Documentation Ways to access Guardian · Menu
Ways to access Guardian
There are five ways to reach Guardian. Four of them run entirely on hardware you control, and the fifth does not exist yet. This page says which is which, and what each one needs from you.
Compare methods
| Method | Intended user | Account | Internet | Data location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local CLI | Developers and automation | No account is involved in a local scan | Not required — the scan help states scans never use the network | Your machine | Verified |
| macOS application | Developers who prefer a graphical interface | No account — a name and email are asked for at download | Not required for a scan; macOS may check the app’s notarization with Apple | Your machine | Verified |
| Your CI/CD pipeline | Engineering teams enforcing a release gate | Whatever your CI provider already requires | Whatever your CI environment already does | Your own CI runner | Preview |
| Generated reports | Developers, QA, security reviewers and release managers | None for a locally generated report | Not required to generate or open one | The output path you choose | Verified |
| Sanitized findings sharing | Teams that choose connected collaboration | A separate product, with its own account | Required, only if you enable it | Only findings you have inspected and approved | Planned |
How Guardian reaches a project
- You point it at a local project.
A directory that already exists on your machine or on your CI runner. Guardian does not fetch anything and does not ask where your code is hosted.
- It detects the project structure.
Flutter, native iOS or native Android, and which analysis paths apply to what it found.
- It reads the files the enabled checks need.
Project manifests, platform and release configuration, dependency declarations and source. Nothing is transmitted to read them.
- It writes findings and a report locally.
To the path you choose. The report is a file you own from the moment it exists.
- Sharing is a separate, explicit decision.
Nothing leaves the machine unless you send it. There is no automatic upload of any kind.
What Guardian never asks for
Normal scanning needs none of the following. If something claiming to be Guardian asks you for any of them, that is worth a second look.
- Source code upload
- APK or IPA upload
- Signing certificates or signing keys
- Provisioning profiles
- Environment secrets or API tokens
- Production database credentials
- Production database rows
- Raw reports sent anywhere automatically
Method by method
Local CLI
VerifiedThe command surface is verified from the bundled CLI’s help output. The CLI is bundled inside the macOS application.
- You point the CLI at a project directory that already exists on your machine.
- It detects the project structure, runs the enabled analyzers over local files, and writes findings and a report locally.
- There is no upload step in a scan, and no account to create.
- Download the macOS application to get the CLI; Settings shows where it is. The getting-started guide shows how to confirm it works.
macOS application
VerifiedSigned and notarized. Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later.
- The macOS application is a native front end that calls the same local engine through a JSON boundary, which keeps the CLI as the source of truth.
- The download is a signed and notarized disk image for Apple-silicon Macs running macOS 15 or later. It is free under the Guardian licence.
- The app bundles the local engine, so nothing else needs to be installed to scan a project.
Your CI/CD pipeline
PreviewThe commands are verified. The installation step inside CI is not, so the templates mark it explicitly.
- Guardian runs inside the runner you already control. It is the same CLI, invoked by your pipeline.
- Nothing is sent to a Guardian service. Your CI provider still processes your repository under your own configuration — that is your existing arrangement with them, not something Guardian introduces.
- The templates leave the installation step clearly marked, because there is no separate public CI installer yet.
Generated reports
VerifiedText, JSON, SARIF, GitLab and HTML are verified from the CLI’s help output.
- A report is a file Guardian writes where you tell it to. Nothing is uploaded to produce one.
- Reports are the usual way a non-developer sees Guardian output: a QA lead or release manager reads the HTML report rather than running the CLI.
- A report can contain file paths and project structure, so review one before sharing it outside your team.
Sanitized findings sharing
PlannedNot built. Nothing leaves your machine today by any route Guardian provides.
- An optional future integration would send normalized, redacted findings — never source, builds, binaries, secrets or raw reports.
- It would be off by default, and would require you to inspect the exact outbound payload and approve it.
- A failure in any connected feature must never prevent a local scan from completing.
- Guardian is independently usable, and understanding any other product is not a prerequisite for using it.