
Scanning Modes at a Glance
| Mode | What You Need | Command | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | URL | vigolium scan -t URL --strategy lite | Audit only, no discovery |
| Balanced | URL | vigolium scan -t URL | Discovery + spidering + known-issue-scan + audit |
| Deep | URL | vigolium scan -t URL --strategy deep | Adds external harvesting to balanced |
| Whitebox | URL + source code | vigolium scan -t URL --source ./app --strategy whitebox | SAST route extraction + discovery + known-issue-scan + audit |
| Whitebox (remote) | URL + git repo | vigolium scan -t URL --source-url GIT_URL --strategy whitebox | Same as whitebox, clones the repo first |
| SAST-only | Source code | vigolium scan -t URL --source ./app --only sast | Static analysis only, no dynamic scanning |
| Agent | Source code + AI backend | vigolium agent --prompt-template X --repo ./app | AI-powered code review |
| Extension | URL + JS/YAML extensions | vigolium run extension -t URL --ext script.js | Run only custom extension modules |
| Full Combined | URL + source code + AI backend | Multi-step (see full-scan.md) | SAST + agent + dynamic for maximum coverage |
Decision Guide
Phase Execution Pipeline
Phases execute in this order. Each strategy enables a subset of these phases:Strategy Comparison
| Phase | Lite | Balanced | Deep | Whitebox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| External Harvesting | - | - | yes | - |
| Discovery | - | yes | yes | yes |
| Spidering | - | yes | yes | - |
| KnownIssueScan | - | yes | yes | yes |
| Audit | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Source-Aware (SAST) | - | - | - | yes |
--strategy is not specified.
Phase Aliases
Several phases have short aliases that work with--only and --skip:
| Alias | Canonical Phase |
|---|---|
deparos | discovery |
discover | discovery |
spitolas | spidering |
dynamic-assessment | audit |
ext | extension |
Phase Control: --only and --skip
These two flags are mutually exclusive. Using both produces an error.
--only <phase> — Run a Single Phase
Disables all other phases and turns off heuristics.
ingestion, discovery (deparos), spidering (spitolas), external-harvest, known-issue-scan, sast, audit (dynamic-assessment), extension (ext)
--skip <phase> — Skip Specific Phases
Disables named phases while keeping all others enabled by the strategy.
discovery (deparos), external-harvest, spidering (spitolas), known-issue-scan, sast, audit (dynamic-assessment), extension (ext)
vigolium run <phase> Shortcut
vigolium run <phase> is a direct alias for vigolium scan --only <phase>:
Scanning Profiles
A scanning strategy only toggles phases on/off. A scanning profile goes further — it bundles strategy, pace, scope, discovery, spidering, and module configuration into a single YAML file that overrides the main config when selected.Using a Profile
Creating a Custom Profile
Create a YAML file in~/.vigolium/profiles/. The first line can contain a # description: comment that appears in vigolium strategy ls.
A profile can override any combination of these config sections (omitted sections keep their main config values):
scanning_strategy, scanning_pace, discovery, spidering, known_issue_scan, audit, external_harvester, mutation_strategy, scope.
Profile Configuration
Set a default profile or change the profiles directory invigolium-configs.yaml:
Override Precedence
Profiles slot between CLI flags and the main config file:- CLI flags (
--strategy,-c,--discover-max-time, etc.) --scanning-profile/scanning_strategy.scanning_profile- Main config file (
vigolium-configs.yaml) - Built-in defaults
Detailed Guides
- Blackbox Scanning — Dynamic scanning without source code
- Extension Scanning — Custom JS/YAML extension modules
- Whitebox Scanning — Static analysis with source code
- Whitebox + Agent Scanning — AI-enhanced source code analysis
- Full Combined Scan — Maximum coverage with all capabilities
