agentshield
★ 21
vs
mcp-scanner
★ 1.1k
agentshield vs mcp-scanner
agentshield: AgentShield is an offline, high-performance Rust security engine designed to detect risky behaviors in AI agent extensions and MCP servers before deployment. It identifies vulnerabilities like command injection, credential exfiltration, and prompt injection across various AI frameworks.; mcp-scanner: MCP Scanner is a Python tool designed to identify security findings in Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and their associated tools. It leverages a multi-engine approach, combining Cisco AI Defense inspect API, YARA rules, and LLM-as-a-judge for comprehensive threat detection.
01
TL;DR
agentshieldSecurity & Safety · ★ 21
Scan AI agent extensions and tool repositories (e.g., for Claude Desktop, OpenAI Agents SDK) before deployment or integration.
mcp-scannerSecurity & Safety · ★ 1.1k
When to choose:
- You want to check an MCP server's tools, prompts, resources and instructions before you install it.
- You want a scan that works without API keys: the YARA engine needs none.
- You want scans in CI/CD or air-gapped setups: static or offline mode reads pre-generated JSON files.
When to skip:
- You want runtime isolation or access control: a scanner reports issues but does not block calls.
- You treat a clean report as proof of safety: the README's engines can still miss problems.
- You cannot use hosted services: the LLM judge and Cisco API engines need keys.
02
Side-by-Side Comparison
Field
agentshieldmcp-scannerCategory
Security & Safety
Security & Safety
Stars
★ 21
★ 1.1k
License
NOASSERTION
Apache-2.0
Install Command
curl -fsSL https://aiconnai.github.io/agentshield/install.sh | sh
uv tool install --python 3.13 cisco-ai-mcp-scanner
Updated
1w ago
1d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Tags
AI Agent Security, Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Runtime Protection
MCP Security Scanner, AI Defense, LLM Security
03
Features
agentshield01Unified scanning across seven AI agent frameworks (MCP, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, CrewAI, LangChain/LangGraph, GPT Actions, Cursor Rules).
02Deep interprocedural taint analysis for Python and TypeScript to track untrusted inputs.
03Automated remediation for unsafe deserializers and unpinned dependencies via CLI and VS Code extension.
04Real-time runtime guard inspecting tool calls in MCP streams to redact leaked secrets.
05Supports various output formats including console, JSON, SARIF for GitHub Code Scanning, and standalone HTML reports.
mcp-scanner01Multi-Engine Security Analysis: Utilize Yara, LLM-as-judge, and Cisco AI Defense for comprehensive threat detection.
02Vulnerable Packages Scanning: Scan Python dependencies for known vulnerabilities (CVE/PYSEC/GHSA) using pip-audit.
03Behavioral Code Scanning: Analyze source code of MCP servers across multiple languages for threats and behavioral mismatches.
04VirusTotal Binary Scanning: Automatically detect malware in binary files bundled with MCP servers using VirusTotal.
05Static/Offline Scanning: Scan pre-generated JSON files without live server connections for CI/CD or air-gapped environments.
04
Use Cases
agentshield↳Scan AI agent extensions and tool repositories (e.g., for Claude Desktop, OpenAI Agents SDK) before deployment or integration.
↳Integrate into CI/CD pipelines as a GitHub Action for automated security scanning on push/pull requests.
↳Enhance local development with VS Code extension for inline security diagnostics and quick-fixes.
↳Enforce custom security policies using declarative YAML rules to detect organization-specific risks.
mcp-scanner↳Scan remote or stdio MCP servers to discover potential security findings in tools, prompts, and resources.
↳Integrate into CI/CD pipelines for automated security checks of MCP components before deployment.
↳Analyze PyPI and npm packages for malicious behavior, hidden functionalities, or known vulnerabilities.
↳Perform static analysis on pre-generated MCP JSON files in air-gapped environments for reproducible security checks.
↳Detect prompt injection, tool poisoning, misleading guidance, and missing defensive measures in MCP server instructions and prompts.
05
Best For
agentshield—
mcp-scannerEssentialTrending
FAQ
FAQ
What is the difference between agentshield and mcp-scanner?
Both agentshield and mcp-scanner are in the Security & Safety category. agentshield has 21 stars, while mcp-scanner has 1.1k stars.
Which is better, agentshield or mcp-scanner?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose agentshield if Scan AI agent extensions and tool repositories (e.g., for Claude Desktop, OpenAI Agents SDK) before deployment or integration., and mcp-scanner if Scan remote or stdio MCP servers to discover potential security findings in tools, prompts, and resources..
Is agentshield free or open source?
Yes, agentshield is open source on GitHub (NOASSERTION).
Is mcp-scanner free or open source?
Yes, mcp-scanner is open source on GitHub (Apache-2.0).
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