nyx/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Nyx

Thank you for your interest in improving Nyx. This guide covers everything you need to contribute effectively.

User-facing documentation lives at elicpeter.github.io/nyx; the source for those pages is in docs/.

Please read our Code of Conduct before participating.

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Table of Contents

1. Development Setup
2. Project Layout
3. How to Add a New AST Pattern
4. How to Add a New Taint Rule
5. How to Add a New Language
6. Testing
7. Pull Request Guidelines
8. Bug Reports
9. Feature Requests
10. Release Process

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Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.88+ (edition 2024)
• Git

Building

git clone https://github.com/elicpeter/nyx.git
cd nyx

cargo build            # Debug build
cargo build --release  # Release build
cargo install --path . # Install as `nyx` binary

Running Quality Checks

cargo test --bin nyx                   # Unit tests (inline in modules)
cargo clippy --all -- -D warnings      # Lint, treats warnings as errors
cargo fmt                              # Format code
cargo fmt -- --check                   # Check formatting without modifying

Note

: The first build downloads and compiles tree-sitter grammars for all 10 languages. Subsequent builds are faster.

Benchmarks

cargo bench --bench scan_bench

Benchmark fixtures live in benches/fixtures/. Criterion produces HTML reports in target/criterion/.

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Project Layout

src/
  main.rs                CLI entry point
  lib.rs                 Library re-exports (benchmarks, integration tests)
  cli.rs                 Clap command definitions
  commands/              Subcommand handlers (scan, index, list, clean, config, serve)
  ast.rs                 Entry points for both passes; tree-sitter parsing
  cfg/                   CFG construction from AST, type hierarchy
  cfg_analysis/          CFG structural detectors
    guards.rs            Unguarded sink detection (dominator analysis)
    auth.rs              Auth gap detection
    resources.rs         Resource leak detection
    error_handling.rs    Error fallthrough detection
    unreachable.rs       Unreachable security code detection
    rules.rs             Guard rules, auth rules, resource pairs
  ssa/                   SSA IR (lowering, optimization passes, const prop)
  taint/                 SSA-based taint engine (sole engine since 0.5.0)
    mod.rs               Facade + JS two-level solve
    domain.rs            Shared lattice types (VarTaint, Cap, TaintOrigin)
    ssa_transfer/        Block-level worklist, k=1 inline cache, gated sinks
    backwards.rs         Demand-driven backwards taint walk (opt-in)
    path_state.rs        Predicate tracking and contradiction pruning
  state/
    engine.rs            Generic monotone dataflow engine (Transfer<S: Lattice>)
    transfer.rs          DefaultTransfer: resource lifecycle + auth state
  summary/               FuncSummary, SsaFuncSummary, GlobalSummaries, hierarchy index
  abstract_interp/       Interval + string prefix/suffix domains
  pointer/               Field-sensitive points-to (Steensgaard-style)
  symex/                 Symbolic execution + witness generation
  constraint/            Path-constraint solving (optional Z3 via `smt` feature)
  auth_analysis/         Rust auth rule (`rs.auth.missing_ownership_check`) + sink classes
  suppress/              Inline `nyx:ignore` directive parsing
  labels/                Per-language label rules (one file per language)
  patterns/              Per-language AST pattern queries (one file per language)
  callgraph.rs           Call graph construction (petgraph), SCC, topo sort
  database.rs            SQLite indexing via r2d2 pool
  rank.rs                Attack-surface ranking
  fmt.rs                 Console output formatting
  output.rs              SARIF 2.1 builder
  walk.rs                Parallel file walker (ignore crate, respects .gitignore)
  symbol/                Symbol interning (SymbolId)
  server/                `nyx serve` HTTP layer, routes, triage sync
  interop.rs             Cross-language interop edges
  engine_notes.rs        Direction-aware engine notes (UnderReport / OverReport / Bail)
  evidence.rs            Structured evidence emitted with each finding
  errors.rs              NyxError, NyxResult types
  utils/
    config.rs            TOML config loading, merging, Config struct

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How to Add a New AST Pattern

AST patterns are the simplest detector to add. Each pattern is a tree-sitter query that matches a structural code construct.

Step-by-step

1. Pick the language file under src/patterns/<lang>.rs.

2. Choose the metadata:

   Field	Options	Guidelines
   ID	<lang>.<category>.<specific>	e.g. py.cmdi.os_popen
   Tier	A or B	A = presence alone is high-signal; B = query includes a heuristic guard
   Severity	High, Medium, Low	High: command exec, deser, banned functions. Medium: SQL concat, reflection, XSS. Low: weak crypto, code quality.
   Category	See PatternCategory enum	CommandExec, CodeExec, Deserialization, SqlInjection, PathTraversal, Xss, Crypto, Secrets, InsecureTransport, Reflection, MemorySafety, Prototype, CodeQuality

3. Write the tree-sitter query:

   Pattern {
       id: "py.cmdi.os_popen",
       description: "os.popen() shell command execution",
       query: r#"(call
                    function: (attribute
                      object: (identifier) @pkg (#eq? @pkg "os")
                      attribute: (identifier) @fn (#eq? @fn "popen")))
                  @vuln"#,
       severity: Severity::High,
       tier: PatternTier::A,
       category: PatternCategory::CommandExec,
   },
   

   The query must capture a @vuln node. That node's span determines the reported location.

4. Test it:

   cargo test --bin nyx
   

5. Update docs: Add the new rule to docs/rules/<lang>.md.

Tips

• Use the tree-sitter playground to develop and test queries.
• Avoid duplicating taint coverage. If the same function is already a labeled sink in src/labels/<lang>.rs, the AST pattern is still useful for --mode ast, but use a distinct ID namespace. The dedup pass prevents exact-duplicate findings at the same location.
• Test with real-world code to check false positive rates before choosing a tier.

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How to Add a New Taint Rule

Taint rules define sources (where untrusted data enters), sinks (where dangerous operations happen), and sanitizers (where data is made safe).

Step-by-step

1. Open the language file in src/labels/<lang>.rs.

2. Add an entry to the RULES slice:

   LabelRule {
       matchers: &["dangerouslySetInnerHTML"],
       label: DataLabel::Sink(Cap::HTML_ESCAPE),
   },
   

3. Choose the right label type:

   Type	Purpose	Example
   DataLabel::Source(cap)	Introduces tainted data	env::var, req.body
   DataLabel::Sanitizer(cap)	Strips matching capability bits	html_escape, encodeURIComponent
   DataLabel::Sink(cap)	Dangerous operation requiring sanitization	eval, innerHTML, Command::new

4. Choose capabilities:

   Capability	When to use
   Cap::all()	Sources that produce universally dangerous data
   Cap::SHELL_ESCAPE	Shell command injection sinks/sanitizers
   Cap::HTML_ESCAPE	XSS sinks/sanitizers
   Cap::URL_ENCODE	URL injection sinks/sanitizers
   Cap::JSON_PARSE	JSON parsing sanitizers
   Cap::FILE_IO	File I/O sinks
   Cap::FMT_STRING	Format string sinks
   Cap::ENV_VAR	Environment/config data sources

5. Matcher semantics:

   • Case-insensitive suffix matching by default.
   • If a matcher ends with _, it acts as a prefix match.
   • Multiple matchers in one rule are alternatives (any match triggers the rule).

User-defined rules (no code change needed)

Users can add taint rules via config:

[[analysis.languages.javascript.rules]]
matchers = ["dangerouslySetInnerHTML"]
kind = "sink"
cap = "html_escape"

Or via CLI:

nyx config add-rule --lang javascript --matcher dangerouslySetInnerHTML --kind sink --cap html_escape

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How to Add a New Language

Adding a new language requires changes across several modules. Use an existing language (e.g. Go or Python) as a template.

Checklist

1. Tree-sitter parser: Add tree-sitter-<lang> to Cargo.toml.

2. Language registration: Register the parser in ast.rs (language detection from file extension, parser initialization).

3. CFG node kinds: Create src/labels/<lang>.rs with a KINDS map that maps tree-sitter node types to the internal Kind enum (Block, If, While, For, Return, CallFn, CallMethod, Assignment, etc.).

4. Parameter extraction: Add a PARAM_CONFIG constant specifying how to extract function parameters from the AST (field name for parameter list, node type for individual parameters, extraction field for parameter names).

5. Label rules: Add RULES (sources, sinks, sanitizers) and TERMINATORS to the labels file.

6. AST patterns: Create src/patterns/<lang>.rs with a PATTERNS constant.

7. Registry updates:

   • src/patterns/mod.rs: add to the REGISTRY HashMap
   • src/labels/mod.rs: add to the classify() dispatch

8. File extension mapping: Add the extension in ast.rs.

9. Tests: Write unit tests and add test fixtures.

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Testing

Unit Tests

All tests are inline #[test] blocks inside source modules. Run them with:

cargo test --bin nyx

What to Test

• New AST patterns: Ensure the tree-sitter query matches the intended construct and does not match safe alternatives.
• New taint rules: Verify that source-to-sink flows are detected and that sanitizers properly neutralize findings.
• New CFG rules: Test that guard dominance logic correctly suppresses findings when guards are present.
• Edge cases: Empty files, files with syntax errors (tree-sitter is error-tolerant), deeply nested structures.

Linting

CI runs Clippy with strict settings. Before submitting:

cargo clippy --all -- -D warnings

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Pull Request Guidelines

First-time contributors are welcome. If you are unsure where to start, open an issue and we can help identify a focused starter task.

1. Branch from master. Use descriptive branch names: feat/add-kotlin-support, fix/false-positive-sql-concat, docs/update-rule-reference.

2. Keep PRs focused. One logical change per PR.

3. Ensure CI passes:

   cargo test --bin nyx
   cargo clippy --all -- -D warnings
   cargo fmt -- --check
   

4. Commit style: Use Conventional Commits.

   feat(patterns): add Python subprocess.Popen pattern
   fix(taint): prevent false positive on sanitized innerHTML
   docs(rules): update JavaScript rule reference
   

5. Document new rules. If you add patterns or taint rules, update the corresponding docs/rules/<lang>.md page.

6. Include test cases for any new detection rules.

7. Disclose material AI assistance in the PR description if the change was drafted, generated, or substantially refactored by an AI tool. One line is enough. See AI-POLICY.md for the full policy and the bar we hold AI-assisted contributions to.

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Bug Reports

Please open an issue for:

• Crashes or panics: include the backtrace (RUST_BACKTRACE=1 nyx scan .)
• False positives: include the minimal code snippet, rule ID, and Nyx version
• False negatives: describe what you expected Nyx to find and why
• Documentation errors: point to the specific page and what's wrong

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Feature Requests

We welcome well-motivated feature proposals. Please describe:

1. Problem statement: what pain point does this solve?
2. Proposed solution: high-level description, optionally with pseudo-code.
3. Alternatives considered: why existing functionality is not enough.

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Release Process

1. Update version in Cargo.toml.
2. Update CHANGELOG.md with the new version section.
3. Run full test suite: cargo test --bin nyx && cargo clippy --all -- -D warnings.
4. Create a git tag: git tag v0.x.y.
5. Push tag: git push origin v0.x.y.
6. CI builds release binaries and publishes to crates.io.

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Security Issues

Please do not open public issues for security-sensitive bugs. See SECURITY.md for our responsible disclosure process.

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License

Contributions are released under GPL-3.0-or-later

By submitting a pull request, patch, or other contribution to Nyx, you agree that your contribution will be released under the GPL-3.0-or-later, the same license as the project.

Developer Certificate of Origin

We use the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) as a lightweight baseline for contributions. All commits must include a Signed-off-by: trailer, which certifies that you wrote the code yourself or otherwise have the right to submit it under the project license.

Use git commit -s to add this automatically.

Contributor License Agreement

Before your first contribution can be merged, you must sign the Nyx Contributor License Agreement.

The CLA does not transfer ownership of your work. You retain copyright to your contributions. It grants Nyx the rights needed to maintain, distribute, and evolve the project over time, including the flexibility to support long-term sustainability through future licensing or commercial offerings.

If you do not agree to these terms, please do not submit contributions to Nyx.