Getting Started

Scan installed Python dependencies for license compliance and drift

Getting Started

Requirements

Python 3.9+
A virtual environment (recommended)
Dependencies installed in the same environment where LicenseGuard runs
A requirements.txt file with the dependencies you want to evaluate

Install LicenseGuard

Install from PyPI

pip install licenseguard

Install from source (this repository)

pip install .

Development install (editable)

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Development extras include test dependencies used by this repository.

Verify environment

python --version
pip --version
licenseguard --version

If the licenseguard command is not found, activate the correct virtual environment and reinstall.

Understand installed-only behavior

LicenseGuard intentionally scans only what is currently installed.
If a package is listed in requirements.txt but not installed, it is skipped.

This design avoids mismatches between declared dependencies and runtime reality.

First scan (CLI mode)

licenseguard scan requirements.txt --cli

This command:

Parses package names from requirements.txt
Resolves only installed packages (direct + transitive)
Detects and normalizes license metadata
Applies built-in or custom policy rules
Prints table + summary + JSON report

First scan (Web dashboard mode)

licenseguard scan requirements.txt

This launches the local web UI. In current UX, scan execution is manual: click Run scan.

Typical workflow

Install project dependencies
Run LicenseGuard scan
Review denied/restricted packages
Add or adjust a policy file
Enforce in CI with --fail-on
Store JSON artifacts for historical comparison

Expected outputs

Every run returns:

rows: package-level findings
summary: status counts and worst status
warnings: parse/resolution/network warnings

In --check-latest mode, row-level drift fields are added.

Next steps

Continue with CLI Reference for complete command options
Continue with Policy Guide for policy design
Continue with CI/CD Integration for pipeline setup

Verify installation

licenseguard --version

Expected output includes the current version, such as licenseguard 0.3.0.