Safeguard Gold for Developers: Free Dependency Scan, Read Application Programming Interface (API), Badge and Continuous Integration (CI) Gate

IntermediateFree5 modules · 17 lessons · ~2 min

About this course

A hands on implementation guide to the four free developer surfaces on Safeguard Gold Explore: the instant manifest scan, the read only JSON Application Programming Interface (API), the README status badge and the Continuous Integration (CI) gate. You will write real curl calls against the API shape, wire a complete GitHub Actions and GitLab CI pipeline that fails a pull request on a severity threshold or on Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) membership, cache scans so CI stays fast, and plan the path from a free gate to the full platform.

What you'll learn

The Free Developer Surface, End to End

The Free Surface: Scan, API, Badge and Gate as One Pipeline
The Free Manifest Scan: What It Reads and What It Returns
Reading the Scan Report Programmatically

The Read API in Practice

Authentication, Rate Limits and Base URL Conventions
Querying Packages and Vulnerabilities: Worked curl Examples
The JSON Response Shape: Fields Worth Parsing
Pagination, Caching Headers and Being a Polite API Client

The README Badge

Wiring Up the Badge: Markdown, SVG and What It Refreshes
What the Badge Communicates and Its Limits

The Continuous Integration (CI) Gate: GitHub Actions

01The Free Developer Surface, End to End3 lessons

The Free Surface: Scan, API, Badge and Gate as One Pipeline
The Free Manifest Scan: What It Reads and What It Returns
Reading the Scan Report Programmatically

02The Read API in Practice4 lessons

Common questions

How much does Safeguard Academy cost?

Nothing. Every course, exam, and certificate on the catalog is free — including retakes. All you need is a free Safeguard account.

What are the prerequisites?

None. The flagship course, Safeguard Certified Practitioner, is a beginner-level course — basic familiarity with how software is built helps, but every exam question is answerable from the lessons themselves.

A Complete GitHub Actions Workflow, Annotated
Exit Codes and Failing a PR on Severity Threshold
Failing a PR Specifically on CISA KEV Membership
Caching Strategy So Every Run Is Not a Full Rescan

The Continuous Integration (CI) Gate: GitLab CI and Graduating to the Platform

A Complete GitLab CI Pipeline, Annotated
Handling Monorepos and Multiple Manifests in One Gate
Graduating From the Free Gate to the Full Platform
Operating the Gate: False Positives, Overrides and On-Call

Authentication, Rate Limits and Base URL Conventions

Querying Packages and Vulnerabilities: Worked curl Examples

The JSON Response Shape: Fields Worth Parsing

Pagination, Caching Headers and Being a Polite API Client

03The README Badge2 lessons

Wiring Up the Badge: Markdown, SVG and What It Refreshes
What the Badge Communicates and Its Limits

04The Continuous Integration (CI) Gate: GitHub Actions4 lessons

A Complete GitHub Actions Workflow, Annotated
Exit Codes and Failing a PR on Severity Threshold
Failing a PR Specifically on CISA KEV Membership
Caching Strategy So Every Run Is Not a Full Rescan

05The Continuous Integration (CI) Gate: GitLab CI and Graduating to the Platform4 lessons

A Complete GitLab CI Pipeline, Annotated
Handling Monorepos and Multiple Manifests in One Gate
Graduating From the Free Gate to the Full Platform
Operating the Gate: False Positives, Overrides and On-Call2 min

What happens if I fail the exam?

You can retake it after a 24-hour cooldown, as many times as you need. Retakes are free, and each attempt draws a fresh random set of questions.

How long is a certificate valid?

The Safeguard Certified Practitioner credential is valid for 24 months from issue. The expiry date is printed on the certificate and shown live on its public verification page. Renewing means passing the current exam again.