Black Duck Management Skill

Manage and analyze Black Duck projects, BOM components, vulnerabilities, and license compliance.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use Authorization: Bearer $BLACKDUCK_TOKEN -- injected automatically. Never hardcode tokens.

Base URL

https://$BLACKDUCK_HOST/api

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

bd_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLACKDUCK_TOKEN" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -H "Accept: application/vnd.blackducksoftware.user-4+json" \
            "https://${BLACKDUCK_HOST}/api${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLACKDUCK_TOKEN" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -H "Accept: application/vnd.blackducksoftware.user-4+json" \
            "https://${BLACKDUCK_HOST}/api${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Extract only needed fields with jq
• Target <=50 lines per script output
• Never dump full API responses

Discovery Phase

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Projects ==="
bd_api GET "/projects?limit=100" \
    | jq '{total_projects: (.totalCount), items: [.items[:10][] | {name: .name, updatedAt: .updatedAt[0:10]}]}'

echo ""
echo "=== Code Locations ==="
bd_api GET "/codelocations?limit=1" \
    | jq '"Total code locations: \(.totalCount)"' -r

echo ""
echo "=== Policy Status ==="
bd_api GET "/policy-rules?limit=50" \
    | jq '{total_rules: .totalCount, enabled: ([.items[] | select(.enabled == true)] | length)}'

Analysis Phase

Vulnerability Overview

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Vulnerability Summary Across Projects ==="
bd_api GET "/vulnerability-reports?limit=10" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.source)\t\(.severity)\t\(.vulnerabilityName)\t\(.componentName[0:30])\tv\(.componentVersionName)"' \
    | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Projects with Critical Vulnerabilities ==="
bd_api GET "/projects?limit=50" | jq -r '.items[].name' | while read PROJECT; do
    VERSIONS_URL=$(bd_api GET "/projects?q=name:${PROJECT}&limit=1" | jq -r '.items[0]._meta.links[] | select(.rel == "versions") | .href')
    if [ -n "$VERSIONS_URL" ]; then
        VULN_COUNT=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $BLACKDUCK_TOKEN" -H "Accept: application/vnd.blackducksoftware.user-4+json" "${VERSIONS_URL}?limit=1" | jq '[.items[0].securityRiskProfile.counts[] | select(.countType == "CRITICAL") | .count] | add // 0')
        [ "$VULN_COUNT" -gt 0 ] 2>/dev/null && echo "$VULN_COUNT\t$PROJECT"
    fi
done | sort -rn | head -15 | column -t

BOM Component Analysis

#!/bin/bash
PROJECT_ID="${1:?Project ID required}"
VERSION_ID="${2:?Version ID required}"

echo "=== BOM Components ==="
bd_api GET "/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/versions/${VERSION_ID}/components?limit=20&sort=securityRiskProfile" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.componentName[0:30])\tv\(.componentVersionName)\t\(.securityRiskProfile.counts | map(select(.countType == "CRITICAL" or .countType == "HIGH")) | map("\(.countType):\(.count)") | join(" "))"' \
    | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== License Risk ==="
bd_api GET "/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/versions/${VERSION_ID}/components?limit=50" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | select(.licenseRiskProfile.counts[] | select(.countType == "HIGH" and .count > 0)) | "\(.componentName[0:30])\t\(.licenses[0].licenseName // "Unknown")"' | head -10 | column -t

Policy Violations

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Policy Violations ==="
bd_api GET "/projects?limit=50" | jq -r '.items[] | select(.projectLevelAdjustments == true or true) | .name' | head -10 | while read PROJECT; do
    STATUS=$(bd_api GET "/projects?q=name:${PROJECT}&limit=1" | jq -r '.items[0]._meta.links[] | select(.rel == "versions") | .href')
    echo "$PROJECT"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Enabled Policies ==="
bd_api GET "/policy-rules?limit=20&filter=policyRuleEnabled:true" \
    | jq -r '.items[] | "\(.name[0:40])\tseverity:\(.severity)\t\(.description[0:40])"' | column -t | head -15

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Black Duck Report
══════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• HATEOAS API: Navigate via _meta.links -- URLs are not predictable, follow link relations
• Accept header versioning: Different media types for different resources -- check docs for correct version
• Token refresh: Bearer tokens expire -- re-authenticate via /tokens/authenticate
• Pagination: Use limit and offset -- check totalCount in response
• Project/version hierarchy: Projects have versions, versions have BOM components -- always scope to version