{"slug": "a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code", "title": "A Security-Critical Project Where I Don't Read the Code", "summary": "Aaronontheweb, developer of the autonomous AI assistant Netclaw, revealed that ShellSyntaxTree (SST), a parser for bash and PowerShell commands, has been in production for months despite the author rarely reviewing its code, which is largely LLM-authored. SST powers Netclaw's human-in-the-loop approval system by extracting command patterns for auto-approval, and parsing errors could lead to unauthorized command approvals or unnecessary prompts.", "body_md": "*\n12 minutes to read\n*\n\nThere’s been lots of rancor online about whether you should read and review LLM-authored code. I wanted to share a project we’ve been using in production for months where I rarely review any of it: [ShellSyntaxTree](https://github.com/Aaronontheweb/ShellSyntaxTree).\n\nShellSyntaxTree is a parser that attempts to create AST representations of both bash and PowerShell commands using a shared tree representation and parser abstractions, albeit with slightly different grammars to accommodate the quirks between the scripting languages.\n\nSST is an essential tool for powering one of my other projects: [Netclaw](https://netclaw.dev/) - a “claw”-style autonomous AI assistant. We use SST to power Netclaw’s approval system for requesting humans to authorize commands: [netclaw.dev/architecture/security-model](https://netclaw.dev/architecture/security-model/#human-in-the-loop-as-a-layer-not-a-crutch).\n\nSST isn’t a security tool, but it sits inside a security decision. Netclaw auto-approves commands by matching them against pre-approved patterns - git pull, gh pr view - and SST is the layer that extracts those patterns from the raw command string. Get the parse wrong and Netclaw can auto-approve commands the user hasn’t blessed or prompt for commands the user already has.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code", "canonical_source": "https://aaronstannard.com/a-security-critical-project-where-i-dont-read-the-code/", "published_at": "2026-08-10 14:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-10 19:22:09.121611+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-safety", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["ShellSyntaxTree", "Netclaw", "Aaronontheweb"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-security-critical-project-where-i-don-t-read-the-code.jsonld"}}