Snyk is a developer-first application security platform that finds and fixes vulnerabilities across code, open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure as code — integrated directly into the tools developers already use. It sits at the intersection of DevSecOps and developer productivity: instead of handing vulnerability reports back to a security team, Snyk surfaces issues in IDEs, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines so the developer who introduced the problem can also fix it. The key mental model is that security debt compounds just like technical debt — Snyk's value multiplies when adopted early in the SDLC rather than as a final gate before release.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 19 focused tables and 125 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
Table 1: Snyk Core Products
The five scanning engines that make up the Snyk platform each target a distinct layer of the software supply chain. Understanding which product addresses which surface is the first step to building a complete coverage picture for any engineering organization.
| Product | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
snyk test (checks dependencies) | SCA engine — finds and fixes known vulnerabilities and license issues in open-source packages and their transitive dependencies. | |
snyk code test (scans first-party code) | SAST engine powered by DeepCode AI — finds security flaws in proprietary source code up to 50× faster than traditional SAST. | |
snyk container test nginx:latest | • Scans container images and Kubernetes workloads for OS package vulns • provides base image upgrade recommendations. |