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Show HN: Globstar – Open-source static analysis toolkit

Feb 28, 2025 - news.ycombinator.com
Jai and Sanket, co-founders of DeepSource, have open-sourced Globstar, a static analysis toolkit designed to allow users to write and run custom code quality and security checkers using YAML or Go. After years of developing AST-based static analyzers at DeepSource, they identified a demand from customers for the ability to create custom checks tailored to specific codebases. Globstar leverages tree-sitter for its framework, enabling rapid creation of new checkers and making it accessible to users without requiring expertise in static analysis. The toolkit focuses on providing a fast, flexible, and reliable checker runtime, using tree-sitter's native query syntax to give users direct access to their code's AST structure.

Globstar is designed with a gradual learning curve, offering a simple YAML interface for basic checkers and a more complex Go interface for advanced features like cross-file analysis and data flow analysis. The toolkit is written in Go with native tree-sitter bindings and is distributed as a single binary under the MIT license. Users can write checkers in a ".globstar" folder within their repository and execute them with a simple command. Globstar supports over 20 languages through tree-sitter and aims to address the needs of AppSec and DevOps teams by enabling them to enforce learned anti-patterns and security rules across their organizations.

Key takeaways:

  • DeepSource has open-sourced Globstar, a static analysis toolkit that allows users to write custom code quality and security checkers in YAML or Go.
  • Globstar leverages tree-sitter for creating checkers, enabling direct access to the code's actual AST structure, which enhances rule accuracy and debugging.
  • The toolkit is designed with a gradual learning curve, offering a simple YAML interface for basic checkers and a more complex Go interface for advanced scenarios.
  • Globstar supports multi-language analysis through tree-sitter and is distributed as a single binary under the MIT license.
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