APSA
Evidence-first security audits for Android and iOS.
This English README is the source of truth. The Korean README follows it.
APSA helps developers and security teams audit their own mobile apps. It inspects source code and APK/IPA builds, correlates public vulnerability information, and keeps evidence, coverage, and report history together. Use the CLI, terminal UI, or the same audit engine through MCP and reusable skills.
Pronounced “ap-sah”; Korean name 앱사. The name connects “app + audit” with App Security Audit. APSA combines the earlier Quaygate lint engine and Mobile Audit workflows in one package.
What it checks
| Area | Available checks |
|---|---|
| Source code | Java/Kotlin/Swift AST analysis; WebView and deep-link patterns; Manifest, Info.plist, storage, and dependency inspection |
| Android builds | DEX calls and constant flow; resources and network configuration; exported components/providers; signing-block and v1 certificate evidence; ELF hardening |
| iOS builds | Mach-O headers; limited entitlement/configuration checks (embedded XML entitlements, ATS exceptions, provisioning indicators); PIE, canary, and string evidence |
| Public intelligence | Apple/Android advisories, CVE, CISA KEV, OWASP guidance, and OSV dependency correlation |
| Reports and CI | SQLite history, comparison and reassessment, JSON/Markdown/SARIF export, coverage requirements, and expiring waivers |
| Runtime | Prepared scenarios for owned Android test apps and iOS simulator apps; physical iOS devices are unsupported |
| Model integration | stdio MCP tools/resources and packaged skills, without a required model provider or LLM API key |
Findings distinguish candidate, configuration-confirmed, version-affected, and runtime-confirmed evidence. coverage and warnings show what actually ran. A signing block does not prove signature authenticity, and an affected dependency version does not prove exploitability. A scan with no findings does not establish that the whole app is secure.
OWASP mappings describe relevant checks; APSA does not certify MASVS compliance or implement every MASTG test. Public advisories cannot reveal undisclosed zero-days. App files alone cannot establish a device's OS patch state. See OWASP coverage and the support matrix, both currently in Korean, for tested scope and limits.
Install and run
Install uv on macOS or Linux. APSA targets CPython 3.11 and 3.12; not every host/Python combination has been tested (see the support matrix). The examples select Python 3.12, which uv can download if needed. Initial installation can use the network; scans can then use local inputs and cached intelligence.
Install the published package from PyPI:
uv tool install --python 3.12 apsa==1.0.5
apsa --version
apsa doctor --json
apsa demo --out ./apsa-demo
The package provides apsa and the compatibility aliases quaygate and mobile-audit. If the command is not found, run uv tool update-shell and open a new terminal. GitHub Releases provides the wheel, source distribution, checksums, and a verified bundle with locked requirements, attribution, and the build manifest.
For development or installation with the repository's locked dependencies, use a checkout:
git clone https://github.com/ictechgy/apsa.git
cd apsa
uv sync --locked --python 3.12
uv run --locked apsa doctor --json
uv run --locked apsa demo --out ./apsa-demo
doctor checks parsers, optional device tools, and offline readiness. demo writes an intentionally vulnerable example and scans it; choose a new output directory.
To register the checkout's commands on your PATH:
uv tool install --editable . --force --python 3.12 --constraints requirements-release.txt
apsa --version
This registers apsa and the compatibility aliases quaygate and mobile-audit. --force replaces existing tools with those command names. An editable installation depends on this checkout; keep it in place. If the command is not found, run uv tool update-shell and open a new terminal. The examples below assume apsa is on PATH. Without a global installation, prefix them with uv run --locked from the checkout.
apsa scan /path/to/owned/mobile-project
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app.apk
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app.ipa --sbom /path/to/build.cdx.json
apsa tui
Use a CycloneDX JSON SBOM from the actual build to improve dependency correlation. tui, or apsa without arguments, opens the terminal interface. Run apsa COMMAND --help for options.
Public intelligence and network use
A default scan reads local files and cached intelligence without uploading source code or builds. Public-feed collection and OSV queries use the network:
| Command | Network behavior |
|---|---|
apsa scan TARGET |
Uses local inputs and cached intelligence |
apsa intel sync |
Fetches public vulnerability sources |
apsa intel watch |
Polls public sources and reassesses saved inventories; does not reread app files or implicitly query OSV |
apsa scan TARGET --online |
Sends discovered dependency names and versions to OSV |
apsa intel watch --online |
Also sends saved dependency names and versions to OSV |
apsa intel sync
apsa intel status
apsa intel watch --interval 900
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app --online
Watch polls every 900 seconds by default, with a 60-second minimum; it is not a push stream. It runs until interrupted unless --cycles sets a finite number of polls. Reassessment saves a new snapshot when findings, coverage, or intelligence state changes. Inspect feed freshness, failures, and pending CVE processing with intel status. Fetching a CVE document and completing its processing are separate states. The default pending-item policy allows no backlog; use intel_max_pending to set an explicit allowance.
apsa reports reassess latest
apsa reports compare audit_BEFORE audit_AFTER
apsa reports export latest --format sarif --out audit.sarif
apsa reports verify
Reassessment applies current intelligence to a saved inventory; run scan again for changed files or new static checks. If connected to an AI client, that client may send report metadata to its model provider. APSA's MCP context excludes source excerpts, full source files, and screenshot bytes; client-side data handling still depends on the client.
CI and background jobs
apsa policy init --out apsa.toml
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app --policy apsa.toml --out audit.json
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app --fail-on high --include-candidates
apsa scan /path/to/owned/app --background --json
apsa jobs status JOB_ID --json
Severity gates exclude candidate findings by default. Opt in with --include-candidates or the policy's allowed_statuses. Required rules accept only checked or not-applicable coverage; partial execution and missing required checks do not pass. Waivers need a finding ID, a reason, and an expiry date. A background job being completed means it finished; check its audit_incomplete flag and report before treating the audit as complete.
Unreadable source directories and files leave warnings and incomplete coverage; a source tree with no readable supported files fails explicitly. Storage capture failures remain not-run and cannot establish that a canary was deleted.
| Exit code | Meaning for the unified CLI |
|---|---|
0 |
Command completed or policy passed |
1 |
Execution error |
2 |
Invalid arguments |
3 |
Incomplete audit or policy, failed report verification, or failed or partial intelligence synchronization |
4 |
Findings exceeded the configured CI threshold |
130 |
Interrupted |
--json emits an envelope containing ok, data or error, and exit_code; watch emits one JSON envelope per cycle (NDJSON). ok is true for codes 0 and 4; code 4 means evaluation succeeded but the CI threshold was exceeded. CI must check exit_code and the policy result. Reports may still be produced for codes 3 and 4. See the CI example and operations guide (Korean) for policies, backup, limits, and troubleshooting.
MCP and skills
apsa integrations --root /absolute/path/to/owned-apps
apsa mcp --root /absolute/path/to/owned-apps
apsa skill install
apsa context --report latest --json
Use integrations to generate a configuration with the installed executable path, or a python -m apsa fallback when no apsa executable is found. The shape below is illustrative; replace both absolute paths:
{
"mcpServers": {
"apsa": {
"command": "/absolute/path/to/apsa",
"args": ["mcp", "--root", "/absolute/path/to/owned-apps"]
}
}
}
MCP uses stdio and requires an explicit --root; repeat it for multiple roots. integrations defaults to the current directory when no root is supplied. Roots restrict audited targets and access to their reports and jobs. --allow-any-root explicitly removes that restriction. APSA does not change model-client configuration automatically; client authentication belongs to the client.
| Purpose | MCP tools |
|---|---|
| Audits | capabilities, audit_scan, audit_start, audit_reassess |
| Jobs | jobs_list, jobs_status, jobs_cancel |
| Reports | reports_list, reports_get, reports_compare |
| Intelligence | intelligence_sync, intelligence_search, intelligence_get, dependency_check |
| Policy | policy_evaluate |
| Runtime planning | runtime_plan, runtime_devices |
Resources include apsa://rules and apsa://reports/{report_id}. The previous quaygate:// and mobile-audit:// resource schemes remain compatible.
The default server exposes runtime planning. runtime_execute and runtime_start are registered only with --allow-runtime at server startup. Both preview a scenario by default; execute=true runs it. runtime_start starts a cancellable background device job. Runtime tests need an authorized, prepared test app; the default audit does not boot devices or install apps. See the operations guide (Korean) before running a scenario.
skill install copies the packaged APSA skill to ~/.codex/skills/apsa. To install directly into another model runtime's skill directory:
apsa skill install --name apsa --dest /path/to/runtime/skills/apsa
Use --name quaygate or --name mobile-audit to update a skill installed under an older default name; custom edits are preserved unless --force is supplied. integrations reports skill status. For clients without MCP, context provides report context that excludes source excerpts, full source files, and screenshot bytes.
Compatibility and stored data
quaygate and mobile-audit invoke the same unified CLI. Python entry points python -m apsa, python -m quaygate, and python -m mobile_audit remain available. Existing reports and QG-* rule IDs retain their identity.
Data is stored by default in ~/.local/share/mobile-audit. Path precedence is --home → APSA_HOME → QUAYGATE_HOME → MOBILE_AUDIT_HOME → that default. Renaming does not copy the database or move history. Existing MCP configurations must include an authorized --root.
The legacy apk, ipa, and device subcommands retain quick lint output and exit codes 0/1/2; they do not save unified audit history or correlate vulnerability intelligence. Use scan for the full workflow. Older cached OSV records without severity need a fresh scan --online or intel watch --online; reassessment alone cannot recover missing scores.
Development, validation, and licensing
uv sync --locked --extra dev --python 3.12
make test benchmark
make export-release
make release RELEASE_OUT=dist/apsa-local-release
Choose a new or empty release directory. Release verification requires uv 0.12.1 and builds wheel/sdist twice, compares their hashes, and checks a clean installation outside the checkout with offline source/APK scans, MCP, and skill installation. It writes hashes, an SBOM, dependency notices, and a release manifest without publishing. Initial dependency preparation can use the network. The same-host repeat check does not claim byte-identical builds across platforms.
Tagged releases use GitHub Actions to publish the verified distributions to PyPI after the supported CI matrix passes. See release publishing for the workflow and download contents.
Recorded product validation is in RELEASE_READINESS.md. The curated benchmark is a regression corpus, not a measure of production detection rates. Integration boundaries and the threat model are currently in Korean. Historical reviews remain tied to their original snapshots.
The source is publicly available on GitHub. LICENSE preserves the original Quaygate MIT notice. This publication does not declare an additional license for the combined product.
Metadata
Release files for apsa 1.0.5
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
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| apsa-1.0.5.tar.gz | 456.9 kB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| apsa-1.0.5-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 633.7 kB
Release files / apsa-1.0.5.tar.gz
| Download URL | apsa-1.0.5.tar.gz |
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| Size | 456.9 kB |
| Tags | Source |
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| Tags | Python 3 |
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| Uploaded via |
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|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Oct 8, 2026.
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