recess-cli@3.12.0

Safe Recess administration and family AI tools from the command line.

AI Security Review

scanned 14d ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

The package has an automatic postinstall that modifies Codex and Claude skill directories by installing its own skill. Policy classifies first-party package-owned agent extension setup as suspicious and warning-only; the inspected behavior does not establish a malicious attack.

Static reason

One or more suspicious static signals were detected.; previous stored version diff introduced dangerous source

Trigger

Installing the published npm package.

Impact

This changes agent skill configuration without a separate CLI setup command; the observed behavior is package-owned skill setup, not a confirmed attack.

Mechanism

The hook imports the bundled setup module, which replaces the recess-cli skill directories and removes a superseded recess-admin skill directory.

AI rationale

Evidence

scripts/postinstall.mjsdist/setup.js

Decision evidence

public snapshot

AI called this Suspicious at 88.0% confidence as Dangerous Capability with medium false-positive risk.

Evidence for warning

package.json defines a postinstall hook that runs scripts/postinstall.mjs.
The published-install hook calls installSkill() without a consent prompt.
installSkill() replaces the recess-cli skill in agent skill directories and removes a superseded skill directory.
The skill destinations are the user's Codex and Claude skill directories.
apps init writes AGENTS.md only when that explicit command runs.
Authentication sends an SSO assertion to the configured Recess API origin.

Evidence against

The postinstall hook skips source checkouts and imports the package's own setup module.
The installation behavior is first-party agent skill setup, which is warning-only under policy.
The inspected authentication flow sends an SSO assertion to the API origin configured by the CLI.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNetworkShell

Supply chain

Source & flagged code

5 flagged

package.jsonView file

Lines 44-66json

44 "esbuild": "^0.28.2",

45 "openapi-typescript": "^7.8.0",

46 "oxlint": "^1.28.0",

47 "oxlint-tsgolint": "^0.6.0",

48 "typescript": "^5.9.2",

49 "vitest": "^1.6.0",

50 "@tryrecess/typescript-config": "0.0.0"

51 },

52 "scripts": {

53 "build": "tsgo",

54 "client:generate": "node scripts/generate-api-types.mjs",

55 "typecheck": "tsgo --noEmit",

56 "format": "oxfmt --ignore-path .oxfmtignore --check",

57 "format:fix": "oxfmt --ignore-path .oxfmtignore",

58 "lint": "oxlint --type-aware src/*.ts src/commands/*.ts",

59 "lint:fix": "oxlint --type-aware --fix src/*.ts src/commands/*.ts",

60 "test": "vitest run",

61 "install-local": "pnpm run build && make install-local",

62 "install-persistent": "pnpm run build && make install-persistent",

63 "install-skill": "pnpm run build && node scripts/install-skill.mjs",

64 "postinstall": "node scripts/postinstall.mjs"

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L64

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L64

65 }

66}

dist/commands/onboarding.jsView file

Lines 544-584javascript

544 const body = grade === undefined ? {} : { grade };

545 return writeCommand(parsed, {

546 action: "provision or reconnect the kid's Math Academy account (vendor write; cannot be automatically undone)",

scripts/postinstall.mjsView file

Lines 10-45javascript

10// 1. Never fail the install. A read-only HOME, a sandboxed CI runner, or a

11// missing build all exit 0 — a skill copy is not worth a failed upgrade.

12// 2. Never run from a source checkout. In the monorepo `pnpm install` fires

13// postinstall for the workspace package too, where dist/ may be stale or

14// absent; writing a developer's half-built skill into their real agent

15// directories would be a surprising side effect of `pnpm install`.

16// 3. Stay quiet on success. One line, on stderr, so it cannot pollute a

17// piped `--json` envelope if anything ever invokes this indirectly.

18import fs

dist/update-notice.jsView file

•matchType = previous_version_dangerous_delta matchedPackage = recess-cli@2.7.0 matchedIdentity = npm:cmVjZXNzLWNsaQ:2.7.0 similarity = 0.400 summary = stored previous version shares package body but lacks this dangerous source file

High

Previous Version Dangerous Delta

This package version adds a dangerous source file absent from the previous stored version; route for source-aware review.

dist/update-notice.jsView on unpkg

Source & flagged code

5 flagged · loading source

package.jsonView file

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/postinstall.mjs

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/postinstall.mjs

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg

dist/commands/onboarding.jsView file

564patternName = generic_password severity = medium line = 564

Medium

Secret Pattern

Package contains a possible secret pattern.

dist/commands/onboarding.jsView on unpkg · L564

Findings

2 High6 Medium5 Low

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

HighPrevious Version Dangerous Deltadist/update-notice.js

MediumAmbiguous Install Lifecycle Scriptpackage.json

MediumSecret Patterndist/commands/onboarding.js

MediumDynamic Requirescripts/postinstall.mjs

MediumNetwork

MediumEnvironment Vars

MediumStructural Risk Force Deep Review

LowScripts Present

LowFilesystem

LowHigh Entropy Strings

LowUrl Strings

LowNo License

Affected versions and remediation

This report applies to recess-cli@3.12.0.

See all versions of recess-cli for other recorded verdicts.

Review the evidence and your use of recess-cli@3.12.0 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.

Evidence last updated: 2026-10-09 10:15:41.290Z (UTC).

Think this verdict is wrong? Dispute it on GitHub or read how reports are produced.