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Command Structure

kafkacode <command> [options]

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Available Commands

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scan

Scan a directory for privacy issues. 
kafkacode scan <directory> [options]
Arguments:
  • <directory> - Path to the source code directory to scan (required)
Options:
  • -v, --verbose - Print verbose progress updates during the scan
  • -h, --help - Display help for the scan command
Examples: 
# Basic scan
kafkacode scan ./src

# Scan with verbose output
kafkacode scan ./src --verbose

# Scan current directory
kafkacode scan .

# Scan multiple directories (requires loop)
for dir in frontend backend; do
  kafkacode scan $dir
done

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version

Display the installed KafkaCode version. 
kafkacode --version
kafkacode -V
Output: 
1.2.0

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help

Display help information. 
kafkacode --help
kafkacode -h
kafkacode scan --help
Output: 
Usage: kafkacode [options] [command]

KafkaCode - Privacy and Compliance Scanner

Options:
  -V, --version      output the version number
  -h, --help         display help for command

Commands:
  scan [options] <directory>  Scan a directory for privacy issues
  help [command]              display help for command

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Detailed Option Reference

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Verbose Mode

Flag: -v, --verbose Description: Enables detailed progress output during scanning. Usage: 
kafkacode scan ./src --verbose
Standard Output: 
🎯 PRIVACY SCAN REPORT
📊 SCAN SUMMARY
📄 Files Scanned: 25
🔍 Total Issues: 3
Verbose Output: 
🚀 Starting KafkaCode privacy scan...
📁 Discovering source code files...
Found 25 files to analyze
🔍 Performing privacy analysis...

Analyzing: src/config.js
Analyzing: src/auth.js
Analyzing: src/utils/validator.js
...

✅ Analysis complete

🎯 PRIVACY SCAN REPORT
📊 SCAN SUMMARY
📄 Files Scanned: 25
🔍 Total Issues: 3
When to use:
  • Debugging scan issues
  • Understanding what files are being analyzed
  • Monitoring progress on large codebases
  • Troubleshooting file discovery problems

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Exit Codes

KafkaCode returns different exit codes based on scan results:
Exit CodeDescriptionWhen It Occurs
0Success - No issues foundScan completed with zero findings
1Issues found or errorOne or more privacy issues detected, or scan failed

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Exit Code Usage Examples

  • Bash Script
  • CI/CD Pipeline
  • npm Script
#!/bin/bash

# Exit on issues
kafkacode scan ./src || exit 1

# Conditional handling
if kafkacode scan ./src; then
  echo "✅ Scan passed"
  exit 0
else
  echo "❌ Scan failed"
  exit 1
fi

# Store exit code
kafkacode scan ./src
EXIT_CODE=$?

if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "No issues found"
else
  echo "Issues detected"
fi

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Environment Variables

While KafkaCode doesn’t use environment variables for configuration, you can use them in scripts: 
# Set scan directory via env var
export SCAN_DIR="./src"
kafkacode scan $SCAN_DIR

# Conditional verbose mode
export VERBOSE="true"
if [ "$VERBOSE" = "true" ]; then
  kafkacode scan ./src --verbose
else
  kafkacode scan ./src
fi

# CI environment detection
if [ "$CI" = "true" ]; then
  kafkacode scan . --verbose
fi

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Configuration Files

KafkaCode currently doesn’t support configuration files, but automatically respects:

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.gitignore

All patterns in .gitignore are automatically excluded: 
# These will be skipped
*.env
*.key
secrets/
config/local.*

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Built-in Exclusions

Automatically ignored: 
.git/
node_modules/
venv/
build/
dist/
__pycache__/
coverage/

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Integration Patterns

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npm/yarn Scripts

Add to your package.json: 
{
  "scripts": {
    "scan": "kafkacode scan ./src",
    "scan:verbose": "kafkacode scan ./src --verbose",
    "scan:all": "kafkacode scan .",
    "prescan": "echo '🔍 Starting privacy scan...'",
    "postscan": "echo '✅ Privacy scan complete'",
    "test": "npm run scan && jest",
    "precommit": "kafkacode scan ./src"
  }
}

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Pre-commit Hook

Create .git/hooks/pre-commit: 
#!/bin/bash

echo "🔍 Running KafkaCode privacy scan..."

kafkacode scan ./src

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "❌ Privacy issues detected. Commit aborted."
  echo "Run 'kafkacode scan ./src --verbose' for details"
  exit 1
fi

echo "✅ Privacy scan passed"
exit 0
Make it executable: 
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

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Makefile Integration

.PHONY: scan scan-verbose scan-ci

scan:
	kafkacode scan ./src

scan-verbose:
	kafkacode scan ./src --verbose

scan-ci:
	kafkacode scan ./src || (echo "Privacy scan failed" && exit 1)

test: scan
	npm test

deploy: scan-ci
	npm run deploy

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Common Use Cases

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1. Quick Local Scan

# Fast scan of source directory
kafkacode scan ./src

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2. Detailed Analysis

# Verbose output for troubleshooting
kafkacode scan . --verbose

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3. CI/CD Pipeline

# Fail build on issues
kafkacode scan ./src || exit 1

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4. Pre-deployment Check

# Comprehensive scan before deploy
kafkacode scan . --verbose
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
  npm run deploy
else
  echo "Fix privacy issues before deploying"
  exit 1
fi

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5. Multiple Directories

# Scan multiple directories
for dir in src lib utils; do
  echo "Scanning $dir..."
  kafkacode scan ./$dir
done

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6. Scheduled Scans

# Cron job: Daily scan at 2 AM
0 2 * * * cd /path/to/project && kafkacode scan . > /var/log/privacy-scan.log 2>&1

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Output Formats

Currently, KafkaCode outputs to the console in a human-readable format. Future versions may support:

JSON Output

# Coming soon
kafkacode scan ./src --format json

SARIF Output

# Coming soon
kafkacode scan ./src --format sarif

HTML Report

# Coming soon
kafkacode scan ./src --output report.html

CSV Export

# Coming soon
kafkacode scan ./src --format csv
Want these features? Vote on GitHub or contribute!

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Troubleshooting

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Command Not Found

# Error: kafkacode: command not found

# Solutions:
# 1. Use npx
npx kafkacode scan ./src

# 2. Check global installation
npm list -g kafkacode

# 3. Reinstall globally
npm install -g kafkacode

# 4. Check PATH
echo $PATH | grep npm

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Permission Errors

# Error: EACCES: permission denied

# Solutions:
# 1. Use npx (no sudo needed)
npx kafkacode scan ./src

# 2. Fix npm permissions
npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

# 3. Never use sudo with npm!

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Scan Errors

# Error: Directory does not exist

# Solutions:
# 1. Verify path
ls -la /path/to/directory

# 2. Use absolute path
kafkacode scan /absolute/path/to/src

# 3. Use verbose mode
kafkacode scan ./src --verbose

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Next Steps

Interpreting Results

Learn to understand scan reports

CI/CD Integration

Automate scanning in pipelines

Examples

See real-world examples

Troubleshooting

Solve common issues