dependabot-quickstart-guide.md

title	intro	product	versions	type	topics	shortTitle
Dependabot quickstart guide	You can use {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} to alert you when your repository is using a software dependency with a known vulnerability. This guide will help get you started on enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} for a repository, and exploring reported alerts.	{% data reusables.gated-features.dependabot-alerts %}	fpt ghes ghec * * *	quick_start	Dependabot Alerts Vulnerabilities Repositories Dependencies	Dependabot quickstart

About {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %}

This quickstart guide walks you through setting up and enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} and viewing {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} and updates for a repository.

{% data reusables.dependabot.dependabot-overview %}

Prerequisites

{% ifversion ghes %} Before you can use the {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} feature in {% data variables.product.product_name %}, you must ensure that your enterprise administrator enables {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} for the instance. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE." {% endif %}

For the purpose of this guide, we're going to use a demo repository to illustrate how {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} finds vulnerabilities in dependencies, where you can see {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}, and how you can explore, fix, or dismiss these alerts.

You need to start by forking the demo repository.

1. Navigate to https://github.com/dependabot/demo.
2. At the top of the page, on the right, click {% octicon "repo-forked" aria-hidden="true" %} Fork.
3. Select an owner (you can select your {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} personal account) and type a repository name. For more information about forking repositories, see "AUTOTITLE."
4. Click Create fork.

Enabling {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} for your repository

You need to follow the steps below on the repository you forked in "Prerequisites."

{% data reusables.repositories.navigate-to-repo %} {% data reusables.repositories.sidebar-settings %} {% data reusables.repositories.navigate-to-code-security-and-analysis %}

1. Under "Code security and analysis", to the right of {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, click Enable for {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_security_updates %}, and {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_version_updates %}.
2. Optionally, if you are interested in experimenting with {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_version_updates %}, click .github/dependabot.yml. This will create a default dependabot.yml configuration file in the /.github directory of your repository. To enable {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_version_updates %} for your repository, you typically configure this file to suit your needs by editing the default file, and committing your changes. You can refer to the snippet provided in "AUTOTITLE" for an example.

{% note %}

Note: If the dependency graph is not already enabled for the repository, {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} will enable it automatically when you enable {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %}.

{% endnote %}

For more information about configuring each of these {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} features, see "AUTOTITLE," "AUTOTITLE," and "AUTOTITLE."

Viewing {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} for your repository

If {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} are enabled for a repository, you can view {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} on the "Security" tab for the repository. You can use the forked repository that you enabled {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} on in the previous section.

{% data reusables.repositories.navigate-to-repo %} {% data reusables.repositories.sidebar-security %} {% data reusables.repositories.sidebar-dependabot-alerts %}

1. Review the open alerts on the {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} page. By default, the page displays the Open tab, listing the open alerts. (You'll be able to view any closed alerts by clicking Closed.)

   

   You can filter {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} in the list, using a variety of filters or labels. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."{% ifversion dependabot-auto-triage-rules %} You can also use {% data variables.dependabot.auto_triage_rules %} to filter out false positive alerts or alerts you're not interested in. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."{% endif %}

2. Click the "Command Injection in lodash" alert on the javascript/package-lock.json file. The details page for the alert will show the following information (note that some information may not apply to all alerts):

   • Whether {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} created a pull request that will fix the vulnerability. You can review the suggested security update by clicking Review security update.
   • Package involved
   • Affected versions
   • Patched version
   • Brief description of the vulnerability

   

3. Optionally, you can also explore the information on the right-side of the page. Some of the information shown in the screenshot may not apply to every alert.

   • Severity
   • CVSS metrics—we use CVSS levels to assign severity levels. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."
   • Tags
   • Weaknesses—list of CWEs related to the vulnerability, if applicable
   • CVE ID—unique CVE identifier for the vulnerability, if applicable
   • GHSA ID—unique identifier of the corresponding advisory on the {% data variables.product.prodname_advisory_database %}. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."
   • Option to navigate to the advisory on the {% data variables.product.prodname_advisory_database %}
   • Option to see all of your repositories that are affected by this vulnerability
   • Option to suggest improvements for this advisory on the {% data variables.product.prodname_advisory_database %}

   

For more information about viewing, prioritizing, and sorting {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, see "AUTOTITLE."

Fixing or dismissing a {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} alert

You can fix or dismiss {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. Let's continue to use the forked repository as an example, and the "Command Injection in lodash" alert described in the previous section.

1. Navigate to the {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} tab for the repository. For more information, see the "Viewing {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %} for your repository" section above.
2. Click an alert.
3. Click the "Command Injection in lodash" alert on the javascript/package-lock.json file.
4. Review the alert. You can:

   • Review the suggested security update by clicking Review security update. This will open the pull request generated by {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} with the security fix.

     

     • On the pull request description, you can click Commits to explore the commits included in the pull request.
     • You can also click {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} commands and options to learn about the commands that you can use to interact with the pull request.
     • When you're ready to update your dependency and resolve the vulnerability, merge the pull request.

   • If you decide that you want to dismiss the alert

     • Go back to the alert details page.

     • On the top-right corner, click Dismiss alert.{% ifversion dependabot-alerts-dismissal-comment %}

       {% else %}

       {% endif %}

     • Select a reason for dismissing the alert. {% ifversion dependabot-alerts-dismissal-comment %}

     • Optionally, add a dismissal comment. The dismissal comment will be added to the alert timeline and can be used as justification during auditing and reporting.{% endif %}

     • Click Dismiss alert. The alert won't appear anymore in the Open tab of the alert list, and you are able to view it in the Closed tab.

For more information about reviewing and updating {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, see "AUTOTITLE."

Troubleshooting

You may need to do some troubleshooting if:

• {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} is blocked from creating a pull request to fix an alert, or
• The information reported by {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} is not what you expect.

For more information, see "AUTOTITLE" and "AUTOTITLE," respectively.

Next steps

For more information about configuring {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} updates, see "AUTOTITLE" and "AUTOTITLE."

For more information about configuring {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %} for an organization, see "AUTOTITLE."

For more information about viewing pull requests opened by {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot %}, see "AUTOTITLE."

For more information about the security advisories that contribute to {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, see "AUTOTITLE."

For more information about configuring notifications about {% data variables.product.prodname_dependabot_alerts %}, see "AUTOTITLE."