Snyk MCP Server

The Snyk MCP Server lets an AI assistant such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor trigger Snyk security checks right inside the working flow. Instead of writing code first and being told about vulnerabilities by a pipeline scanner weeks later, the assistant can check source code and dependencies during development and fix the findings in the same conversation. The server comes from Snyk itself and is part of the Snyk CLI, which is published on GitHub as an open-source project under the Apache License 2.0. Snyk calls its overall offering for assistants "Snyk Studio".

What is the Snyk MCP Server?

MCP is an open standard through which an assistant calls the tools of an external service. The Snyk MCP Server is such an intermediary: it receives the assistant's calls and runs the Snyk CLI on your machine for them. According to the documentation it is explicitly designed as a local server so that it can access your files, and Snyk does not offer a hosted remote server. It is started with the command npx -y snyk@latest mcp -t stdio; the documentation names stdio as the transport.

Which tools are available?

The server knows three profiles. The "lite" profile contains the essential scanning tools, "full" is the default and covers all stable tools, and "experimental" adds tools that are still being evaluated. According to the documentation, all profiles share snyk_code_scan for your own source code, snyk_sca_scan for open-source dependencies, plus snyk_auth, snyk_logout, snyk_trust, snyk_version, and snyk_send_feedback. The "full" profile adds snyk_container_scan, snyk_iac_scan, snyk_sbom_scan, snyk_aibom, and snyk_package_health_check. You choose the profile with --profile=lite or through the environment variable SNYK_MCP_PROFILE.

What is it particularly useful for?

The value lies in the short path between finding and fix. The assistant writes a function, has it checked with Snyk Code, sees for example an SQL injection warning, and adjusts the code in the same step. For dependencies it can check whether a newly added package has known vulnerabilities and, with the package check, judge whether a package is maintained. For teams with container and Terraform files, snyk_container_scan and snyk_iac_scan also cover configuration mistakes. The difference from a pure pipeline scanner is timing: findings appear before the code moves into a pull request.

Setup

You need a Snyk account and an MCP-capable assistant. For Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and GitHub Copilot, Snyk according to the documentation offers an installer with hooks that sets up uv, Python, Node.js, and the Snyk CLI where needed and asks before each step. For other environments you add the server yourself to the MCP configuration (often mcp.json) with the command above; this needs npx and Node.js. Sign-in runs through the snyk_auth tool.

Security and limits

The server runs the Snyk CLI on your machine, and according to Snyk's documentation the CLI may execute code from the scanned project during analysis. So only scan projects you trust; the snyk_trust tool exists to mark a folder explicitly as trusted. Which data the individual scans transfer to the Snyk platform is not described in detail on the setup page; read Snyk's privacy and security information before having proprietary code scanned. A scan also does not replace human review: it finds known patterns, not mistakes in business logic.

Costs

The server and the CLI are open source. The checks, however, run against the Snyk platform and depend on the plan. According to the pricing page there is a free plan with a limited number of projects and limited code tests per month, plus the paid Team and Enterprise plans. Current limits and terms are on Snyk's official pricing page.

Who is the Snyk MCP Server for?

It is worthwhile for developers who let an AI assistant generate code and want to check that code for vulnerabilities before committing, and for teams that already use Snyk and want to bring the check into the assistant. For individuals the free tier is enough to try it. Anyone scanning very large repositories or many projects will quickly reach its limits and should compare the plans.

A Snyk account, Node.js with npx (or the Snyk CLI set up by the installer), and an MCP client such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

With the Snyk MCP Server an AI assistant checks code and dependencies for vulnerabilities. This guide leads from sign-in to the first scan.

Step 1: Check the prerequisites

You need a Snyk account, Node.js with npx, and an MCP client such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor. The free plan is enough to try it.

Step 2: Register the server

Register a stdio server in the MCP client with the command npx -y snyk@latest mcp -t stdio. For Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and GitHub Copilot, Snyk according to the documentation additionally offers an installer with hooks that sets up missing tools after asking.

npx -y snyk@latest mcp -t stdio

Choose a profile

Without any setting the "full" profile with all stable tools applies. If you only want the essential checks for code and dependencies, append --profile=lite to the command or set the environment variable SNYK_MCP_PROFILE.

Step 3: Sign in

Ask the assistant to sign in to Snyk. It uses the snyk_auth tool for that. Afterwards check with snyk_version which CLI version is running.

Step 4: Start the first scan

Open a project you trust and ask the assistant to check the source code with Snyk Code. For dependencies it uses snyk_sca_scan. Have the findings explained and a fix suggested, then scan again.

Mind trust and privacy

According to the documentation the CLI may execute code from the project during analysis. So do not scan unknown repositories unchecked. Read Snyk's privacy information to learn which data a scan transfers before scanning proprietary code.

Sign-in to the Snyk account through the snyk_auth tool (sign-out with snyk_logout).

The server reads the files of the scanned project and runs the Snyk CLI locally; folders can be explicitly marked as trusted with snyk_trust.

The server runs locally, and according to the documentation Snyk does not offer a hosted remote server. The checks run against the Snyk platform; details on data transfer are in Snyk's privacy and security information. Findings enter the AI client context and therefore reach the model provider.

Execution of code from untrusted projects during analysis, transfer of proprietary code to the scanning platform, and findings that end up in the model provider's context.