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About the CodeQL CLI

Software developers and security researchers can secure their code using the CodeQL CLI.

The CodeQL CLI is a command-line tool used to run CodeQL processes locally on open source software projects. You can use the CodeQL CLI to:

  • Run CodeQL analyses using queries provided by GitHub engineers and the open source community
  • Create CodeQL databases to use in the CodeQL for Visual Studio Code
  • Develop and test custom CodeQL queries to use in your own analyses

For information about using the CodeQL CLI, see “Getting started with the CodeQL CLI.”

CodeQL CLI commands

The CodeQL CLI includes commands to create and analyze CodeQL databases from the command line. To run a command, use:

codeql [command] [subcommand]

To view the reference documentation for a command, add the --help flag, or visit the “CodeQL CLI manual.”