Requirements
- Python 3.10 or higher
- pip
Standard installation
pip install stacksentry
Verify it installed correctly:
stacksentry --help
Optional dependencies
StackSentry has two optional features that require additional packages.
SSH auto-fix
To use the --fix flag with SSH credentials (applying fixes directly to your server), install Paramiko:
pip install stacksentry[ssh]
# or manually:
pip install paramiko
AI-powered patch generation
To use LLM-generated fix scripts tailored to your specific stack, install the LLM extra:
pip install stacksentry[llm]
# or manually:
pip install anthropic
Then set your key:
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here
Without the key, StackSentry uses static patch templates. Both produce useful output — the LLM version is more context-aware.
Install everything
pip install stacksentry[llm,ssh]
Installing from source
git clone https://github.com/vickkykruz/stacksentry
cd stacksentry
pip install -e ".[dev]"
The dev extra installs pytest and all testing dependencies.
Verifying the installation
Run the test suite to confirm everything is working:
pytest tests/ -v
# 321 passed in ~1.5s
Run a quick HTTP-only scan against any public URL:
stacksentry -t https://example.com
You should see a scan summary with a letter grade and a list of check results.
Upgrading
pip install --upgrade stacksentry
Platform notes
StackSentry works on Linux, macOS, and Windows. SSH auto-fix and key generation work on all three platforms. On Windows, SSH key file permissions are secured using icacls instead of chmod 600.
Python version. Python 3.10+ is required for the match statements used in the scoring engine. If you are on an older Python, upgrade before installing.