github · ajithraghavan · Mar 17, 2026
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ See [CONTRIBUTING.md](../CONTRIBUTING.md#adding-hooks) for guidelines on how to
 
 | Name | Description | Events | Bundled Assets |
 | ---- | ----------- | ------ | -------------- |
+| [Dependency License Checker](../hooks/dependency-license-checker/README.md) | Scans newly added dependencies for license compliance (GPL, AGPL, etc.) at session end | sessionEnd | `check-licenses.sh`<br />`hooks.json` |
 | [Governance Audit](../hooks/governance-audit/README.md) | Scans Copilot agent prompts for threat signals and logs governance events | sessionStart, sessionEnd, userPromptSubmitted | `audit-prompt.sh`<br />`audit-session-end.sh`<br />`audit-session-start.sh`<br />`hooks.json` |
 | [Secrets Scanner](../hooks/secrets-scanner/README.md) | Scans files modified during a Copilot coding agent session for leaked secrets, credentials, and sensitive data | sessionEnd | `hooks.json`<br />`scan-secrets.sh` |
 | [Session Auto-Commit](../hooks/session-auto-commit/README.md) | Automatically commits and pushes changes when a Copilot coding agent session ends | sessionEnd | `auto-commit.sh`<br />`hooks.json` |

@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+---
+name: 'Dependency License Checker'
+description: 'Scans newly added dependencies for license compliance (GPL, AGPL, etc.) at session end'
+tags: ['compliance', 'license', 'dependencies', 'session-end']
+---
+
+# Dependency License Checker Hook
+
+Scans newly added dependencies for license compliance at the end of a GitHub Copilot coding agent session, flagging copyleft and restrictive licenses (GPL, AGPL, SSPL, etc.) before they get committed.
+
+## Overview
+
+AI coding agents may add new dependencies during a session without considering license implications. This hook acts as a compliance safety net by detecting new dependencies across multiple ecosystems, looking up their licenses, and checking them against a configurable blocked list of copyleft and restrictive licenses.
+
+## Features
+
+- **Multi-ecosystem support**: npm, pip, Go, Ruby, and Rust dependency detection
+- **Two modes**: `warn` (log only) or `block` (exit non-zero to prevent commit)
+- **Configurable blocked list**: Default copyleft set with full SPDX variant coverage
+- **Allowlist support**: Skip known-acceptable packages via `LICENSE_ALLOWLIST`
+- **Smart detection**: Uses `git diff` to detect only newly added dependencies
+- **Multiple lookup strategies**: Local cache, package manager CLI, with fallback to UNKNOWN
+- **Structured logging**: JSON Lines output for integration with monitoring tools
+- **Timeout protection**: Each license lookup wrapped with 5-second timeout
+- **Zero mandatory dependencies**: Uses standard Unix tools; optional `jq` for better JSON parsing
+
+## Installation
+
+1. Copy the hook folder to your repository:
+
+   ```bash
+   cp -r hooks/dependency-license-checker .github/hooks/
+   ```
+
+2. Ensure the script is executable:
+
+   ```bash
+   chmod +x .github/hooks/dependency-license-checker/check-licenses.sh
+   ```
+
+3. Create the logs directory and add it to `.gitignore`:
+
+   ```bash
+   mkdir -p logs/copilot/license-checker
+   echo "logs/" >> .gitignore
+   ```
+
+4. Commit the hook configuration to your repository's default branch.
+
+## Configuration
+
+The hook is configured in `hooks.json` to run on the `sessionEnd` event:
+
+```json
+{
+  "version": 1,
+  "hooks": {
+    "sessionEnd": [
+      {
+        "type": "command",
+        "bash": ".github/hooks/dependency-license-checker/check-licenses.sh",
+        "cwd": ".",
+        "env": {
+          "LICENSE_MODE": "warn"
+        },
+        "timeoutSec": 60
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
+### Environment Variables
+
+| Variable | Values | Default | Description |
+|----------|--------|---------|-------------|
+| `LICENSE_MODE` | `warn`, `block` | `warn` | `warn` logs violations only; `block` exits non-zero to prevent auto-commit |
+| `SKIP_LICENSE_CHECK` | `true` | unset | Disable the checker entirely |
+| `LICENSE_LOG_DIR` | path | `logs/copilot/license-checker` | Directory where check logs are written |
+| `BLOCKED_LICENSES` | comma-separated SPDX IDs | copyleft set | Licenses to flag as violations |
+| `LICENSE_ALLOWLIST` | comma-separated | unset | Package names to skip (e.g., `linux-headers,glibc`) |
+
+## How It Works
+
+1. When a Copilot coding agent session ends, the hook executes
+2. Runs `git diff HEAD` against manifest files (package.json, requirements.txt, go.mod, etc.)
+3. Extracts newly added package names from the diff output
+4. Looks up each package's license using local caches and package manager CLIs
+5. Checks each license against the blocked list using case-insensitive substring matching
+6. Skips packages in the allowlist before flagging
+7. Reports findings in a formatted table with package, ecosystem, license, and status
+8. Writes a structured JSON log entry for audit purposes
+9. In `block` mode, exits non-zero to signal the agent to stop before committing
+
+## Supported Ecosystems
+
+| Ecosystem | Manifest File | Primary Lookup | Fallback |
+|-----------|--------------|----------------|----------|
+| npm/yarn/pnpm | `package.json` | `node_modules/<pkg>/package.json` license field | `npm view <pkg> license` |
+| pip | `requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml` | `pip show <pkg>` License field | UNKNOWN |
+| Go | `go.mod` | LICENSE file in module cache (keyword match) | UNKNOWN |
+| Ruby | `Gemfile` | `gem spec <pkg> license` | UNKNOWN |
+| Rust | `Cargo.toml` | `cargo metadata` license field | UNKNOWN |
+
+## Default Blocked Licenses
+
+The following licenses are blocked by default (copyleft and restrictive):
+
+- **GPL**: GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0-only, GPL-2.0-or-later, GPL-3.0, GPL-3.0-only, GPL-3.0-or-later
+- **AGPL**: AGPL-1.0, AGPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0-only, AGPL-3.0-or-later
+- **LGPL**: LGPL-2.0, LGPL-2.1, LGPL-2.1-only, LGPL-2.1-or-later, LGPL-3.0, LGPL-3.0-only, LGPL-3.0-or-later
+- **Other**: SSPL-1.0, EUPL-1.1, EUPL-1.2, OSL-3.0, CPAL-1.0, CPL-1.0
+- **Creative Commons (restrictive)**: CC-BY-SA-4.0, CC-BY-NC-4.0, CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
+
+Override with `BLOCKED_LICENSES` to customize.
+
+## Example Output
+
+### Clean scan (no new dependencies)
+
+```
+✅ No new dependencies detected
+```
+
+### Clean scan (all compliant)
+
+```
+🔍 Checking licenses for 3 new dependency(ies)...
+
+  PACKAGE                        ECOSYSTEM    LICENSE                        STATUS
+  -------                        ---------    -------                        ------
+  express                        npm          MIT                            OK
+  lodash                         npm          MIT                            OK
+  axios                          npm          MIT                            OK
+
+✅ All 3 dependencies have compliant licenses
+```
+
+### Violations detected (warn mode)
+
+```
+🔍 Checking licenses for 2 new dependency(ies)...
+
+  PACKAGE                        ECOSYSTEM    LICENSE                        STATUS
+  -------                        ---------    -------                        ------
+  react                          npm          MIT                            OK
+  readline-sync                  npm          GPL-3.0                        BLOCKED
+
+⚠️  Found 1 license violation(s):
+
+  - readline-sync (npm): GPL-3.0
+
+💡 Review the violations above. Set LICENSE_MODE=block to prevent commits with license issues.
+```
+
+### Violations detected (block mode)
+
+```
+🔍 Checking licenses for 2 new dependency(ies)...
+
+  PACKAGE                        ECOSYSTEM    LICENSE                        STATUS
+  -------                        ---------    -------                        ------
+  flask                          pip          BSD-3-Clause                   OK
+  copyleft-lib                   pip          AGPL-3.0                       BLOCKED
+
+⚠️  Found 1 license violation(s):
+
+  - copyleft-lib (pip): AGPL-3.0
+
+🚫 Session blocked: resolve license violations above before committing.
+   Set LICENSE_MODE=warn to log without blocking, or add packages to LICENSE_ALLOWLIST.
+```
+
+## Log Format
+
+Check events are written to `logs/copilot/license-checker/check.log` in JSON Lines format:
+
+```json
+{"timestamp":"2026-03-17T10:30:00Z","event":"license_check_complete","mode":"warn","dependencies_checked":3,"violation_count":1,"violations":[{"package":"readline-sync","ecosystem":"npm","license":"GPL-3.0","status":"BLOCKED"}]}
+```
+
+```json
+{"timestamp":"2026-03-17T10:30:00Z","event":"license_check_complete","mode":"warn","status":"clean","dependencies_checked":0}
+```
+
+## Pairing with Other Hooks
+
+This hook pairs well with:
+
+- **Secrets Scanner**: Run secrets scanning first, then license checking, before auto-commit
+- **Session Auto-Commit**: When both are installed, order them so that `dependency-license-checker` runs first. Set `LICENSE_MODE=block` to prevent auto-commit when violations are detected.
+
+## Customization
+
+- **Modify blocked licenses**: Set `BLOCKED_LICENSES` to a custom comma-separated list of SPDX IDs
+- **Allowlist packages**: Use `LICENSE_ALLOWLIST` for known-acceptable packages with copyleft licenses
+- **Change log location**: Set `LICENSE_LOG_DIR` to route logs to your preferred directory
+- **Add ecosystems**: Extend the detection and lookup sections in `check-licenses.sh`
+
+## Disabling
+
+To temporarily disable the checker:
+
+- Set `SKIP_LICENSE_CHECK=true` in the hook environment
+- Or remove the `sessionEnd` entry from `hooks.json`
+
+## Limitations
+
+- License detection relies on manifest file diffs; dependencies added outside standard manifest files are not detected
+- License lookup requires the package manager CLI or local cache to be available
+- Compound SPDX expressions (e.g., `MIT OR GPL-3.0`) are flagged if any component matches the blocked list
+- Does not perform deep transitive dependency license analysis
+- Network lookups (npm view, etc.) may fail in offline or restricted environments
+- Requires `git` to be available in the execution environment