managed-pentesting-with-strix
Run a managed pentest of a web app or API through the app.strix.ai REST API — no local Docker, LLM key, or install needed. Create an API token, register domain/repository assets, launch and poll scans, triage vulnerabilities, export SARIF, download PDF/DOCX pentest reports for SOC 2 and other compliance evidence (Enterprise plan), start PR reviews, and set up schedules and webhooks. Use when the user wants continuous or scheduled pentesting-as-a-service, an auditor-ready pentest report, scans tracked in a team dashboard, or security testing from a sandboxed agent/CI environment with no infrastructure.
How do I install this agent skill?
npx skills add https://github.com/usestrix/strix --skill managed-pentesting-with-strixIs this agent skill safe to install?
- Gen Agent Trust Hubpass
The skill provides a standard interface for the Strix Cloud API, allowing users to manage penetration testing tasks remotely. It follows security best practices by using environment variables for credentials and requiring platform-level domain verification for external scanning.
- Socketwarn
1 alert: gptSecurity
- Snykpass
Risk: LOW · No issues
What does this agent skill do?
Strix Cloud API (managed, no local infra)
Use this when you want Strix's autonomous pentesting without running Docker or an LLM yourself — the scan runs on Strix's infrastructure and results are tracked in a team dashboard. This is the right choice in sandboxed/hosted agent and CI environments, for teams, and for scheduled/continuous testing (downloadable PDF/DOCX reports are an Enterprise-plan feature). For fully local, free, air-gapped, or BYO-LLM runs, use the open-source CLI in the penetration-testing-with-strix skill instead — both share the same engine and SARIF output, so you can mix them.
Full reference: docs.app.strix.ai · OpenAPI: https://docs.app.strix.ai/openapi.json
Setup
-
Base URL:
https://app.strix.ai/api/v1 -
Auth: every request sends
Authorization: Bearer <token>. Tokens are org-scoped. -
Get a token: the user creates one in the dashboard at Settings → API Access (app.strix.ai). Ask them for it; never hardcode, log, or commit it. Store it in an env var or the CI secret store.
-
Scopes (least-privilege): assign only what the integration needs and rotate regularly:
Scope Grants scans:read/scans:writelist/read/report scans · create/rerun/cancel scans vulnerabilities:read/:writeread findings · update status & notes assets:read/:writeread domains/repos · register/update them schedules:read/:writeread schedules · create/trigger recurring scans pr_reviews:writetrigger PR security reviews webhooks:read/:writemanage webhook subscriptions tokens:writecreate/revoke API tokens
export STRIX_API_TOKEN="<token>"
BASE=https://app.strix.ai/api/v1
auth=(-H "Authorization: Bearer $STRIX_API_TOKEN")
All examples use jq to parse JSON. Handle HTTP errors: 401 bad/expired token, 402 out of credits, 403 scope/plan-tier limit, 422 validation error.
1. Register the target as an asset
Scans run against registered assets, not raw URLs. Register once, then reuse the returned UUID.
# Domain (black-box / live target). Requires domain verification before external scanning.
# asset_type must be one of: web_app | api | attack_surface.
curl -sS "$BASE/domains" "${auth[@]}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"domain":"staging.example.com","asset_type":"web_app"}' | jq '{id:.domain.id, status, reachable, verification}'
# Repository (white-box / code review). `full_name` is "owner/name".
# Send one repository object, or a bare JSON array for several — not an object
# wrapping a "repositories" key (that is rejected with 400).
curl -sS "$BASE/repositories" "${auth[@]}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '[{"full_name":"org/app","provider":"github"}]' | jq '.repositories[] | {id, full_name}'
Look up existing assets instead of re-adding: GET /domains, GET /repositories (both assets:read, paginated with ?page=&limit=).
2. Launch a scan
POST /scans (scans:write). Provide at least one target via domain_ids, repository_ids, or internal_targets (internal infra needs a network connector — see docs).
scan_id=$(curl -sS "$BASE/scans" "${auth[@]}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
"engagement_type": "live_test",
"domain_ids": ["<domain-uuid>"],
"focus": "IDOR, auth bypass, SSRF",
"context": "Staging. Test account creds are configured as a test user.",
"notify_on_completion": true
}' | jq -r .scan_id)
echo "$scan_id"
Useful CreateScanRequest fields:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
engagement_type | live_test (default), code_review, internal_infra, compliance_pentest |
domain_ids / repository_ids / internal_targets | targets (at least one) |
domain_paths / repository_branches | narrow to specific paths / branches |
credentials | authenticated scanning, incl. mfa_method (totp/email_otp/…) + totp_secret |
headers | extra HTTP headers (e.g. API keys) for the target |
focus / concerns / context | steer the agents |
upload_ids | attach uploaded source/docs archives for white-box context |
notify_on_completion / notification_emails | email when done |
Response is { scan_id, title, status } with status = pending.
3. Poll to completion
GET /scans/{scanId} (scans:read). Status flow: pending → running → completed (or failed / cancelled). Poll on an interval — scans take minutes to hours; don't block.
while :; do
s=$(curl -sS "$BASE/scans/$scan_id" "${auth[@]}" | jq -r .status)
echo "status=$s"; [[ "$s" =~ ^(completed|failed|cancelled)$ ]] && break
sleep 60
done
4. Read findings
The scan-detail response includes executive_summary, methodology, recommendations, a findings severity roll-up, and a vulnerabilities[] array. Each vulnerability carries title, severity, status, cvss, cwe, endpoint, method, impact, technical_analysis, poc_description, poc_script_code, and (for code findings) code_file/code_diff/code_before/code_after.
curl -sS "$BASE/scans/$scan_id" "${auth[@]}" \
| jq '["critical","high","medium","low","info"] as $order
| .vulnerabilities
| sort_by(.severity as $s | $order | index($s))
| .[] | {title, severity, endpoint, cwe}'
Cloud severities are critical | high | medium | low and statuses are open | in_progress | fixed | ignored. Sort by an explicit severity order rather than sort_by(.severity), which sorts alphabetically (critical, high, low, medium).
Org-wide triage across scans: GET /vulnerabilities (vulnerabilities:read; filter by severity/status). Update triage state with the vulnerabilities :write endpoints. To remediate, hand off to the fix-security-vulnerabilities-with-strix skill.
5. Export & report
# SARIF 2.1.0 for GitHub code scanning / ASPM ingestion
curl -sS "$BASE/scans/$scan_id/sarif" "${auth[@]}" -o findings.sarif
# Report. The format and file type are query params (`Accept` is ignored):
# format=technical (default) | retest | attestation | executive_summary
# type=pdf (default) | docx
# Any report download requires the Enterprise plan; formats beyond `technical`,
# DOCX, and white-label branding are Enterprise-only too. Scan must be completed.
curl -sS "$BASE/scans/$scan_id/report?format=technical&type=pdf" "${auth[@]}" -o strix-report.pdf
6. PR reviews
Trigger an automated security review of a pull request (pr_reviews:write); results appear as PR comments and in the dashboard:
curl -sS "$BASE/pr-reviews/start" "${auth[@]}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"repository_full_name":"org/app","pr_number":123}'
List/inspect via GET /pr-reviews and GET /pr-reviews/{id}. Repo-level PR-review behavior is configured with the repository-settings endpoint.
7. Continuous testing (schedules & webhooks)
- Schedules (
schedules:write, Pro plan): create recurring scans and trigger them on demand — the managed equivalent of a cron-driven CLI loop. - Webhooks (
webhooks:write): subscribe to pentest/vulnerability lifecycle events (e.g.scan.completed,vulnerability.created) to push results into Slack, ticketing, or your own pipeline instead of polling.
See the schedules and webhooks sections at docs.app.strix.ai for payloads.
Safety
Only scan assets the user's organization owns or is authorized to test. External domain scans require verification (DNS/file/meta-tag) enforced by the platform — don't try to bypass it.
How can the creator link this skill?
Add the canonical catalog link to the repository README so users can inspect current installs and available audits. The publishing guide covers the complete discovery path.
<a href="https://skillzs.dev/skills/usestrix/strix/managed-pentesting-with-strix">View managed-pentesting-with-strix on skillZs</a>