recess-cli@3.18.0

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

AI Security Review

scanned 10d ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

The install hook performs automatic first-party agent skill setup and replaces existing directories, which warrants a lifecycle risk warning. The inspected code does not establish broader agent configuration changes, credential forwarding, or network activity by the hook.

Static reason

One or more suspicious static signals were detected.

Trigger

Installing the published package runs its postinstall hook.

Impact

Existing skill content can be replaced during installation, changing guidance available to those agents. The inspected hook makes no network request.

Mechanism

The hook imports the bundled installer, which removes the target skill directories and copies in the package's bundled skill.

AI rationale

Evidence

package.jsonscripts/postinstall.mjsdist/setup.jsskill/recess-cli/SKILL.md~/.codex/skills/recess-cli~/.claude/skills/recess-cli~/.codex/skills/recess-admin~/.claude/skills/recess-admin

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.
For a published install, the hook imports dist/setup.js and calls installSkill automatically.
The installer replaces the recess-cli skill directory under the Codex and Claude skill roots and removes the legacy recess-admin directory.
The bundled recess-cli skill routes agents to permission-scoped CLI guidance.

Evidence against

The AGENTS.md write in dist/commands/apps.js occurs only after an explicit apps init command, in the folder supplied by the user.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNetworkShell

Supply chain

HighEntropyStringsUrlStrings

Manifest

NoLicense

scanned 45 file(s), 866 KB of source, external domains: 127.0.0.1, api.recess.gg, example.com, recess.gg

Source & flagged code

4 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": "node node_modules/@tryrecess/typescript-config/bin/tsc-fast.mjs",

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

55 "typecheck": "node node_modules/@tryrecess/typescript-config/bin/tsc-fast.mjs --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

Source & flagged code

4 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

1 High6 Medium5 Low

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

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@3.18.0.

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

Review the evidence and your use of recess-cli@3.18.0 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: 2026-10-12 21:48:21.320Z (UTC).

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