License Dataset - SCANOSS documentation

The License Dataset covers everything related to detecting open source code in your project and staying compliant with its licenses: finding undeclared components and code snippets, generating a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), and configuring how SCANOSS scans your code in the first place.

What Do You Need?

Detect Undeclared Code & Snippets

Identify open source components and code snippets in your codebase to ensure license compliance and transparency.

Tool	Best For
Pre-Commit Hooks	Catching compliance issues automatically before every commit
SCANOSS-PY	Terminal-based scanning with dependency analysis
SCANOSS-CC	A desktop app with side-by-side code comparison, keyboard shortcuts, and component identification
GitHub Actions	Scanning on push or pull request, commenting on PRs with detected snippets, and enforcing compliance policies in CI/CD

Once you’re scanning, Understanding Scan Results walks through the full results.json structure, including what the match percentage means.

Generate Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

Create comprehensive inventories of all software components, dependencies and licenses in your projects.

Tool	Best For
SCANOSS-PY	Generating SBOMs from the command line, with dependency detection
SBOM Workbench	Visual component identification, license analysis, and export to multiple SBOM formats
GitHub Actions	Automatically generating SBOMs on push or pull request, stored as workflow artifacts

Configure Scanning Behavior

Customise how SCANOSS scans your code and manages component detection.

Option	Best For
SCANOSS Settings	Controlling scanning scope, skipping files or directories, and managing your component BOM (include/remove/replace)
Improving Scan Accuracy	Providing scan context and tuning snippet matching to improve accuracy

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​What Do You Need?

​Detect Undeclared Code & Snippets

​Generate Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

​Configure Scanning Behavior

What Do You Need?

Detect Undeclared Code & Snippets

Generate Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

Configure Scanning Behavior