Problem
The current dependabot skill documents YAML configuration and PR commands, but omits a useful API endpoint: `POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/dependency-graph/snapshots`.
This endpoint allows submitting dependencies via the GitHub API, which:
- Triggers Dependabot alerts for known vulnerabilities
- Triggers Dependabot security updates (creates PRs)
This is useful when you want to trigger Dependabot scans without making git commits or attributing actions to a personal account.
Relevant Documentation
From GitHub API docs:
"Submitted dependencies will receive Dependabot alerts and Dependabot security updates for any known vulnerabilities."
Request format:
curl -L -X POST \
-H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <TOKEN>" \
https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/dependency-graph/snapshots \
-d '{
"version": 0,
"sha": "<commit-sha>",
"ref": "refs/heads/main",
"job": {"correlator": "scan", "id": "123"},
"detector": {"name": "my-scanner", "version": "1.0", "url": "https://example.com"},
"scanned": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z",
"manifests": {
"package-lock.json": {
"name": "package-lock.json",
"file": {"source_location": "package-lock.json"},
"resolved": { ... dependencies ... }
}
}
}'
Proposed Change
Add a new section to the dependabot skill:
- "Triggering via API" or "Dependency Submission API"
- Document the snapshot endpoint
- Show example usage
- Note that it triggers Dependabot security updates without git commits
Benefits
- Attributing actions to a bot/GitHub App instead of personal account
- No need for empty commits to trigger scans
- Programmatic dependency submission from CI/CD pipelines
References
Problem
The current dependabot skill documents YAML configuration and PR commands, but omits a useful API endpoint: `POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/dependency-graph/snapshots`.
This endpoint allows submitting dependencies via the GitHub API, which:
This is useful when you want to trigger Dependabot scans without making git commits or attributing actions to a personal account.
Relevant Documentation
From GitHub API docs:
Request format:
Proposed Change
Add a new section to the dependabot skill:
Benefits
References