question:
“Does this code match the security and data-handling intent of this project?”

Guard introduces an optional intent specification (intent/intent.yaml) where you declare expected security and data rules — for example:

which routes must be authenticated
which guards must be used
which models must use explicit $fillable
which attributes must never be mass-assignable

Guard then scans your code and reports mismatches between:

declared intent vs actual implementation

This makes Guard especially useful in CI pipelines, security-sensitive Laravel applications, and multi-developer teams where architectural and security rules must stay enforced over time.

Guard is:

✅ additive — no breaking changes without intent spec
✅ deterministic — stable fingerprints and reproducible results
✅ CI-safe — predictable exit codes and output
✅ non-invasive — never modifies your code

Comparison With Other Tools

Tool type	Examples	What they focus on	How Guard differs
Static analysis	PHPStan, Larastan	Type safety, code correctness, API misuse	Guard does not check types — it enforces security and data invariants
Security scanners (SAST)	Semgrep, CodeQL, Sonar	Pattern-based vulnerability detection	Guard uses a project intent spec — rules come from your declared policy, not a global pattern database
Laravel linters	Pint, style tools	Code style and formatting	Guard does not enforce style — it focuses on auth and data-safety rules
Config / policy scanners	CI security checkers	Known misconfiguration patterns	Guard validates your declared security model against actual code behavior
Runtime protection	WAF, middleware	Runtime request filtering and blocking	Guard runs before deploy, in CI, as static policy validation

Quick Start

composer require intentphp/guard --dev
php artisan guard:baseline
php artisan guard:scan --baseline --strict

Add the last command to CI — Guard will now fail builds only on new security risks.

Requirements

PHP 8.2+
Laravel 10, 11, or 12

Installation

Install Guard as a dev dependency:

composer require intentphp/guard --dev

The service provider is auto-discovered. Optionally publish the config:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=guard-config

Commands

`guard:scan` — Scan for security issues

# Default: console table output, all severities
php artisan guard:scan

# JSON output, high severity only
php artisan guard:scan --format=json --severity=high

# GitHub Actions annotation output (for CI)
php artisan guard:scan --format=github

# Markdown output (for PR comments)
php artisan guard:scan --format=md

# Include AI-generated fix suggestions
php artisan guard:scan --ai

# Incremental: scan only files changed vs base branch
php artisan guard:scan --changed

# Incremental: explicit base ref
php artisan guard:scan --changed --base=origin/main

# Incremental: staged files only (pre-commit hook)
php artisan guard:scan --staged

# Incremental: compare against a specific ref
php artisan guard:scan --changed-since=v1.2.0

# Save report to a file (json or md format)
php artisan guard:scan --format=md --output=storage/guard/report.md
php artisan guard:scan --format=json --output=storage/guard/report.json

# Use baseline to suppress known findings
php artisan guard:scan --baseline

# Strict mode: fail if baseline file is missing
php artisan guard:scan --baseline --strict

# Show suppressed findings in output
php artisan guard:scan --include-suppressed

# Limit displayed findings
php artisan guard:scan --max=20

# Include AI patch proposals in JSON output
php artisan guard:scan --format=json --ai --include-ai-patch

Exit codes:

0 — No active HIGH severity findings
1 — Active HIGH severity findings exist
2 — Baseline file missing (with --strict)

`guard:baseline` — Save current findings as baseline

# Baseline all findings
php artisan guard:baseline

# Baseline only HIGH findings
php artisan guard:baseline --severity=high

Saves a fingerprint snapshot to storage/guard/baseline.json. Future scans with --baseline will suppress any findings that match the saved fingerprints.

This is the recommended workflow for adopting Guard on an existing codebase:

Run php artisan guard:baseline to snapshot current state
Add php artisan guard:scan --baseline --strict to CI
CI will now only fail on new findings, not existing ones
Fix existing findings at your own pace

`guard:fix` — Generate safe patch proposals

# Template-based patches
php artisan guard:fix

# Include AI-assisted patches for findings where templates fail
php artisan guard:fix --ai

# Fix only changed files
php artisan guard:fix --changed
php artisan guard:fix --staged
php artisan guard:fix --changed --base=origin/main

Generates .diff files in storage/guard/patches/ for each HIGH severity finding. With --ai, falls back to AI-generated patches when templates cannot produce a diff. AI patches are marked with a header comment. When AI returns guidance that cannot be structured as a diff, a .md note file is written instead.

Warning: Always review patches before applying. Guard never guarantees semantic correctness of generated diffs.

Patches are never applied automatically — review and apply manually:

git apply storage/guard/patches/001_route_authorization_OrderController_L25.diff

Exit codes:

0 — No patches generated (clean scan)
1 — Patches were generated (findings exist)

`guard:apply` — Validate and apply a patch

# Validate a patch file (dry-run)
php artisan guard:apply storage/guard/patches/001_route_authorization_OrderController_L25.diff

# Also accepts just the filename (resolves from storage/guard/patches/)
php artisan guard:apply 001_route_authorization_OrderController_L25.diff

Checks if a patch applies cleanly using git apply --check and shows the command to apply it. Never applies patches automatically.

`guard:testgen` — Generate security tests

# Generate tests (skip existing files)
php artisan guard:testgen

# Overwrite existing generated tests
php artisan guard:testgen --overwrite

Generates PHPUnit tests in tests/Feature/GuardGenerated/:

RouteAuthorizationTest.php — guest access assertions
DangerousInputValidationTest.php — malicious input regression tests
MassAssignmentProtectionTest.php — model protection assertions

`guard:intent` — Manage the intent spec

# Scaffold a starter intent/intent.yaml
php artisan guard:intent init

# Validate an existing intent spec
php artisan guard:intent validate

# Show parsed spec summary
php artisan guard:intent show

Manages the optional intent/intent.yaml spec file. init generates a starter file with example auth rules and model declarations. validate checks the spec for parse and schema errors. show prints a summary of the parsed spec. The intent spec is optional — Guard works without it.

`guard:doctor` — Environment diagnostics

php artisan guard:doctor

Runs a series of environment checks and prints a diagnostic report with actionable guidance. Useful for verifying your setup after installation or troubleshooting issues.

Checks performed:

Section	What it verifies
Laravel Context	`artisan` file exists (confirms Laravel project)
Storage / Writable	`storage/guard/`, `cache/`, and `patches/` directories are writable
Git	`git` binary available and project is a git repository
Baseline	Whether a baseline suppression file exists
AI Driver	AI configuration, CLI tool availability, API key presence
Cache	Cache enabled/disabled status and path

Exit codes:

Code	Meaning
`0`	No blocking errors (warnings are OK)
`1`	Blocking errors found (e.g., storage not writable, not a Laravel app)

Example output:

IntentPHP Guard — Environment Diagnostics
==========================================

Laravel Context
  [OK]    Artisan file found at /var/www/app/artisan

Storage / Writable
  [OK]    storage/guard/ is writable
  [OK]    storage/guard/cache/ is writable
  [OK]    storage/guard/patches/ is writable

Git
  [OK]    git binary found (git version 2.43.0)
  [OK]    Repository detected — incremental scanning available.

Baseline
  [WARN]  No baseline file found. Run: php artisan guard:baseline

AI Driver
  [OK]    AI is disabled. Enable with GUARD_AI_ENABLED=true.

Cache
  [OK]    Cache enabled. Path: storage/guard/cache
  [OK]    Tip: use --no-cache with guard:scan to bypass cache for a single run.

──────────────────────────────────────────
Result: 0 error(s), 1 warning(s) — all clear!

Checks

1. Route Authorization Coverage

Detects routes missing auth middleware or authorization calls. Checks route-level and group-level middleware, $this->authorize(), Gate:: calls, authorizeResource() in constructors, and FormRequest type hints. Enriched with Project Map context (model, policy, ability).

2. Dangerous Request Input in Queries

Detects patterns where $request->input(), $request->get(), or request() helper values flow directly into query builder methods like orderBy, where, whereRaw, selectRaw, or DB::raw.

3. Mass Assignment Risk

Detects Model::create($request->all()), ->update($request->all()), and ->fill($request->all()) when the model has no $fillable or uses $guarded = []. Usage of $request->validated() is flagged as MEDIUM severity.

4. Intent Auth (`intent-auth`)

Compares actual route middleware against requirements declared in the intent spec. Detects routes that should be authenticated, require a specific guard, or are declared public but lack auth middleware. Only active when intent/intent.yaml is present and contains auth.rules.

5. Intent Mass Assignment (`intent-mass-assignment`)

Checks model files against mass-assignment constraints declared in the intent spec. Detects models missing $fillable when declared as explicit_allowlist, forbidden attributes present in $fillable, and empty $guarded when declared as guarded mode. Only active when intent/intent.yaml is present and contains data.models.

Intent checks are additive. A route can receive both a route-authorization finding and an intent-auth finding. They serve different purposes (config-driven vs spec-driven) and are independently suppressible via baseline or inline ignores.

Intent Spec (optional)

Guard supports an optional intent/intent.yaml file at the project root. This file declares expected security properties (auth rules, model constraints) that Guard validates against your actual code.

If the file is missing, Guard behaves exactly as before. No configuration needed.
If the file is present and valid, additional intent-auth and intent-mass-assignment checks run alongside existing checks.
If the file has parse errors or validation failures, Guard prints the errors and exits non-zero.
This is fully additive. No existing behavior changes.

Setup

# Scaffold a starter intent spec
php artisan guard:intent init

# Run scan (intent checks activate automatically if spec exists)
php artisan guard:scan

Minimal example

version: "0.1"
project:
  name: my-app
  framework: laravel

auth:
  guards:
    api: token
  rules:
    - id: api-protected
      match:
        routes:
          prefix: /api
      require:
        authenticated: true
        guard: api

data:
  models:
    App\Models\User:
      massAssignment:
        mode: explicit_allowlist
        allow: [name, email]
        forbid: [is_admin]

Warnings

If the intent spec references a model whose file cannot be found on disk, Guard prints a warning and continues. Warnings do not produce findings and do not cause the scan to fail. The scan only fails if the spec itself is structurally invalid.

Inline Suppressions

Suppress individual findings by adding a comment on the same line or the line above:

// guard:ignore dangerous-query-input
->orderBy($request->input('sort'))

->orderBy($request->input('sort')) // guard:ignore dangerous-query-input

// guard:ignore all
->whereRaw($request->input('filter'))

Suppressed findings are tracked and shown in the summary. Disable inline ignores in config:

'allow_inline_ignores' => false,

Configuration

// config/guard.php

return [
    'auth_middlewares' => ['auth', 'auth:sanctum'],

    'public_routes' => [
        'up',
        'health',
        'sanctum/csrf-cookie',
    ],

    'ai' => [
        'enabled' => env('GUARD_AI_ENABLED', false),
        'driver' => env('GUARD_AI_DRIVER', 'null'), // null|cli|openai|auto

        'cli' => [
            'command' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI', 'claude'),
            'args' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI_ARGS', ''),
            'timeout' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI_TIMEOUT', 60),
            'expects_json' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI_JSON', false),
            'adapter' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI_ADAPTER', 'auto'),
            'prompt_prefix' => env('GUARD_AI_CLI_PROMPT_PREFIX', ''),
        ],

        'openai' => [
            'base_url' => env('GUARD_AI_BASE_URL', 'https://api.openai.com/v1'),
            'api_key' => env('GUARD_AI_API_KEY', ''),
            'model' => env('GUARD_AI_MODEL', 'gpt-4.1-mini'),
            'timeout' => env('GUARD_AI_TIMEOUT', 30),
            'max_tokens' => env('GUARD_AI_MAX_TOKENS', 1024),
        ],
    ],

    'cache' => [
        'enabled' => env('GUARD_CACHE_ENABLED', true),
    ],

    'allow_inline_ignores' => true,
];

Incremental Scanning

Guard can scan only files that changed in your working tree, dramatically speeding up scans in large projects and CI pipelines.

Modes

Flag	What it scans
`--changed`	Files changed vs auto-detected base branch
`--changed --base=REF`	Files changed vs the given ref
`--staged`	Only staged files (ideal for pre-commit hooks)
`--changed-since=REF`	Files changed since a specific commit/tag

Base branch auto-detection tries: origin/main → origin/master → main → master → HEAD~1. If your default branch is master, use --base=origin/master to skip auto-detection.

Route authorization check runs in one of three modes:

full — when route files changed or no incremental mode is active
filtered — when only controller files changed (only related routes are checked)
skipped — when neither routes nor controllers changed

File-based checks (dangerous query input, mass assignment) are filtered to only the changed files.

Pre-commit hook example

#!/bin/sh
php artisan guard:scan --staged --severity=high --format=github

CI with incremental scan

- name: Run Guard scan (incremental)
  run: php artisan guard:scan --changed --base=origin/main --format=github --severity=high

Caching

Guard caches expensive computations (Project Map, reflection results) to speed up repeated scans. The cache is stored in storage/guard/cache/ and invalidated automatically when:

The git HEAD SHA changes (new commits), when available
The PHP or Laravel version changes
Relevant file modification times change (routes, controllers, policies, kernel, auth provider) — used as fallback when git SHA is unavailable

Configuration

Caching is enabled by default. To disable:

GUARD_CACHE_ENABLED=false

Clearing the cache

rm -rf storage/guard/cache/

The cache is safe to delete at any time — Guard will rebuild it on the next scan.

You can bypass the cache for a single run with --no-cache:

php artisan guard:scan --no-cache

Performance Notes

Full scan: analyzes routes + controllers + models (every PHP file in scope)
Incremental scan: analyzes only changed files, with route check filtering based on what changed
With caching enabled, repeated scans are typically 3-10x faster (Project Map and reflection results are cached)

Report Output

Saving reports to file

Use --output with --format=json or --format=md to save the report to a file:

# Markdown report file
php artisan guard:scan --format=md --output=report.md

# JSON report file
php artisan guard:scan --format=json --output=report.json

The --output option is supported for json and md formats. Console format (--format=console) does not support file output. When --output is set, Guard writes the report to the file and prints a short confirmation line to the console.

AI Setup (Local CLI)

Guard uses locally installed AI CLI tools (e.g. claude, codex) to generate fix suggestions. No API keys needed for local usage.

Quick start (macOS / Linux):

# .env
GUARD_AI_ENABLED=true
GUARD_AI_DRIVER=auto

Quick start (Windows PowerShell):

$env:GUARD_AI_ENABLED="true"
$env:GUARD_AI_DRIVER="auto"
php artisan guard:scan --ai

The auto driver tries in order: local CLI tool in PATH, then OpenAI API (if key set), then falls back gracefully to no AI (scan still works, just without suggestions).

Explicit CLI configuration:

GUARD_AI_ENABLED=true
GUARD_AI_DRIVER=cli
GUARD_AI_CLI=claude
GUARD_AI_CLI_ARGS="--print"
GUARD_AI_CLI_TIMEOUT=60

Using a different CLI tool:

GUARD_AI_CLI=codex
GUARD_AI_CLI_ADAPTER=codex

Using any custom CLI:

GUARD_AI_CLI=/usr/local/bin/my-ai-tool
GUARD_AI_CLI_ADAPTER=generic
GUARD_AI_CLI_ARGS="--stdin --format text"

JSON output mode — If your CLI supports structured JSON output with suggestion and patch keys, enable it for richer results:

GUARD_AI_CLI_JSON=true
GUARD_AI_CLI_ARGS="--output-format json"

AI Setup (OpenAI API)

For CI pipelines or environments without a local CLI tool, use the OpenAI HTTP driver:

GUARD_AI_ENABLED=true
GUARD_AI_DRIVER=openai
GUARD_AI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here

Compatible with any OpenAI-compatible API — Azure OpenAI, Ollama, LM Studio, local vLLM, etc.:

GUARD_AI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434/v1
GUARD_AI_MODEL=llama3

Variable	Default	Description
`GUARD_AI_API_KEY`	(empty)	API key (required for `openai` driver)
`GUARD_AI_BASE_URL`	`https://api.openai.com/v1`	API base URL
`GUARD_AI_MODEL`	`gpt-4.1-mini`	Model name
`GUARD_AI_TIMEOUT`	`30`	Request timeout in seconds
`GUARD_AI_MAX_TOKENS`	`1024`	Max tokens in response

The client retries once on 429 (rate limit) and 5xx errors. API key is never logged.

AI Driver Priority (`auto`)

When using GUARD_AI_DRIVER=auto, Guard selects the best available driver:

CLI — local claude/codex binary in PATH (free, no API cost)
OpenAI — API key set in GUARD_AI_API_KEY
Null — no AI, scan works normally without suggestions

This means auto works everywhere: locally with a CLI tool, in CI with an API key, or gracefully without either.

Troubleshooting AI

Problem	Cause	Fix
"CLI command not found in PATH"	Binary not installed or not in PATH	Install the CLI tool, or set full path in `GUARD_AI_CLI`
"exited with code N"	CLI tool returned an error	Check `storage/logs/laravel.log` for stderr output
Timeout	AI took too long	Increase `GUARD_AI_CLI_TIMEOUT` (default: 60s)
Empty output	CLI didn't write to stdout	Check that your CLI args are correct
Scan works but no suggestions	AI not enabled	Set `GUARD_AI_ENABLED=true` and `GUARD_AI_DRIVER=auto`
"AI request failed after retries"	API returned errors	Check `storage/logs/laravel.log` for HTTP status and body
"GUARD_AI_API_KEY not set"	Missing API key	Set `GUARD_AI_API_KEY` in `.env`

Security Note

The prompt sent to the AI includes only the finding context: check name, severity, message, file path, line number, and a short code snippet. Guard never sends your entire codebase or any secrets to the AI. All AI output is treated as suggestions — Guard never applies changes automatically.

Non-Goals

Guard does not:

Apply patches automatically — all fixes require manual review and git apply
Upload your repository or source code to any external service
Replace full security audits, penetration testing, or dedicated SAST/DAST tools

Guard is a lightweight first line of defense that catches common Laravel security patterns early in the development cycle.

Recommended CI Setup

For most teams, this is the golden path:

Commit a baseline once:

php artisan guard:baseline
git add storage/guard/baseline.json
git commit -m "Add Guard baseline"

In CI, use:

php artisan guard:scan --baseline --changed --base=origin/main --format=github --severity=high

This gives you:

Fast incremental scans (only changed files)
No legacy noise (baseline suppresses known findings)
PR annotations only for new issues

CI Integration (GitHub Actions)

Basic scan

name: Security Scan
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  guard:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup PHP
        uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: composer install --no-interaction

      - name: Run Guard scan
        run: php artisan guard:scan --format=github --severity=high

With baseline (recommended for existing projects)

name: Security Scan
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  guard:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup PHP
        uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: composer install --no-interaction

      - name: Run Guard scan (baseline)
        run: php artisan guard:scan --format=github --severity=high --baseline --strict

Commit storage/guard/baseline.json to your repository. The scan will only fail on new findings.

Incremental scan on PRs (fastest)

name: Security Scan (Incremental)
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  guard:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Setup PHP
        uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: composer install --no-interaction

      - name: Run Guard scan (changed files only)
        run: php artisan guard:scan --changed --base=origin/main --format=github --severity=high

Note: fetch-depth: 0 is required so Guard can compare against the base branch.

Markdown report as PR comment

- name: Run Guard scan
  run: php artisan guard:scan --changed --base=origin/main --format=md --output=guard-report.md --severity=high
  continue-on-error: true

- name: Comment on PR
  if: always()
  uses: marocchino/sticky-pull-request-comment@v2
  with:
    path: guard-report.md

License

MIT

intentphp / guard

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

Why Guard?

Comparison With Other Tools

Quick Start

Requirements

Installation

Commands

guard:scan — Scan for security issues

guard:baseline — Save current findings as baseline

guard:fix — Generate safe patch proposals

guard:apply — Validate and apply a patch

guard:testgen — Generate security tests

guard:intent — Manage the intent spec

guard:doctor — Environment diagnostics

Checks

1. Route Authorization Coverage

2. Dangerous Request Input in Queries

3. Mass Assignment Risk

4. Intent Auth (intent-auth)

5. Intent Mass Assignment (intent-mass-assignment)

Intent Spec (optional)

Setup

Minimal example

Warnings

Inline Suppressions

Configuration

Incremental Scanning

Modes

Pre-commit hook example

CI with incremental scan

Caching

Configuration

Clearing the cache

Performance Notes

Report Output

Saving reports to file

AI Setup (Local CLI)

AI Setup (OpenAI API)

AI Driver Priority (auto)

Troubleshooting AI

Security Note

Non-Goals

Recommended CI Setup

CI Integration (GitHub Actions)

Basic scan

With baseline (recommended for existing projects)

Incremental scan on PRs (fastest)

Markdown report as PR comment

License

`guard:scan` — Scan for security issues

`guard:baseline` — Save current findings as baseline

`guard:fix` — Generate safe patch proposals

`guard:apply` — Validate and apply a patch

`guard:testgen` — Generate security tests

`guard:intent` — Manage the intent spec

`guard:doctor` — Environment diagnostics

4. Intent Auth (`intent-auth`)

5. Intent Mass Assignment (`intent-mass-assignment`)

AI Driver Priority (`auto`)