npm-script-lens for VS Code

See what a dependency's install script actually does — inline, while you edit package.json — before you approve it under npm v12 allowScripts, pnpm allowBuilds, yarn dependenciesMeta, or bun trustedDependencies.

This extension is a thin UI over the npm-script-lens CLI, which does the behavioral analysis (exec / network / filesystem / obfuscation), OSV malware check, and publisher-trust signals.

Preview

Open a package.json and risky install scripts are flagged inline, with the evidence in the message:

  "dependencies": {
    "sharp": "^0.33.5",     ⚠  🔴 HIGH — sharp@0.33.5: exec: node-gyp rebuild · exec: require('child_process')
    "core-js": "^3.38.1",   ⚠  🟡 LOW — core-js@3.38.1: env: process.env · fs: fs.writeFileSync
    "chalk": "^5.3.0"       ·  (no install script — quiet)
  }

Status bar: 🛡 🔴 2 high-risk install scripts — click to re-audit.

A first-run walkthrough (Get Started → Get started with npm-script-lens) walks you from audit → allowlist → CI.

What it does

• Inline diagnostics on package.json: every dependency whose install script spawns processes, reaches the network, or is flagged malicious gets a squiggle on its line, with the evidence in the message. Clean packages stay quiet.
• Status bar summary of the workspace's install-script risk.
• Commands (Command Palette):
  • npm-script-lens: Audit install scripts
  • npm-script-lens: Generate allowlist (write) — runs allow --write for your detected package manager
  • npm-script-lens: Sync allowlist with the lockfile — reconciles the native allowlist, dropping stale entries
  • npm-script-lens: Review pending approvals
  • npm-script-lens: Least-privilege .npmrc sources — the minimal allow-git / allow-remote your tree actually needs
  • npm-script-lens: Doctor (npm compatibility)

It reads inside binding.gyp

Native packages often have no install script at all — npm runs an implicit node-gyp rebuild, and gyp executes the commands inside binding.gyp before a line of C is compiled. That is where the June 2026 campaign hid its payload (ReversingLabs, 286 malicious versions across 56 packages).

The CLI reads inside binding.gyp and the .gypi files it includes — command expansion (<!(, and the late >!( / ^!( forms), pymod_do_main, build actions, and compiler hijacks via make_global_settings — so those findings show up on the line in your package.json like any other.

Requirements

The npm-script-lens CLI. By default the extension runs it via npx npm-script-lens; set npmScriptLens.command to an absolute path or a globally installed binary to avoid the npx fetch.

Settings

• npmScriptLens.command — how to invoke the CLI (default npx npm-script-lens).
• npmScriptLens.trust — enable OSV/trust enrichment in the editor (slower; network). Off by default for snappy audits.

License

MIT