Import Guardian

What import-guardian does

import-guardian MCP server evaluates dependency names before they enter an install command. Its primary workflow accepts generated JavaScript or TypeScript, extracts imported npm packages, and checks whether those names exist and look legitimate. It can identify nonexistent packages, newly published packages, missing repositories, very low download activity, and names that closely resemble popular libraries.

The service reports three outcomes: CLEAN for packages that pass its checks, REVIEW for suspicious but existing packages, and BLOCK for imports that do not exist or match stronger malicious-package signals. A blocked name may include a suggestion for a nearby real package.

The server also accepts an explicit package list and can inspect a single package in greater depth. Its premium lockfile audit extends the review from visible imports to the resolved dependency graph. Supported inputs include npm package-lock.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, Python requirements.txt, poetry.lock, Pipfile.lock, and Go mod or sum files.

How it works

The import-guardian MCP server uses regular-expression extraction rather than an AST. Scoped subpaths are reduced to their package root, so imports such as @scope/pkg/sub are checked as @scope/pkg, while lodash/fp is checked as lodash. Node built-ins, including fs and node:path, and local paths are skipped.

The basic package checks use live registry information such as existence, release age, versions, repository details, and download activity. Similarity checks can identify spelling changes, transpositions, and other likely typosquats. The lockfile tool resolves the complete dependency tree and checks for dependency confusion, transitive typo or homoglyph clones, maintainer-takeover patterns, risky install scripts, and known malicious or vulnerable versions through OSV.dev.

For lockfile audits, deeper analysis can inspect npm package tarballs and PyPI source distributions in memory. It examines lifecycle hooks, setup files, build backends, and related code for behaviors such as credential or environment-data theft, network egress, process execution, obfuscation, and download-and-run logic. Go replacement directives are also checked against the Go module proxy.

Setup and configuration

Run the import-guardian MCP server through npx using an MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "import-guardian": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "import-guardian-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The README presents audit_lockfile as a premium tool; the other listed tools are the code and package checks.

Tools and capabilities

• scan_code_imports: extracts npm imports from generated JavaScript or TypeScript and checks them.
• check_packages: verifies a supplied list of package names.
• verify_package: performs a deeper review of one package, including existence, age, versions, repository, downloads, and similarity to popular packages.
• audit_lockfile: audits resolved dependencies from supported npm, Yarn, pnpm, PyPI, and Go inputs.

Limitations and notes

The import-guardian MCP server focuses on dependency names and resolved dependency metadata; scan_code_imports does not inspect arbitrary program behavior. Its import extraction is regex-based, so it is not a full language parser. The basic scan sees imports that are visible in source, whereas transitive dependencies require the premium lockfile audit.

Registry and advisory results can change as packages are published or databases are updated. A clean result therefore reflects the checks and data available at scan time, not a guarantee that a package is safe in every context.