AI Security Guardrails with Snyk CLI MCP Server

The rise of AI-powered coding assistants in the form of Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, and IDE extensions like Qodo and Continue.dev has transformed software development, letting engineers scaffold features in minutes that once took days (did anyone say Vibe Coding?).

But that velocity comes with an uncomfortable trade-off: when large language models generate code, they can reproduce vulnerable code patterns, and suggest outdated libraries, vulnerable versions of popular libraries, or plain insecure defaults. If those flaws slip into production, the cost of remediation skyrockets, and the organization’s attack surface expands overnight.

Imagine your agentic AI workflows and GenAI coding assistants can autonomously leverage Snyk for security scanning and fixing? Here’s a teaser in the form of the MCP server integrated with our Snyk CLI.. 

What are you looking at? This is Cursor agentic mode using Snyk CLI MCP Server to scan and find vulnerable third-party dependencies and insecure code, such as a NoSQL injection flaw in an Express route handler.

The need for AI security

Many technology companies have begun to feel the tension of developers rushing to adopt GenAI coding tools and the need for AI security guardrails. They want to unlock the productivity gains of GenAI, yet every new pull request generated by an assistant carries uncertainty:

• Are dependencies up-to-date and free of known exploits?

• Do helper snippets bypass input validation or authorization checks?

• Will the generated code erode hard-won security posture over time?

Without purposeful guardrails, AI becomes a force multiplier for technical debt rather than innovation. Teams need a way to keep developers in their fast feedback loops while automatically flagging and fixing security issues at the moment code is suggested.

That is exactly the gap Snyk is closing for AI security concerns. By bringing its developer-first security engine into the AI workflow developers experience from the CLI to their IDE of choice, Snyk makes it possible to embrace coding assistants and GenAI coding practices without compromising on safety, compliance, or speed.

For example, the following screenshot of VS Code IDE shows code generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT proposing a Node.js file upload server. Upon copying the code to VS Code and saving it, the Snyk extension for VS Code scans the file, finds a path traversal vulnerability, and suggests a fix with its AI-powered capabilities:

MCP Servers: Elevating the Developer Experience

MCPs are the new glue that connects Agentic AI workflows with distributed and independent function calls, and Snyk is here for it, making developer-first security truly accessible and autonomous for developers.

Developers thrive on fast feedback loops and friction-free tooling. Yet every new integration point can slow them down, especially when security checks require hopping between the command prompt, an App UI, or configuring a custom webhook. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) flips that script by giving AI agents and security tools a common “plug-and-play” language: a lightweight, open standard that lets any coding assistant ask a tool for context (or hand it code) in a predictable way.

Snyk security, now as an MCP Server

We’re excited to unveil the Snyk CLI MCP Server - a hosted endpoint that brings Snyk’s developer-first security engine directly into any MCP-compliant coding assistant via the Snyk CLI.

What advantages do developers get from using Snyk through the MCP Server? We build on the foundation to deliver key winning value propositions for engineering teams:

1. Native in-agent security by Snyk: Your preferred assistant, whether it is Continue.dev, Qodo, Cursor, Windsurf, or what comes next, can now call Snyk with a single familiar interface: the MCP. Vulnerability scanning happens right inside the agentic mode workflow, so there’s no context-switching or waiting for CI to catch issues.

2. Zero-setup interoperability: Because the Snyk CLI speaks MCP, you don’t need custom configuration or resort to custom scripts or community hacks. Drop in the server URL, authenticate once via OAuth, and every compliant MCP Client auto-discovers Snyk’s open source dependency scanning and static code analysis security scanning. With more Tools to come!

By reducing integration overhead to near-zero, the Snyk CLI MCP Server lets teams adopt GenAI tools at the speed of vibe coding while keeping application security embedded in every keystroke. 

How to get started with Snyk CLI MCP Server

To get started with using Snyk via its MCP Server, you first need to ensure you are using the Snyk CLI version >= 1.1296.2

Upgrade the Snyk CLI to a version that supports MCP Server capabilities:

npm i -g snyk@^1.1296.2

How to run the Snyk CLI MCP Server via your preferred transport type (both SSE and STDIO are supported):

snyk mcp -t sse --experimental

# OR with STDIO 

snyk mcp -t stdio --experimental

Mostly, you’d need to run these commands as part of an MCP Server integration to an MCP Client or MCP Host (like Cursor, Windsurf, Qodo, and such). Here’s a code snippet and screenshot showing how to add Snyk through MCP Support to Cursor with the .cursor/mcp.json file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "snyk-security": {
            "command": "snyk",
            "args": ["mcp", "-t", "stdio", "--experimental"]
        }
    }
}

Snyk now exposes several tools as part of the MCP Server integration and you can either prompt for this information as part of a GenAI code chat or fully autonomous agentic workflows:

Here is an example of Snyk finding vulnerable SQL Injection line of code:

Play Video: AI Security Guardrails with Snyk MCP Server

Are you concerned the LLM might suggest malicious or vulnerable versions of third-party dependencies? Snyk can find those too as part of the MCP Server tools available to the agentic workflows:

Play Video: AI Security Guardrails with Snyk MCP Server

Secure GenAI, At the Speed of LLMs

GenAI will keep accelerating how we build software, but only if security keeps pace. By embedding its vulnerability intelligence inside the open MCP ecosystem, Snyk meets developers where ideas first take shape: the IDE. With Snyk and the new MCP Server, every AI-generated line of code is checked before it ever lands in a branch, before it is even committed, and every third-party dependency is vetted through the Snyk vulnerability database the moment it is suggested by agentic workflows such as Cursor’s YOLO mode and others.

Best of all? Combining Snyk’s CLI MCP Server with the (free) Snyk VS Code extension, you get an integrated and immersive AI security guardrails that allow for vulnerable code detection and AI-powered security fixes.

With the launch of the hosted Snyk CLI MCP Server, teams no longer have to choose between velocity and vigilance. They get both. So plug it in, keep your favorite coding assistant, and ship with the confidence that Snyk has your back from the first autocomplete code to cloud deploy.