# CodeQL ## Overview CodeQL is a static analysis engine that can automate finding security vulnerabilities and quality issues in code. As a tool, it provides us with the capacity to to identify vulnerabilities through pattern-matching. CodeQL is more powerful than something simple like regex, as it abstracts away the quirks of the language itself and generates a database of functions, variables, control flow, etc. The idea is that once we identify a vulnerability we can craft a query that would pick up that vulnerability and perhaps make us aware of similar code in other parts of a large, unwieldy codebase. The crafted queries (which can include many out-of-the-box ones) are automatically run on a pull request and often implemented as part of a CI/CD pipeline. GitHub owns CodeQL, and if you are interested in learning more you can check out their introduction [here](https://codeql.github.com/docs/codeql-overview/about-codeql/). --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://ir0nstone.gitbook.io/notes/misc/codeql.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.