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Output Formats

CDK Insights offers multiple output formats to fit your workflow. Choose from table, JSON, markdown, summary, SARIF, or GitHub Actions formats for different use cases.

📋 Output Behavior Guide

🖥

Terminal output

Table, Summary, and GitHub Actions render directly in the terminal (or workflow log). No files are written to disk.

📄

Files on disk

Markdown and SARIF write {stackName}_analysis_report.{md|sarif} into the working directory. SARIF also echoes its body to stdout so CI runners can pipe it without re-reading the file.

⚡

JSON — both file and stdout

JSON writes {stackName}_analysis_report.json AND streams a clean document to stdout (progress logs redirected to stderr) so you can pipe to jq or redirect without reading from disk. Pair Markdown with --withIssue to also open a GitHub issue from the report (uses GITHUB_TOKEN).

Available Output Formats

CDK Insights supports six different output formats, each optimized for specific use cases:

  • Table - Human-readable format perfect for terminal output
  • JSON - Structured format ideal for automation and integration
  • Markdown - Documentation-friendly format for reports and GitHub
  • Summary - Concise format focusing on critical issues and metrics
  • SARIF - Security tool format for GitHub Code Scanning integration
  • GitHub Actions - Workflow commands for PR annotations

You can specify the output format using the --output flag.

Format Details

Table Format

Human-readable table format perfect for terminal output and quick reviews

Best For

  • Quick reviews
  • Terminal output
  • Development workflow

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output table
🖥

✅ Displays in terminal - no files created

Output: Terminal-only • Files: No files created

Example Output

┌─────────────┬──────────────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────────────────────────┬──────────────┐
│ Resource    │ Stack        │ Severity │ Service │ Issue                   │ Location      │
├─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────┼─────────┼─────────────────────────┼──────────────┤
│ MyBucket    │ MyStack      │ 🔴 CRIT  │ S3      │ Public read access      │ lib/stack.ts │
│ MyRole      │ MyStack      │ 🟠 HIGH  │ IAM     │ Overly permissive       │ lib/stack.ts │
│ MyFunction  │ MyStack      │ 🟡 MED   │ Lambda  │ High memory allocation  │ lib/stack.ts │
└─────────────┴──────────────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────────────────────┴──────────────┘

JSON Format

Structured JSON output ideal for automation and integration with other tools

Best For

  • CI/CD pipelines
  • API integration
  • Automated processing

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output json
📄

⚡ Writes {stackName}_analysis_report.json AND emits a clean JSON document on stdout. Progress logs are redirected to stderr so piping to jq or redirecting works without reading from disk.

Output: File + stdout • Files: Creates {stackName}_analysis_report.json. Stdout is also a clean JSON document for piping.

Example Output

{
  "summary": {
    "totalIssues": 15,
    "critical": 3,
    "high": 5,
    "medium": 4,
    "low": 3
  },
  "issues": [
    {
      "resource": "MyBucket",
      "stack": "MyStack",
      "severity": "CRITICAL",
      "service": "S3",
      "issue": "S3 bucket has public read access",
      "location": "lib/stack.ts:15",
      "recommendation": "Remove public access or use private bucket"
    }
  ]
}

Markdown Format

Markdown format perfect for documentation, reports, and GitHub integration

Best For

  • Documentation
  • GitHub issues
  • Team reports

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output markdown
📄

📝 Writes {stackName}_analysis_report.md to disk. Pair with --withIssue to also open a GitHub issue from the report (requires GITHUB_TOKEN).

Output: File on disk • Files: Creates {stackName}_analysis_report.md in the working directory.

Example Output

# CDK Insights Analysis Report

## Summary
- **Total Issues**: 15
- **Critical**: 3
- **High**: 5
- **Medium**: 4
- **Low**: 3

## Critical Issues

### MyBucket (S3)
- **Stack**: MyStack
- **Location**: lib/stack.ts:15
- **Issue**: S3 bucket has public read access
- **Recommendation**: Remove public access or use private bucket

Summary Format

Concise summary format showing only high-level statistics and critical issues

Best For

  • Quick overviews
  • Status checks
  • CI/CD status

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output summary
🖥

✅ Displays in terminal - no files created

Output: Terminal-only • Files: No files created

Example Output

CDK Insights Analysis Summary
================================

📊 Total Issues: 15
🔴 Critical: 3
🟠 High: 5
🟡 Medium: 4
🟢 Low: 3

🚨 Critical Issues Found:
- MyBucket: Public read access (lib/stack.ts:15)
- MyRole: Overly permissive policies (lib/stack.ts:25)
- MyFunction: High memory allocation (lib/stack.ts:35)

⚠️  Analysis completed with critical issues found.

SARIF Format

Static Analysis Results Interchange Format for GitHub Code Scanning and other security tools

Best For

  • GitHub Code Scanning
  • Security tools integration
  • IDE integrations

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output sarif
📄

🛡 Writes {stackName}_analysis_report.sarif and also echoes the document to stdout for CI runners that prefer to pipe it. The GitHub Action handles upload to Code Scanning automatically when sarif-upload: true.

Output: File + stdout • Files: Creates {stackName}_analysis_report.sarif. Stdout also contains the document.

Example Output

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oasis-tcs/sarif-spec/master/Schemata/sarif-schema-2.1.0.json",
  "version": "2.1.0",
  "runs": [{
    "tool": {
      "driver": {
        "name": "CDK Insights",
        "version": "1.27.1"
      }
    },
    "results": [{
      "ruleId": "S3-PUBLIC-ACCESS",
      "level": "error",
      "message": {
        "text": "S3 bucket has public read access"
      },
      "locations": [{
        "physicalLocation": {
          "artifactLocation": { "uri": "lib/stack.ts" },
          "region": { "startLine": 15 }
        }
      }]
    }]
  }]
}

GitHub Actions Format

GitHub Actions workflow commands format for annotations in PR checks

Best For

  • GitHub Actions workflows
  • PR check annotations
  • CI/CD pipelines

Command

npx cdk-insights scan --output github-actions
🖥

✅ Outputs workflow commands to terminal

Output: Terminal-only • Files: No files created. When analyzing multiple stacks, a consolidated summary is generated across all stacks

Example Output

::error file=lib/stack.ts,line=15,title=S3 Public Access::S3 bucket has public read access. Remove public access or use private bucket.
::warning file=lib/stack.ts,line=25,title=IAM Permissions::Overly permissive IAM policy. Apply least privilege principle.
::notice file=lib/stack.ts,line=35,title=Lambda Memory::High memory allocation for Lambda function.

Use Case Recommendations

Development Workflow

Quick analysis during development

Recommended Format:Table

Easy to read in terminal, shows all details at a glance

npx cdk-insights scan --output table

CI/CD Pipeline

Automated analysis in continuous integration

Recommended Format:JSON

Structured data for programmatic processing and decision making

npx cdk-insights scan --output json --fail-on-critical

GitHub Integration

Creating issues from analysis results

Recommended Format:Markdown

GitHub-friendly format that can be directly posted as issue content

npx cdk-insights scan --output markdown --withIssue

Team Reporting

Sharing results with team members

Recommended Format:Markdown

Professional format suitable for documentation and team communication

npx cdk-insights scan --output markdown > analysis-report.md

Status Monitoring

Quick health checks and monitoring

Recommended Format:Summary

Concise format focusing on critical issues and high-level metrics

npx cdk-insights scan --output summary

GitHub Code Scanning

Security vulnerability tracking in GitHub Security tab

Recommended Format:SARIF

Industry-standard format integrated with GitHub Code Scanning

npx cdk-insights scan --output sarif

Advanced Output Options

Save to File

Redirect output to a file for later review or sharing:

npx cdk-insights scan --output markdown > analysis-report.md

Combine with Other Options

Output formats work with all other CDK Insights options:

npx cdk-insights scan --all --output json --fail-on-critical
npx cdk-insights scan MyStack --output markdown --withIssue

Default Format

If no format is specified, CDK Insights uses table format by default:

npx cdk-insights scan # Uses table format

Choose Your Output Format

Experiment with different output formats to find the one that works best for your workflow.

GitHub IntegrationConfiguration Guide

Documentation

Output Formats

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