---

⚠️ Legal Disclaimer

Guardian is designed exclusively for authorized security testing and educational purposes.

• ✅ Legal Use: Authorized penetration testing, security research, educational environments
• ❌ Illegal Use: Unauthorized access, malicious activities, any form of cyber attack

You are fully responsible for ensuring you have explicit written permission before testing any system. Unauthorized access to computer systems is illegal under laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), GDPR, and equivalent international legislation.

By using Guardian, you agree to use it only on systems you own or have explicit authorization to test.

---

✨ Features

🤖 Multi-Provider AI Intelligence

• 6 AI Providers Supported: OpenAI (GPT-4o), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), OpenRouter, Ollama (local), OpenAI-compatible (vLLM, LM Studio, Together, Groq)
• Plugin Provider Contract: Third-party providers ship via [project.entry-points."guardian.providers"] — no fork required
• Multi-Agent Architecture: Specialized AI agents (Planner, Tool Selector, Analyst, Reporter) plus debate triage roles (Red Advocate, Blue Advocate, Judge) and Visual Triage
• Multi-Agent Debate Triage: Three-role red/blue/judge debate on ambiguous findings — F1 ≥ single-agent baseline +5pp
• Vision-LLM Visual Triage: Headless screenshot capture + image-grounded analyst enrichment via gpt-4o / Claude 3.5+ / Gemini 1.5+
• RAG Knowledge Base: SQLite + FTS5 grounded retrieval over CVE / CWE / MITRE ATT&CK feeds — kills hallucinated CVE refs
• Judge Model Routing: think_deeply swap-and-restore — big model thinks, small model judges, ~10x cost reduction
• Learned Tool Selection: Offline ranker trained on session telemetry; abstains when low-confidence and falls back to LLM selector
• Adaptive Testing: AI adjusts tactics based on discovered vulnerabilities and prior tool yields
• False Positive Filtering: Debate triage cuts noise; cheap path skips when fp_probability is decisive

🛠️ Extensive Tool Arsenal

50 Integrated Security Tools across 10 categories:

Category	Tools
Network	nmap, masscan
Web Reconnaissance	httpx, whatweb, wafw00f, cmseek
Subdomain / DNS	subfinder, amass, dnsrecon
Vulnerability Scanning	nuclei, nikto, sqlmap, wpscan
SSL/TLS Testing	testssl, sslyze
Content Discovery	gobuster, ffuf, arjun
Security Analysis	xsstrike, gitleaks
Cloud / Container / SBOM	trivy, grype, syft, scoutsuite, prowler, kube-bench
Modern Web + OSINT	graphw00f, clairvoyance, jwt_tool, shodan, theharvester
SAST + Secrets (B11)	semgrep, trufflehog, dependency-check
API Fuzzers (B10)	schemathesis, cariddi, restler
Burp/ZAP Bridge (B13)	zap, burp
LLM Red-Team (B12)	garak, pyrit, prompt_fuzz
Mobile Android (B9)	mobsf, apkleaks, objection
Active Directory (B8)	crackmapexec, bloodhound, kerbrute, impacket-secretsdump
Vision Evidence (A3)	playwright_screenshot

📊 Enhanced Evidence Capture

• Execution Traceability: Every finding linked to its source tool execution via execution_id
• Complete Command History: Full tool output preserved with each finding
• Raw Evidence Storage: Output snippets bound to findings
• Visual Evidence: Screenshots captured per URL, attached to web findings
• Session Reconstruction: Atomic-checkpointed session_<id>.json enables --resume

🔄 Smart Workflow System (DSL v2)

• DAG Scheduler: Steps with depends_on run in parallel up to max_parallel_tools
• Jinja2 Templates (sandboxed): parameters: {key: "{{ <id>.parsed.alive_hosts }}"} resolves against prior step results
• Conditional Steps: when: clauses gate execution on prior output
• Resume: --resume picks up after the last completed step
• Parameter Priority: Workflow YAML > config block > tool defaults
• Custom Agents: agent: debate | visual | analyst on analysis steps
• Multiple Report Formats: Markdown, HTML, JSON

📤 Output Integrations (B14)

• SARIF v2.1.0: GitHub-friendly, includes security-severity, dedup fingerprints from execution_id
• DefectDojo: Direct REST upload
• Slack: Webhook posts with severity colour-coding
• Triggered via: guardian report --export sarif --export defectdojo --export slack

🔒 Security & Compliance

• DNS-Resolve Scope Validation: Closes SSRF-class bypass; private RFC1918 ranges blacklisted
• Prompt-Injection Defense: All tool output wrapped via <UNTRUSTED_TOOL_OUTPUT> delimiters + ANSI strip
• API Key Scrubbing: Logs and reports redact secrets at write time
• Confirmation Gate: Active+ tools (intrusive/destructive) require explicit user approval
• Audit Logging: Rotating logs of every AI decision and action
• Safe Mode: Prevents destructive actions by default

📋 Professional Reporting

• CVSS v3.1 Recomputation: Validates claimed scores against vector math; flags drift
• Executive Summaries: Non-technical overviews
• Technical Deep-Dives: Findings with evidence, CVSS, CWE, CVE, MITRE technique
• AI Decision Traces: Token usage, cost, thinking-chain ledger per agent
• Visual Triage Sections: Image-grounded enrichment baked into descriptions

⚡ Performance & Efficiency

• Async Throughout: Tool exec via asyncio subprocess; agents async
• Lazy Tool Loading: 50 tools registered, none imported until needed — --help stays under 500ms
• Parallel DAG Execution: Independent steps run concurrently per generation
• Workflow Automation: 13+ shipped workflows (recon, web, network, AD, mobile, LLM red-team, SAST, API)

---

📋 Prerequisites

Required

• Python 3.11 or higher (Download)
• AI Provider API Key (Choose one):
  • OpenAI API Key (Get it here)
  • Anthropic API Key (Get it here)
  • Google AI Studio API Key (Get it here)
  • OpenRouter API Key (Get it here)
• Git (for cloning repository)

Optional Tools (for full functionality)

Guardian can intelligently use these tools if installed:

Tool	Purpose	Installation
nmap	Port scanning	apt install nmap / choco install nmap
masscan	Ultra-fast scan	apt install masscan / Build from source
httpx	HTTP probing	go install github.com/projectdiscovery/httpx/cmd/httpx@latest
subfinder	Subdomain enum	go install github.com/projectdiscovery/subfinder/v2/cmd/subfinder@latest
amass	Network mapping	go install github.com/owasp-amass/amass/v4/...@master
nuclei	Vuln scanning	go install github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest
whatweb	Tech fingerprint	gem install whatweb / apt install whatweb
wafw00f	WAF detection	pip install wafw00f
nikto	Web vuln scan	apt install nikto
sqlmap	SQL injection	pip install sqlmap / apt install sqlmap
wpscan	WordPress scan	gem install wpscan
testssl	SSL/TLS testing	Download from testssl.sh
sslyze	SSL/TLS analysis	pip install sslyze
gobuster	Directory brute	go install github.com/OJ/gobuster/v3@latest
ffuf	Web fuzzing	go install github.com/ffuf/ffuf/v2@latest
arjun	Parameter discovery	pip install arjun
xsstrike	Advanced XSS	git clone https://github.com/s0md3v/XSStrike
gitleaks	Secret scanning	go install github.com/zricethezav/gitleaks/v8@latest
cmseek	CMS detection	pip install cmseek
dnsrecon	DNS enumeration	pip install dnsrecon

Note: Guardian works without external tools but with limited scanning capabilities. The AI will adapt based on available tools.

---

🚀 Installation

Step 1: Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/zakirkun/guardian-cli.git
cd guardian-cli

Step 2: Set Up Python Environment

Linux/macOS:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Windows:

python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e .

Step 3: Configure AI Provider

Guardian supports multiple AI providers. Configure your preferred provider in config/guardian.yaml:

# config/guardian.yaml
ai:
  # Choose your provider: openai, claude, gemini, or openrouter
  provider: openai
  
  # OpenAI Configuration (recommended)
  openai:
    model: gpt-4o
    api_key: sk-your-api-key-here  # Or set OPENAI_API_KEY env var
  
  # Claude Configuration
  claude:
    model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
    api_key: null  # Or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
  
  # Gemini Configuration
  gemini:
    model: gemini-2.5-pro
    api_key: null  # Or set GOOGLE_API_KEY env var
  
  # OpenRouter Configuration
  openrouter:
    model: anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet
    api_key: null  # Or set OPENROUTER_API_KEY env var

Or use environment variables:

# Linux/macOS
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-your-key-here"
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="your-gemini-key"
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your-router-key"

# Windows PowerShell
$env:OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"
$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-your-key-here"

Step 4: Initialize Configuration

# Verify installation
python -m cli.main --help

# Check AI provider status
python -m cli.main models

---

🎯 Quick Start

Basic Commands

# List available workflows
python -m cli.main workflow list

# View AI providers and models
python -m cli.main models

# Run with specific provider
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com --provider openai

Example Usage Scenarios

1. Quick Web Application Pen Test

# Fast security check with evidence capture
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target https://dvwa.csalab.app

Expected Output:

• ✅ HTTP discovery with httpx
• ✅ Vulnerability scan with nuclei
• ✅ Full evidence linking (commands + outputs)
• ✅ Markdown report with findings

2. Comprehensive Network Assessment

# Full network penetration test
python -m cli.main workflow run --name network --target 192.168.1.0/24

3. Custom Workflow with Parameters

# Run with workflow-specific parameters
# Parameters in workflow YAML override config defaults
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com

Workflow Parameter Priority:

1. Workflow YAML parameters (highest priority)
2. Config file parameters
3. Tool defaults (lowest priority)

4. Generate Report from Session

# Create HTML report with evidence
python -m cli.main report --session 20260203_175905 --format html

5. Switch AI Providers

# Use OpenAI GPT-4
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com --provider openai

# Use Claude
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com --provider claude

# Use Gemini
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com --provider gemini

# Local Ollama (no cloud)
OLLAMA_HOST=http://localhost:11434 python -m cli.main workflow run --name recon --target scanme.nmap.org --provider ollama

# Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (vLLM, LM Studio, Together, Groq)
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest --target example.com --provider openai_compatible

6. Knowledge Base (RAG grounding)

# Seed bundled offline corpus
python -m cli.main kb seed

# Show corpus stats
python -m cli.main kb status

# Ad-hoc retrieval
python -m cli.main kb query "log4j JNDI" --top 5

# Ingest external feed (NVD JSON / MITRE STIX / nuclei metadata)
python -m cli.main kb update --kind cve --file ./nvd-2025.json

Enable analyst grounding in config/guardian.yaml:

rag:
  enabled: true
  top_k: 5

7. Multi-agent Debate Triage

# Workflow YAML uses agent: debate on an analysis step
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_pentest_with_debate --target https://example.com

Three roles (red advocate, blue advocate, judge) debate ambiguous findings only — confident verdicts skip the debate to bound token cost.

8. Visual Triage (vision-LLM)

# Captures full-page screenshots and feeds them to a vision-capable provider
python -m cli.main workflow run --name web_visual_pentest --target https://example.com --provider openai

Requires playwright: pip install playwright && python -m playwright install chromium. Skipped silently when active provider has no vision support.

9. Output Exporters (SARIF / DefectDojo / Slack)

# SARIF (GitHub code-scanning friendly)
python -m cli.main report --session 20260203_175905 --export sarif

# Multiple sinks at once
python -m cli.main report --session 20260203_175905 --export sarif --export defectdojo --export slack \
  --slack-webhook https://hooks.slack.com/services/...

10. Telemetry + Learned Ranker (offline)

# Anonymise sessions into JSONL (no raw targets, no commands, no secrets)
python -m cli.main telemetry export ./reports --out telemetry.jsonl

# Train the offline tool ranker
python -m cli.main telemetry train telemetry.jsonl

# Inspect what the ranker learned
python -m cli.main telemetry status

Enable in config:

ai:
  use_learned_ranker: true   # ToolAgent calls ranker before LLM selector

Windows Users: Use python -m cli.main instead of guardian

---

🔧 Configuration

Complete Configuration Reference

Edit config/guardian.yaml to customize Guardian's behavior:

# AI Configuration
ai:
  provider: openai  # openai, claude, gemini, openrouter
  
  openai:
    model: gpt-4o
    api_key: sk-your-key  # Or use OPENAI_API_KEY env var
  
  claude:
    model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
    api_key: null
  
  gemini:
    model: gemini-2.5-pro
    api_key: null
  
  temperature: 0.2
  max_tokens: 8000

# Penetration Testing Settings
pentest:
  safe_mode: true              # Prevent destructive actions
  require_confirmation: true   # Confirm before each step
  max_parallel_tools: 3        # Concurrent tool execution
  max_depth: 3                 # Maximum scan depth
  tool_timeout: 300            # Tool timeout in seconds

# Output Configuration
output:
  format: markdown             # markdown, html, json
  save_path: ./reports
  include_reasoning: true
  verbosity: normal            # quiet, normal, verbose, debug

# Scope Validation
scope:
  blacklist:                   # Never scan these
    - 127.0.0.0/8
    - 10.0.0.0/8
    - 172.16.0.0/12
    - 192.168.0.0/16
  require_scope_file: false
  max_targets: 100

# Tool Configuration (defaults)
tools:
  httpx:
    threads: 50
    timeout: 10
    tech_detect: true
  
  nuclei:
    severity: ["critical", "high", "medium"]
    templates_path: ~/nuclei-templates
  
  nmap:
    default_args: "-sV -sC"
    timing: T4

Workflow Parameters

Create custom workflows in workflows/ directory:

# workflows/custom_web.yaml
name: custom_web_assessment
description: Custom web security testing

steps:
  - name: http_discovery
    type: tool
    tool: httpx
    parameters:
      threads: 100        # Override config default (50)
      timeout: 15         # Override config default (10)
      tech_detect: true
  
  - name: vulnerability_scan
    type: tool
    tool: nuclei
    parameters:
      severity: ["critical", "high"]  # Override config
      templates_path: ".shared/nuclei/templates/"
  
  - name: generate_report
    type: report
    # Format will use config default (markdown)

Parameter Priority:

• Workflow parameters override config parameters
• Config parameters override tool defaults
• Self-contained, reusable workflows

---

📖 Documentation

User Guides

• Quick Start Guide - Get up and running in 5 minutes
• Command Reference - Detailed documentation for all commands
• Configuration Guide - Complete configuration reference
• Workflow Guide - Creating custom workflows
• Eval Guide - Running and extending the eval harness
• Plugin Guide - Shipping third-party providers and tools
• Changelog - Version history and migration notes

Developer Guides

• Creating Custom Tools - Build your own tool integrations
• Workflow Development - Create custom testing workflows
• Available Tools - Overview of integrated tools

Architecture Overview

Guardian Architecture:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         AI Provider Layer               │
│  (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter)   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│       Multi-Agent System                │
│  Planner → Tool Agent → Analyst →      │
│            Reporter                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│      Workflow Engine                    │
│  - Parameter Priority                   │
│  - Evidence Capture                     │
│  - Session Management                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│      Tool Integration Layer             │
│  (19 Security Tools)                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

🏗️ Project Structure

guardian-cli/
├── ai/                    # AI integration
│   └── providers/         # Multi-provider support
│       ├── base_provider.py
│       ├── openai_provider.py
│       ├── claude_provider.py
│       ├── gemini_provider.py
│       └── openrouter_provider.py
├── cli/                   # Command-line interface
│   └── commands/         # CLI commands (init, scan, recon, etc.)
├── core/                  # Core agent system
│   ├── agent.py          # Base agent
│   ├── planner.py        # Planner agent
│   ├── tool_agent.py     # Tool selection agent
│   ├── analyst_agent.py  # Analysis agent
│   ├── reporter_agent.py # Reporting agent
│   ├── memory.py         # State management
│   └── workflow.py       # Workflow orchestration
├── tools/                 # Pentesting tool wrappers
│   ├── nmap.py           # Nmap integration
│   ├── masscan.py        # Masscan integration
│   ├── httpx.py          # httpx integration
│   ├── subfinder.py      # Subfinder integration
│   ├── amass.py          # Amass integration
│   ├── nuclei.py         # Nuclei integration
│   ├── sqlmap.py         # SQLMap integration
│   ├── wpscan.py         # WPScan integration
│   ├── whatweb.py        # WhatWeb integration
│   ├── wafw00f.py        # Wafw00f integration
│   ├── nikto.py          # Nikto integration
│   ├── testssl.py        # TestSSL integration
│   ├── sslyze.py         # SSLyze integration
│   ├── gobuster.py       # Gobuster integration
│   ├── ffuf.py           # FFuf integration
│   └── ...               # 15 tools total
├── workflows/             # Workflow definitions (YAML)
├── utils/                 # Utilities (logging, validation)
├── config/                # Configuration files
├── docs/                  # Documentation
└── reports/               # Generated reports

---

🆕 Latest Updates

Version 4.0.0 — Novel R&D + Coverage Expansion

Track A — AI/Agent R&D (7 items)

ID	Item	Highlights
A1	RAG knowledge base	core/knowledge_base.py SQLite + FTS5 + optional embeddings; analyst grounding via kb_references slot; guardian kb {seed,update,query,status}
A2	Multi-agent debate triage	Red/Blue/Judge over MEDIUM-fp findings only; new analysis step type agent: debate
A3	Vision-LLM screenshot analysis	tools/playwright_screenshot.py + core/agents/visual_triage.py; OpenAI + Claude generate_with_images
A4	Plugin contract + local providers	Entry-point discovery for providers AND tools; Ollama + OpenAI-compatible providers shipped
A5	Learned tool selection (offline)	core/learners/tool_ranker.py + core/telemetry.py; opt-in via ai.use_learned_ranker: true
A6	Eval harness	evals/{__init__,scoring,fixtures_loader,test_*}.py + golden fixtures; 3 tiers (parser, workflow, agent grounding)
A7	Judge model upgrade	BaseAgent.think_deeply(judge_model=...) swap-and-restore; transcript-judging for ~10x cost reduction

Track B — Tool Coverage Expansion (7 items)

ID	Category	Tools Added
B8	Active Directory	crackmapexec, bloodhound, kerbrute, impacket-secretsdump
B9	Mobile Android	mobsf, apkleaks, objection
B10	API fuzzers	schemathesis, restler, cariddi
B11	SAST + secrets	semgrep, trufflehog, dependency-check
B12	LLM red-team	garak, pyrit, prompt_fuzz
B13	Burp/ZAP bridge	zap, burp
B14	Output exporters	SARIF v2.1.0, DefectDojo, Slack

Quality bar:

• 296 tests pass (+93% from v3 baseline of 153)
• All v3 hardening preserved: prompt-injection delimiters, key scrub, DNS-resolve scope, atomic checkpoints, log rotation, lazy tool loading
• guardian --help startup time stays <500ms despite 50 tools
• New CLI surfaces: guardian kb, guardian telemetry
• 8 new shipped workflows: web_pentest_with_debate, web_visual_pentest, ad_assessment, mobile_android, llm_redteam, sast_review, api_pentest_v2, plus existing v3 workflows

Version 3.0.0 — Hardening + Engine v2

• Prompt-injection delimiters (<UNTRUSTED_TOOL_OUTPUT>) on all tool output
• DAG scheduler, Pydantic schemas, atomic checkpoints, --resume
• 11 new wrappers (cloud/container/SBOM/GraphQL/JWT/OSINT)
• CVSS v3.1 recomputation + drift detection
• Log rotation, key scrub at write time
• Confirmation gate wired for active+ tools

Version 2.0.0

• Multi-provider AI (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter)
• Evidence linking via execution_id
• Workflow parameter priority system

---

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how:

Setting Up Development Environment

# Fork and clone
git clone https://github.com/zakirkun/guardian-cli.git
cd guardian-cli

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/

# Format code
black .

Contribution Areas

• 🤖 AI Provider Integrations - Add more AI models
• 🛠️ New Tool Integrations - Add more security tools
• 🔄 Custom Workflows - Share your workflow templates
• 🐛 Bug Fixes - Report and fix issues
• 📚 Documentation - Improve guides and examples
• 🧪 Testing - Expand test coverage

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines.

---

📊 Roadmap

Shipped in v4.0.0:

• Multi-provider AI (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter, Ollama, OpenAI-compatible)
• Plugin entry-point contract for providers AND tools
• RAG knowledge base (CVE/CWE/MITRE)
• Multi-agent debate triage (red/blue/judge)
• Vision-LLM visual triage with screenshots
• Learned tool selection (offline ranker)
• Judge-model routing for cost reduction
• Eval harness (parser fixtures, workflow integration, agent grounding)
• AD / Mobile / API-fuzz / SAST / LLM red-team / Burp-ZAP / Vision tool tracks
• SARIF + DefectDojo + Slack exporters
• CVSS v3.1 recomputation
• DAG workflow engine with --resume

Future:

• Web Dashboard for visualization
• PostgreSQL backend for multi-session analytics
• Real-time multi-operator collaboration
• Custom LLM fine-tuning pipeline once telemetry corpus matures
• Plugin marketplace / hub UI

---

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Import Errors

# Reinstall dependencies
pip install -e . --force-reinstall

AI Provider Errors

# Verify API key is set
python -m cli.main models

# Check provider configuration
cat config/guardian.yaml | grep -A 5 "ai:"

Tool Not Found

# Check tool availability
which nmap
which httpx

# Install missing tools (see Prerequisites)

Workflow Not Loading

# Check workflow file exists
ls workflows/web_pentest.yaml

# Verify YAML syntax
python -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('workflows/web_pentest.yaml'))"

Windows Command Not Found

# Use full command
python -m cli.main --help

For more help, open an issue.

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

---

🙏 Acknowledgments

• OpenAI - GPT-4 capabilities
• Anthropic - Claude AI
• Google - Gemini AI
• LangChain - AI orchestration framework
• ProjectDiscovery - Open-source security tools (httpx, subfinder, nuclei)
• Nmap - Network exploration and security auditing
• The Security Community - Tool developers and researchers

---

📞 Support & Contact

• GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
• Discussions: Join community discussions
• Documentation: Read the docs
• Security: Report vulnerabilities privately to security@example.com

---

🌟 Star History

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