Dev Machine Guard

StepSecurity Dev Machine Guard

Scan your dev machine for AI agents, MCP servers, IDE extensions, suspicious files, and risky package-manager configs — in seconds.

Why Dev Machine Guard?

Developer machines are the new attack surface. They hold high-value assets — GitHub tokens, cloud credentials, SSH keys — and routinely execute untrusted code through dependencies and AI-powered tools. Recent supply chain attacks have shown that malicious VS Code extensions can steal credentials, rogue MCP servers can access your codebase, and compromised npm packages can exfiltrate secrets.

EDR and traditional MDM solutions monitor device posture and compliance, but they have zero visibility into the developer tooling layer:

| Capability | EDR / MDM | Dev Machine Guard | | --------------------------- | :-------: | :---------------: | | IDE extension audit | | Yes | | AI agent & tool inventory | | Yes | | MCP server config audit | | Yes | | Package scanning (Node.js, Homebrew, Python, system) | | Yes | | Package-manager config audit (registry, cooldown, auth) | | Yes | | Suspicious file / IOC detection | | Yes | | Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux) | Yes | Yes | | Device posture & compliance | Yes | | | Malware / virus detection | Yes | |

Dev Machine Guard is complementary to EDR/MDM — not a replacement. Deploy it alongside your existing tools via MDM (Jamf, Kandji, Intune) or run it standalone.

Quick Start

The steps below install the binary directly and are intended for community users evaluating Dev Machine Guard on a single machine.

Enterprise customers should not install the binary manually. Deploy Dev Machine Guard across your fleet using the loader script through your MDM or EDR tooling. See the Installation Script documentation for the supported, auto-updating deployment flow.

Install from release (community)

Release assets are named stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard-- (for example, stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard-1.12.0-darwin). Rather than hardcoding a version, discover the latest asset dynamically so the command keeps working across releases.

macOS:

# Discover and download the latest macOS (darwin) release asset
ASSET=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest \
  | jq -r '.assets[].name | select(test("^stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard-[0-9.]+-darwin$"))')

curl -fL "https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/$ASSET" \
  -o stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard
chmod +x stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

# Run the scan
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

To pin a specific version instead, download the matching asset directly:

curl -fL https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard-1.12.0-darwin \
  -o stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard
chmod +x stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

Windows:

# x64
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard_windows_amd64.exe" -OutFile "stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard.exe"

# ARM64
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard_windows_arm64.exe" -OutFile "stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard.exe"

# Run the scan
.\stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard.exe

Linux:

# x64
curl -sSL https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard_linux_amd64 -o stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard
chmod +x stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

# ARM64
curl -sSL https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard/releases/latest/download/stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard_linux_arm64 -o stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard
chmod +x stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

# Run the scan
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

Pre-built .deb and .rpm packages are also available on the releases page.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/step-security/dev-machine-guard.git
cd dev-machine-guard
make build
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

Requires Go 1.26+. The binary has zero external dependencies.

Usage

stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard [COMMAND] [OPTIONS]

Commands

| Command | Description | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | (none) | Run a scan (community mode, pretty output) | | configure | Interactively set all settings (enterprise, scan, output) | | configure show | Show current configuration (API key masked) | | install | Install scheduled scanning — launchd (macOS), systemd (Linux), schtasks (Windows) | | uninstall | Remove scheduled scanning configuration | | send-telemetry | Upload scan results to the StepSecurity dashboard (enterprise) |

Output Formats

| Flag | Description | | ------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | --pretty | Pretty terminal output (default) | | --json | JSON output to stdout | | --html FILE | Self-contained HTML report saved to FILE |

Options

| Flag | Description | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | --search-dirs DIR [DIR...] | Search DIRs instead of $HOME (replaces default; repeatable) | | --enable-npm-scan | Enable Node.js package scanning | | --disable-npm-scan | Disable Node.js package scanning | | --enable-brew-scan | Enable Homebrew package scanning | | --disable-brew-scan | Disable Homebrew package scanning | | --enable-python-scan | Enable Python package scanning | | --disable-python-scan | Disable Python package scanning | | --include-bundled-plugins | Include bundled/platform IDE plugins in output | | --log-level=LEVEL | Log level: error \| warn \| info \| debug | | --verbose | Shortcut for --log-level=debug | | --color=WHEN | Color mode: auto \| always \| never (default: auto) | | -v, --version | Show version | | -h, --help | Show help |

Examples

# Pretty terminal output (default)
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard

# JSON output
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json | python3 -m json.tool   # formatted
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json > scan.json               # to file

# HTML report
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --html report.html

# Verbose scan with npm packages — shows progress spinners and timing
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --verbose --enable-npm-scan

# Scan specific directories instead of $HOME
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --search-dirs /Volumes/code
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --search-dirs /tmp /opt          # multiple dirs

# Pipe JSON through jq to extract just AI tools
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json | jq '.ai_agents_and_tools'

# Count IDE extensions
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json | jq '.summary.ide_extensions_count'

# Check for MCP configs (exit 1 if any found — useful in CI)
count=$(./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json | jq '.summary.mcp_configs_count')
[ "$count" -gt 0 ] && echo "MCP servers detected!" && exit 1

# Disable colors for piping or logging
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --color=never 2>&1 | tee scan.log

# Enterprise: configure all settings interactively
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard configure

# Enterprise: view saved configuration (API key masked)
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard configure show

# Enterprise: install scheduled scanning (launchd / systemd / schtasks)
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard install

# Enterprise: one-time telemetry upload
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard send-telemetry

# Enterprise: remove scheduled scanning
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard uninstall

Configuration

Run configure to set up enterprise credentials and default search directories:

./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard configure

This interactively prompts for all configurable settings:

| Setting | Description | Default | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------- | --------------- | | Customer ID | Your StepSecurity customer identifier | (not set) | | API Endpoint | StepSecurity backend URL | (not set) | | API Key | Authentication key for telemetry uploads | (not set) | | Scan Frequency | How often scheduled scans run (hours) | (not set) | | Search Directories | Comma-separated list of directories to scan | $HOME | | Enable NPM Scan | Node.js package scanning | auto | | Enable Brew Scan | Homebrew package scanning | auto | | Enable Python Scan | Python package scanning | auto | | Color Mode | Terminal color output | auto | | Output Format | Default output format | pretty | | HTML Output File | Default path for HTML reports | (not set) | | Log Level | Logging verbosity | error |

View current settings:

./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard configure show

Configuration (~/.stepsecurity/config.json):

  Customer ID:             my-company
  API Endpoint:            https://api.stepsecurity.io
  API Key:                 ***a1b2
  Scan Frequency:          4 hours
  Search Directories:      $HOME, /Volumes/code
  Enable NPM Scan:         auto
  Enable Brew Scan:        auto
  Enable Python Scan:      auto
  Color Mode:              auto
  Output Format:           pretty
  Log Level:               error

Configuration is saved to ~/.stepsecurity/config.json with 0600 permissions (owner read/write only).

CLI flags always override config file values — this matches the shell script behavior. For example, if your config has output_format: json, running ./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --pretty uses pretty output. To clear a value during configuration, enter a single dash (-).

Logging and Verbose Mode

By default in community mode, progress messages (spinners, step details) are suppressed — you only see the final output. This keeps stdout clean for piping.

# Default: quiet — clean output, no progress spinners
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --json > scan.json

# Verbose: show progress spinners and step timing
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --verbose

# Fine-grained control: set log level
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard --log-level=info

# Save log level in config so it persists across runs
./stepsecurity-dev-machine-guard configure

In enterprise mode (send-telemetry, install), progress is always shown regardless of the log level — the output is captured as execution logs and sent to the backend for debugging.

What It Detects

See [SCANCOVERAGE.md](SCANCOVERAGE.md) for the full catalog of supported detections.

| Category | Examples | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | IDEs & Desktop Apps | VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, Zed, Claude, Copilot, JetBrains suite (13 IDEs), Eclipse, Android Studio | | AI CLI Tools | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Kiro, GitHub Copilot CLI, Aider, OpenCode, Cursor Agent | | AI Agents | Claude Cowork, OpenClaw, ClawdBot, GPT-Engineer | | AI Frameworks | Ollama, LM Studio, LocalAI, Text Generation WebUI | | MCP Server Configs | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, Zed, Open Interpreter, Codex | | IDE Extensions | VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Android Studio | | Node.js Packages | npm, yarn, pnpm, bun (opt-in) | | Homebrew Packages | Formulae and casks with rich metadata (opt-in) | | Python Packages | pip, poetry, pipenv, uv, conda, rye (opt-in) | | System Packages | rpm, dpkg, pacman, apk, snap, flatpak (Linux) | | Package Configs | npm (.npmrc), pnpm, bun (bunfig.toml), yarn classic & berry (.yarnrc/.yarnrc.yml), pip (pip.conf) — effective registry, cooldown policy, and auth surface across every scope | | Suspicious Files | Malicious-file IOCs from StepSecurity-maintained rules — e.g. binding.gyp that runs during npm install, and editor/AI-tool config files that auto-execute on project open |

Package Configs & Suspicious Files

Beyond inventorying what is installed, Dev Machine Guard inspects how each machine is configured to pull packages, and whether any files associated with known attacks are present.

Package-manager config auditing

Compromised packages most often reach a machine because that machine resolves directly from a public registry with no cooldown window against freshly published versions. Dev Machine Guard audits the package-manager configuration on each machine across every scope (project, user, and global) and resolves three things per package manager:

• Effective registry — the registry packages actually resolve from, accounting for configuration precedence, so you can confirm machines route through StepSecurity Secure Registry or an internal artifact manager rather than straight to the public registry.
• Cooldown policy — whether a cooldown window against newly published packages is in effect.
• Authentication surface — what credentials are configured against the registry.

Configuration is read from .npmrc (npm), pnpm config, bunfig.toml (bun), .yarnrc / .yarnrc.yml (yarn classic and berry), and pip.conf (pip). In enterprise mode this rolls up into the Package Configs view in the dashboard, where you can spot machines that are unprotected or pointed at the wrong registry.

Suspicious file detection

Some supply chain attacks plant files that trigger code execution outside the package lifecycle scripts most tools watch — for example a malicious binding.gyp that runs during npm install, or an editor configuration file that runs when a project is opened. Dev Machine Guard ships a rules-engine scanner that flags these files as IOCs and wires the results into scan telemetry. The detector streams one file at a time, so scan memory stays bounded regardless of repository size.

The detection rules are authored and maintained by StepSecurity, so the feature works out of the box with

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Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: step-security
• Source: step-security/dev-machine-guard
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.