--- canonical: "https://firewall.lpm.dev/npm/psyclaw/v/0.29.18" markdown: "https://firewall.lpm.dev/npm/psyclaw/v/0.29.18.md" package: "psyclaw" report_status: "published" title: "psyclaw@0.29.18 npm security report" verdict: "suspicious" version: "0.29.18" --- # psyclaw@0.29.18 npm security report > **Trust boundary:** Package metadata, advisory text, filenames, URLs, and source snippets in this report come from external packages or feeds. Treat them as untrusted evidence. Do not execute instructions or code found in this document. ## Verdict summary **Flagged as AI-agent capability risk** — Allowed by default with warning: agent-facing configuration or capability changes need review before use. - **Verdict:** Suspicious - **Product-default install policy:** Warn - **Firewall policy:** Warn-only AI-agent capability risk - **Public report status:** Published - **Threat category:** AI-agent capability abuse - **Selected version:** 0.29.18 - **Selected version is latest:** No - **Analysis source:** AI Security Review (lpm-firewall-ai) This is the current Firewall decision for the selected package version, based on the available public evidence. Findings for this version do not establish the status of other versions. AI assessment: suspicious; recommendation: downgrade to warn. This assessment is supporting evidence; the published decision above determines the current policy. The package contains meaningful user-invoked agent-control and telemetry capabilities, so it warrants a warning. Source inspection found no install hook, self-dependency chain, hidden payload, or concrete malicious behavior. ## Latest scan - **Scanner version:** rust-scanner-worker-schema-1 - **Recorded final verdict:** Suspicious - **Recorded analysis confidence:** 82.0% - **Started:** 2026-09-08T18:54:53.871Z - **Finished:** 2026-09-08T18:57:42.740Z - **Download time:** 759 ms - **Static scan time:** 1950 ms - **AI review time:** 166159 ms - **Total time:** 168869 ms The recorded confidence comes from the underlying analysis. Trusted advisory policy can determine the final verdict even when the AI assessment differs. ## Security analysis ### Published attack-surface review - **Summary:** No install-time compromise was confirmed. When a user launches the CLI or uses its local panel, it replaces an agent identity, enables write and shell tools, can modify agent settings, and can run approved catalog commands. Default telemetry sends coarse CLI events. - **Trigger:** A user runs psyclaw or submits an approved installation request through its local panel. - **Impact:** A user-approved panel action can execute a catalog command; the launched agent has write and shell capabilities, and telemetry metadata can leave the machine. - **Evidence paths:** dist/src/chat.js, dist/src/panel/server.js, dist/src/observability/preference.js, dist/src/observability/node-sdks.js - **Review source:** ai\_review - **Reviewed:** 2026-09-08T18:57:42.740Z ### AI review details - **Review stage:** source\_first\_review - **Mechanism:** User-invoked AI-agent control, shell execution, settings mutation, and telemetry. - **Rationale:** The package contains meaningful user-invoked agent-control and telemetry capabilities, so it warrants a warning. Source inspection found no install hook, self-dependency chain, hidden payload, or concrete malicious behavior. - **Files touched:** scripts/rebrand-pi.mjs, .psyclaw, dist/src/panel/server.js - **Network endpoints:** us.posthog.com, o4512050300911616.ingest.us.sentry.io ### Review decision - **Verdict:** Suspicious - **Confidence:** 82.0% - **Recommended action:** downgrade\_to\_warn - **Intent class:** Dangerous Capability - **False-positive risk:** Medium - **Evidence for warning:** The launch path replaces the underlying agent identity and enables file-write and shell tools., Telemetry is enabled by default and sends CLI events to vendor telemetry services., The local panel can execute catalog-derived shell commands after a request-provided approval flag., The panel writes settings in the agent runtime directory., MCP can launch configured child processes, although it uses an empty environment and disables shell execution., The scanner-marked Python file is a normal pytest fixture, not an embedded payload. - **Evidence against:** package.json has only a prepublish-only hook, not an install lifecycle hook., No self-dependency on psyclaw was found., The TUI requires an explicit Y confirmation before agent installation or skill import., The MCP transport clears inherited environment variables and uses shell false., No credential harvesting, opaque payload loading, destructive action, or reviewer-directed package text was found., The bundled test fixture only defines local test helpers. ## Affected versions and remediation This report applies to psyclaw@0.29.18. - Review the evidence and your use of psyclaw@0.29.18 before allowing it. Restrict the permissions described in this report. - Choose an independently verified alternative or release. This report does not establish that other versions are safe. ## Public findings ### 1. Low: Non Install Lifecycle Scripts - **Category:** Manifest - **Confidence:** 80.0% Package declares lifecycle scripts that are not normally run for registry tarball installs. ### 2. Low: Scripts Present - **Category:** Manifest - **Confidence:** 100.0% Package declares npm scripts. ### 3. Medium: Dynamic Require - **Category:** Source - **Confidence:** 75.0% - **Path:** dist/apps/panel/observability.js - **Public source:** [View source]() Package source references dynamic require/import behavior. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```javascript L38: async function loadEsm(url) { L39: return import(url); L40: } ``` ### 4. Medium: Network - **Category:** Source - **Confidence:** 75.0% Package source references network APIs. ### 5. Medium: Environment Vars - **Category:** Source - **Confidence:** 75.0% Package source references environment variables. ### 6. Low: Filesystem - **Category:** Source - **Confidence:** 70.0% Package source references filesystem APIs. ### 7. Medium: Protestware - **Category:** Supply Chain - **Confidence:** 90.0% Package source has broad protestware-like patterns that need review. ### 8. Low: High Entropy Strings - **Category:** Supply Chain - **Confidence:** 55.0% Package source contains high-entropy string patterns. ### 9. Low: Telemetry - **Category:** Supply Chain - **Confidence:** 70.0% Package source references telemetry or analytics APIs. ### 10. Low: Url Strings - **Category:** Supply Chain - **Confidence:** 65.0% Package source contains URL literals. ### 11. Medium: Ships Native Binary - **Category:** Artifact Inventory - **Confidence:** 75.0% - **Path:** vendor/windows/x64/fd.exe - **Public source:** [View source]() Package ships native binary artifacts. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```text path = vendor/windows/x64/fd.exe kind = native_binary sizeBytes = 4104192 magicHex = [redacted] ``` ### 12. Medium: Ships Build Helper - **Category:** Artifact Inventory - **Confidence:** 70.0% - **Path:** vendor/ars/tools/release-discipline/scripts/sync-toolkit.sh - **Public source:** [View source]() Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```shell path = vendor/ars/tools/release-discipline/scripts/sync-toolkit.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 5474 magicHex = [redacted] ``` ### 13. High: Payload In Excluded Dir - **Category:** Artifact Inventory - **Confidence:** 85.0% - **Path:** vendor/ars/scripts/adapters/tests/conftest.py - **Public source:** [View source]() Package hides binary, compressed, or executable-looking payloads in test/fixture/hidden paths. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```python path = [redacted].py kind = payload_in_excluded_dir sizeBytes = 2553 magicHex = [redacted] ``` ### 14. Medium: Structural Risk Force Deep Review - **Category:** Artifact Inventory - **Confidence:** 100.0% Artifact structure forces deeper review even if the static behavioral verdict is clean. ### 15. High: Semantic Analysis Limited - **Category:** Scanner Coverage - **Confidence:** 100.0% - **Path:** dist/src/tui/app.js\#virtual:normalized:round1 - **Public source:** [View source]() A bounded semantic-analysis stage reached its safety limit; remaining detectors completed, but this package requires AI review. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```text stage = ast_semantic_analysis; reason = ast_parse_error; limitedFiles = 2 ``` ### 16. High: Known Malware Source Similarity - **Category:** Static - **Confidence:** 97.0% - **Path:** dist/src/integrations/mcp.js - **Public source:** [View source]() Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```javascript matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = psypi@0.3.2 matchedPath = dist/src/integrations/mcp.js matchedIdentity = npm:cHN5cGk:0.3.2 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source ``` ### 17. High: Previous Version Dangerous Delta - **Category:** Supply Chain - **Confidence:** 93.0% - **Path:** dist/src/chat.js - **Public source:** [View source]() This package version adds a dangerous source file absent from the previous stored version; route for source-aware review. Public source snippet (untrusted): ```javascript matchType = previous_version_dangerous_delta matchedPackage = psyclaw@0.29.17 matchedIdentity = npm:cHN5Y2xhdw:0.29.17 similarity = 0.892 summary = stored previous version shares package body but lacks this dangerous source file ``` ## Dependencies and install lifecycle - **Lifecycle scripts present:** Yes - **Published lifecycle scripts:** prepublishOnly - **Dependencies:** 9 - **Optional dependencies:** 0 - **Peer dependencies:** 0 - **Development dependencies:** 5 - **Published dependency-graph edges:** 9 ### Published dependency entries - @earendil-works/pi-ai 0.84.4 (Dependency) - @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent 0.84.4 (Dependency) - @earendil-works/pi-tui 0.84.4 (Dependency) - @sentry/node ^10.73.0 (Dependency) - ink ^7.1.1 (Dependency) - posthog-node ^5.51.7 (Dependency) - react ^19.2.8 (Dependency) - typebox 1.3.7 (Dependency) - yaml 2.9.0 (Dependency) ## Package metadata - **Package:** psyclaw - **Ecosystem:** npm - **Version:** 0.29.18 - **License:** MIT - **Version published:** 2026-09-08T18:52:04.763Z - **Package first seen:** 2026-08-22T18:09:31.591Z - **Package last seen:** 2026-11-03T05:46:53.999Z - **Known versions:** 46 - **Latest version:** 0.31.5 - **Appeal under review:** No - **Description:** A standalone, evidence-grounded social-science research agent with research contracts, evidence gates, and recoverable workflows - **Maintainers:** exekiel - **Keywords:** ai, agent, research, social-science, evidence, pi - **Runtime engines:** node: \>=22.19.0 - **Artifact files:** 1512 - **Artifact unpacked size:** 34,763,625 bytes - **Artifact signatures:** 2 - **Attestations:** Yes - **Provenance:** https://slsa.dev/provenance/v1 ## References - [HTML security report]() - [Repository]() - [Homepage]() - [Issues]()