Scan your code with SonarQube

This SonarSource project, available as a GitHub Action, scans your projects with SonarQube Server or Cloud.

SonarQube Server and Cloud (formerly SonarQube and SonarCloud) is a widely used static analysis solution for continuous code quality and security inspection.

It helps developers detect coding issues in 30+ languages, frameworks, and IaC platforms, including Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Python, C, C++, and many more.

The solution also provides fix recommendations leveraging AI with Sonar's AI CodeFix capability.

Note

This action now supports and is the official entrypoint for scanning C, C++, Objective-C and Dart projects via GitHub actions.

Requirements

Server

To run an analysis on your code, you first need to set up your project on SonarQube Server. Your SonarQube Server instance must be accessible from GitHub, and you will need an access token to run the analysis (more information below under Environment variables).

Read more information on how to analyze your code here.

Cloud

• Create your account on SonarQube Cloud. Sign up for free now if it's not already the case!
• The repository to analyze is set up on SonarQube Cloud. Set it up in just one click.

Usage

Project metadata, including the location of the sources to be analyzed, must be declared in the file sonar-project.properties in the base directory:

Server

sonar.projectKey=<replace with the key generated when setting up the project on SonarQube Server>

# relative paths to source directories. More details and properties are described
# at https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/latest/project-administration/analysis-scope/ 
sonar.sources=.

In the following cases:

• for projects that don't have C, C++, or Objective-C in them
• for C, C++, Objective-C projects that don't use Build Wrapper

the workflow, usually declared under .github/workflows, looks like the following:

on:
  # Trigger analysis when pushing to your main branches, and when creating a pull request.
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
      - develop
      - 'releases/**'
  pull_request:
      types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

name: Main Workflow
jobs:
  sonarqube:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        # Disabling shallow clones is recommended for improving the relevancy of reporting
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: SonarQube Scan
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version> # Ex: v4.1.0, See the latest version at https://github.com/marketplace/actions/official-sonarqube-scan
      env:
        SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
        SONAR_HOST_URL: ${{ vars.SONAR_HOST_URL }}

For C, C++, and Objective-C projects relying on Build Wrapper to generate the compilation database, the workflow requires additional steps to download the Build Wrapper and invoke it:

# Trigger analysis when pushing to your main branches, and when creating a pull request.
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
      - develop
      - 'releases/**'
  pull_request:
      types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

name: Main Workflow
jobs:
  sonarqube:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR: build_wrapper_output_directory # Directory where build-wrapper output will be placed
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        # Disabling shallow clone is recommended for improving relevancy of reporting
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Install Build Wrapper
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action/install-build-wrapper@<action version>
      env:
        SONAR_HOST_URL: ${{ secrets.SONAR_HOST_URL }}
    - name: Run Build Wrapper
      run: |
        # here goes your compilation wrapped with build-wrapper; See https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube/latest/ analyzing-source-code/languages/c-family/#using-build-wrapper for more information
        # build-preparation steps
        # build-wrapper-linux-x86-64 --out-dir ${{ env.BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR }} build-command
    - name: SonarQube Scan
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
      env:
        SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
        SONAR_HOST_URL: ${{ secrets.SONAR_HOST_URL }}
        SONAR_ROOT_CERT: ${{ secrets.SONAR_ROOT_CERT }}
      with:
        # Consult https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube/latest/analyzing-source-code/scanners/sonarscanner/ for more information and options
        args: >
          --define sonar.cfamily.compile-commands="${{ env.BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR }}/compile_commands.json" 

If you are using SonarQube Server 10.5 or earlier, use sonar.cfamily.build-wrapper-output instead of sonar.cfamily.compile-commands in the args property of the last step, as Build Wrapper does not generate a compile_commands.json file before SonarQube Server 10.6.

It should look like this:

with:  
  args: >
    --define sonar.cfamily.build-wrapper-output="${{ env.BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR }}"

See also example configurations of C++ projects for SonarQube Server.

Cloud

sonar.organization=<replace with your SonarQube Cloud organization key>
sonar.projectKey=<replace with the key generated when setting up the project on SonarQube Cloud>

# relative paths to source directories. More details and properties are described
# at https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-cloud/advanced-setup/analysis-scope/
sonar.sources=.

In the following cases:

• for projects that don't have C, C++, or Objective-C in them
• for C, C++, Objective-C projects that don't use Build Wrapper

the workflow, usually declared under .github/workflows, looks like the following:

on:
  # Trigger analysis when pushing to your main branches, and when creating a pull request.
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
      - develop
      - 'releases/**'
  pull_request:
      types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

name: Main Workflow
jobs:
  sonarqube:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        # Disabling shallow clones is recommended for improving the relevancy of reporting
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: SonarQube Scan
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version> # Ex: v4.1.0, See the latest version at https://github.com/marketplace/actions/official-sonarqube-scan
      env:
        SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}

For C, C++, and Objective-C projects relying on Build Wrapper to generate the compilation database, the workflow requires additional steps to download the Build Wrapper and invoke it:

# Trigger analysis when pushing to your main branches, and when creating a pull request.
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
      - develop
      - 'releases/**'
  pull_request:
      types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

name: Main Workflow
jobs:
  sonarqube:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR: build_wrapper_output_directory # Directory where build-wrapper output will be placed
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        # Disabling shallow clone is recommended for improving relevancy of reporting
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Install Build Wrapper
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action/install-build-wrapper@<action version>
    - name: Run Build Wrapper
      run: |
        # here goes your compilation wrapped with build-wrapper; See https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube/latest/ analyzing-source-code/languages/c-family/#using-build-wrapper for more information
        # build-preparation steps
        # build-wrapper-linux-x86-64 --out-dir ${{ env.BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR }} build-command
    - name: SonarQube Scan
      uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
      env:
        SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
        SONAR_ROOT_CERT: ${{ secrets.SONAR_ROOT_CERT }}
      with:
        # Consult https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube/latest/analyzing-source-code/scanners/sonarscanner/ for more information and options
        args: >
          --define sonar.cfamily.compile-commands="${{ env.BUILD_WRAPPER_OUT_DIR }}/compile_commands.json" 

See also example configurations of C++ projects for SonarQube Cloud.

Action parameters

You can change the analysis base directory by using the optional input projectBaseDir like this:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  with:
    projectBaseDir: app/src

In case you need to specify the version of the Sonar Scanner, you can use the scannerVersion option:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  with:
    scannerVersion: 6.2.0.4584

In case you need to add additional analysis parameters, and you do not wish to set them in the sonar-project.properties file, you can use the args option:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  with:
    projectBaseDir: app/src
    args: >
      -Dsonar.organization=my-organization # For SonarQube Cloud only
      -Dsonar.projectKey=my-projectkey
      -Dsonar.python.coverage.reportPaths=coverage.xml
      -Dsonar.sources=lib/
      -Dsonar.tests=tests/
      -Dsonar.test.exclusions=tests/**
      -Dsonar.verbose=true

You can also specify the URL where to retrieve the SonarScanner CLI from. The specified URL overrides the default address: https://binaries.sonarsource.com/Distribution/sonar-scanner-cli. This can be useful when the runner executing the action is self-hosted and has regulated or no access to the Internet:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  with:
    scannerBinariesUrl: https://my.custom.binaries.url.com/Distribution/sonar-scanner-cli/

More information about possible analysis parameters can be found:

• in the Analysis parameters page of the SonarQube Server documentation
• in the Analysis parameters page of the SonarQube Cloud documentation

Environment variables

• SONAR_TOKEN – Required this is the token used to authenticate access to SonarQube. You can read more about security tokens in the documentation of SonarQube Server and Cloud. You can set the SONAR_TOKEN environment variable in the "Secrets" settings page of your repository, or you can add them at the level of your GitHub organization (recommended).
• SONAR_HOST_URL – this tells the scanner where SonarQube Server is hosted. You can set the SONAR_HOST_URL environment variable in the "Variables" settings page of your repository, or you can add them at the level of your GitHub organization (recommended). Not needed for SonarQube Cloud.
• SONAR_ROOT_CERT – Holds an additional certificate (in PEM format) that is used to validate the certificate of SonarQube Server or of a secured proxy to SonarQube (Server or Cloud). You can set the SONAR_ROOT_CERT environment variable in the "Secrets" settings page of your repository, or you can add them at the level of your GitHub organization (recommended).

Here is an example of how you can pass a certificate (in PEM format) to the Scanner truststore:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  env:
    SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
    SONAR_HOST_URL: ${{ vars.SONAR_HOST_URL }}
    SONAR_ROOT_CERT: ${{ secrets.SONAR_ROOT_CERT }}

If your source code file names contain special characters that are not covered by the locale range of en_US.UTF-8, you can configure your desired locale like this:

- uses: SonarSource/sonarqube-scan-action@<action version>
  env:
    SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
    SONAR_HOST_URL: ${{ vars.SONAR_HOST_URL }} # or https://sonarcloud.io
    LC_ALL: "ru_RU.UTF-8"

Alternatives for Java and .NET

This GitHub Action will not work for all technologies. If you are in one of the following situations, you should use the following alternatives:

• Your code is built with Maven. Read the documentation about our SonarScanner for Maven in SonarQube Server and Cloud.
• Your code is built with Gradle. Read the documentation about our SonarScanner for Gradle in SonarQube Server and Cloud.
• You want to analyze a .NET solution. Read the documentation about our SonarScanner for .NET in SonarQube Server and Cloud.

Do not use this GitHub action if you are in the following situations

• You want to run the action on C, C++, or Objective-C projects on a 32-bits system - build wrappers support only 64-bits OS.

Self-hosted runner or container

When running the action in a self-hosted runner or container, please ensure that the following programs are installed:

• curl or wget
• unzip

Additional information

The sonarqube-scan-action/install-build-wrapper action installs coreutils if run on macOS.

Have questions or feedback?

To provide feedback (requesting a feature or reporting a bug) please post on the SonarSource Community Forum page for SonarQube Server or Cloud.

License

Container images built with this project include third-party materials.