Node.js based forum software built for the modern web
This report summarizes scanner evidence for NodeBB/NodeBB, a JavaScript project with 15,245 GitHub stars. SynthScan examined 398,458 lines of code across 5449 source files, recording 154 pattern matches distributed across 9 syntactic categories. The legacy adjusted pattern signal is 0.6 (Low pattern signal); it is not an authorship estimate.
Use the findings to ask whether maintainers can explain intent, verify dependencies, simplify unnecessary scaffolding, and focus review effort. Risk Payload v1 adds ownership, supply-chain, over-engineering, and review-effort vectors when available. These are prompts for human verification, not probabilities, security findings, or measured maintenance costs.
Use each vector to guide manual verification of the underlying findings.
Payload schema: 1.0.0 · Engine: 2.0.0 · Scoring: heuristic-density-v1 · Scan date: 2026-10-31.
Can maintainers explain intent, assumptions, and trade-offs? 71 finding(s).
Are imports declared and package/API names verified? 75 finding(s).
Are wrappers, guards, and repeated structures necessary? 68 finding(s).
Which changes need focused human review? 154 finding(s).
This chart tracks the legacy adjusted pattern score across scan runs. Changes can reflect source changes, scan coverage, or detector/scoring versions; they do not measure AI adoption or prove that a team refactored code. Compare runs only when their scoring versions are compatible. The dashed line tracks the raw pattern-hit count.
Groups findings by configured severity weight. Severity is not a confidence estimate, security rating, or proof that a package is missing. Verify imports against the project's manifests and inspect each finding in its local design context.
This horizontal bar chart shows where configured pattern scores accumulate across directories. Treat the bars as locations to inspect, not as evidence of authorship or code quality. Use the file-level findings to decide whether a directory needs a focused ownership, dependency, complexity, or review check.
The scanner identified 154 distinct pattern matches across 9 syntactic categories. Each entry below represents a discrete location in the source code where the engine recorded a detector match to inspect in context. Expand any category row to inspect the individual file paths, line numbers, code snippets, and the lexical context (CODE, COMMENT, or STRING) in which each match was detected.
Reading the findings table: The Severity column indicates the configured finding weight (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW). The Context column identifies whether the match occurred inside executable code, an inline comment, or a string literal — legacy comment-context matches receive a ×1.5 score weight. The ⚡ bolt icon marks clustered matches: three or more patterns within a 10-line window, each receiving an additional ×1.5 density multiplier under the legacy scoring model.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW⚡ | test/flags.js | 1201 | note: 'lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/flags.js | 1201 | note: 'lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/flags.js | 1208 | assert.strictEqual('lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', response.notes[0].content); | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/flags.js | 1208 | assert.strictEqual('lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', response.notes[0].content); | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 198 | username: 'Jane Doe', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 208 | username: 'Jane Doe', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 281 | content: 'lorem ipsum', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 298 | content: 'lorem ipsum', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 315 | content: 'lorem ipsum', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 2366 | User.deleteInvitation('doesnotexist', 'test@test.com', (err) => { | CODE |
| LOW | test/user.js | 2743 | content: 'lorem ipsum', | CODE |
| LOW | test/translator.js | 686 | Translator.removePatterns('Lorem ipsum dolor [[sit:amet]], consectetur adipiscing elit. [[sed:vitae, [[semper:dolor] | CODE |
| LOW | test/translator.js | 687 | 'Lorem ipsum dolor , consectetur adipiscing elit. lorem' | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub.js | 451 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub.js | 451 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/emailer.js | 20 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/emailer.js | 129 | const from = 'admin@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/emailer.js | 181 | recipientUid = await user.create({ username: 'recipient', email: 'test@example.org' }, { | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/user/emails.js | 48 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/user/emails.js | 55 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/user/emails.js | 65 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 83 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 97 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 132 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 142 | const email = 'test@example.org'; | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 160 | username: 'fake-user', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 210 | const { response } = await helpers.request('post', `/api/v3/users/${userObj.uid}/emails/${encodeURIComponent('fake@exa | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/emails.js | 290 | const { response } = await helpers.request('get', `/api/v3/users/${attackerUid}/emails/${encodeURIComponent('nonexiste | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/blocks.js | 16 | email: 'blockee@example.org', | CODE |
| LOW | test/user/blocks.js | 21 | email: 'blocker@example.org', | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/api/schema.js | 195 | const adminUid = await user.create({ username: 'admin', password: '123456', email: 'test@example.org' }, { emailVerific | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/api/schema.js | 196 | const unprivUid = await user.create({ username: 'unpriv', password: '123456', email: 'unpriv@example.org' }, { emailVer | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | test/api/schema.js | 197 | const emailConfirmationUid = await user.create({ username: 'emailConf', email: 'emailConf@example.org' }); | CODE |
| LOW | test/api/schema.js | 438 | activitypub.helpers._webfingerCache.set('foobar@example.org', { actorUri: 'https://example.org/foobar' }); | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/notes.js | 380 | content: 'Guaranteed to be more than 500 characters.\n\nLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. I | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/notes.js | 380 | content: 'Guaranteed to be more than 500 characters.\n\nLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. I | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 58 | activitypub.helpers._webfingerCache.set('example@example.org', { actorUri }); | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 179 | activitypub.helpers._webfingerCache.set('foobar@example.org', { | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 185 | const { actorUri: confirm } = await activitypub.helpers.query('foobar@example.org'); | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 703 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 703 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 736 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 736 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 763 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 763 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 801 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 801 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 832 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/actors.js | 832 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet', | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 37 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 37 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 53 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 53 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 78 | assert.strictEqual(this.withBreak.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 78 | assert.strictEqual(this.withBreak.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 101 | assert.strictEqual(mocked.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 101 | assert.strictEqual(mocked.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.\ | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 123 | assert.strictEqual(mocked.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. [...]'); | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 123 | assert.strictEqual(mocked.summary, 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. [...]'); | CODE |
| LOW | test/activitypub/mocks.js | 148 | content: 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. ' + | CODE |
| 10 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | public/src/admin/federation/analytics.js | 76 | async function renderActivitiesByTypeLegend() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/helpers.common.js | 202 | function generateCategoryBackground(category) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/helpers.common.js | 231 | function generateChildrenCategories(category) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/navigator.js | 183 | async function updateThumbTimestampToIndex(thumb, index) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/chat.js | 495 | function makeModalResizeableDraggable(chatModal, uuid) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/notifications.js | 162 | function scrollToPostIndexIfOnPage(notifEl) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/modules/messages.js | 30 | function hideAlertAndGotoEditEmail() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/post-queue.js | 33 | function replaceRelativeUploadPath(url) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/category.js | 99 | function handleLoadMoreSubcategories() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/chats.js | 343 | function getTopVisibleMessageIndex(el) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/chats.js | 358 | function updateUrlWithMessageIndex(roomId, el) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/groups/memberlist.js | 119 | function handleMemberInfiniteScroll() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/groups/details.js | 336 | function updatePendingAlertVisibility() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/groups/details.js | 343 | function updateInviteAlertVisibility() { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/topic/events.js | 67 | function updatePostVotesAndUserReputation(data) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/topic/posts.js | 57 | function updateNavigatorLastPostTimestamp(post) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/topic/posts.js | 429 | function hidePostToolsForDeletedPosts(posts) { | CODE |
| LOW | public/src/client/account/settings.js | 229 | function handleNotificationToggles() { | CODE |
| LOW | src/flags.js | 1123 | async function mergeUsernameEmailChanges(history, targetUid, uids) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/install.js | 417 | async function createGlobalModeratorsGroup() { | CODE |
| LOW | src/notifications.js | 28 | function getOrCreateCache() { | CODE |
| LOW | src/middleware/user.js | 320 | async function requiresEmailConfirmation(req) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/middleware/render.js | 148 | async function loadClientHeaderFooterData(req, res, options) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/middleware/render.js | 252 | async function loadAdminHeaderFooterData(req, res, options) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/middleware/uploads.js | 94 | function normalizeUploadRequestPath(requestPath) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/database/index.js | 40 | function promisifySessionStoreMethod(method, sid) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/database/mongo/sorted.js | 404 | async function getSortedSetsMembersWithScores(keys, withScores) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/posts/delete.js | 97 | async function deleteFromTopicUserNotification(postData) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/posts/delete.js | 169 | async function deleteFromCategoryRecentPosts(postData) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/posts/uploads.js | 89 | function getUploadsFromPostContent(content) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/user/posts.js | 152 | async function incrementUserFieldAndSetBy(uid, field, set, value) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/user/auth.js | 135 | async function revokeSessionsAboveThreshold(activeSids, uid) { | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | src/user/delete.js | 186 | async function deleteUserFromFollowedTopics(uid) { | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | src/user/delete.js | 191 | async function deleteUserFromIgnoredTopics(uid) { | CODE |
| LOW⚡ | src/user/delete.js | 196 | async function deleteUserFromFollowedTags(uid) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/user/picture.js | 198 | function generateProfileImageFilename(uid, extension) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/user/picture.js | 247 | async function getPicturePathFromUserField(uid, field) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/user/approval.js | 151 | async function getRegistrationQueuedMessage() { | CODE |
| LOW | src/groups/invite.js | 84 | async function inviteOrRequestMembership(groupName, uids, type) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/groups/delete.js | 58 | async function removeGroupsFromPublicRooms(groupNames) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/groups/delete.js | 74 | async function removeGroupsFromPostEditors(groupNames) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/groups/delete.js | 82 | async function removeGroupsFromPrivilegeGroups(groupNames) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/cli/package-install.js | 96 | function getPackageManagerByLockfile() { | CODE |
| LOW | src/privileges/helpers.js | 136 | async function isSystemGroupAllowedToCids(privilege, uid, cids) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/privileges/helpers.js | 141 | async function isSystemGroupAllowedToPrivileges(privileges, uid, cid) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/socket.io/admin/categories.js | 21 | async function copyPrivilegesToChildrenRecursive(parentCid, category, group, filter) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/api/users.js | 532 | async function isPrivilegedOrSelfAndPasswordMatch(caller, data) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/controllers/search.js | 209 | async function buildSelectedCategoryLabel(selectedCids) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/controllers/authentication.js | 82 | async function validateRegistrationPolicy(userData) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/controllers/admin/admins-mods.js | 47 | async function getModeratorsOfCategories(categoryData) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/categories/create.js | 129 | async function duplicateCategoriesChildren(parentCid, cid, uid) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/routes/feeds.js | 332 | async function generateForCategoryRecentPosts(req, res, next) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/unread.js | 241 | async function filterTidsThatHaveBlockedPosts(params) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/unread.js | 258 | async function doesTidHaveUnblockedUnreadPosts(tid, params) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/posts.js | 320 | async function incrementFieldAndUpdateSortedSet(tid, field, by, set) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/delete.js | 155 | async function deleteFromFollowersIgnorers(tids) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/delete.js | 196 | async function deleteTopicsFromCategoryAndUser(topicsData) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/index.js | 238 | function mergeConsecutiveShareEvents(arr) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/sorted.js | 135 | async function getTidsWithMostPostsInTerm({ cids, uid, term, includeRemote }) { | CODE |
| LOW | src/topics/teaser.js | 115 | async function getPreviousNonBlockedPost(postData, blockedUids) { | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRITICAL | public/src/ajaxify.js | 319 | ajaxify.data._header.tags.meta.forEach(async (tagObj) => { | CODE |
| CRITICAL | public/src/ajaxify.js | 339 | ajaxify.data._header.tags.link.forEach(async (tagObj) => { | CODE |
| CRITICAL | public/src/admin/manage/privileges.js | 469 | const privilegeSet = ajaxify.data.privileges.keys.groups.reduce(function (memo, cur, index) { | CODE |
| CRITICAL | public/src/admin/manage/privileges.js | 507 | const privilegeSet = ajaxify.data.privileges.keys.users.reduce(function (memo, cur, index) { | CODE |
| CRITICAL | src/socket.io/index.js | 308 | const roomMap = Sockets.server.sockets.adapter.rooms.get(room); | CODE |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 50 | // ─── blocklists.list() ─────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 105 | // ─── blocklists.get() ──────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 143 | // ─── blocklists.add() ──────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 173 | // ─── blocklists.remove() ───────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 215 | // ─── blocklists.refresh() ──────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 297 | // ─── blocklists.check() ────────────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 378 | // ─── blocklists.getSeverity() ──────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/activitypub/blocklists.js | 414 | // ─── Full lifecycle integration ────────────────────────────────────── | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | test/activitypub/notes.js | 861 | // Step 1: Assert a note addressed to the remote category in cc | COMMENT |
| LOW⚡ | test/activitypub/notes.js | 876 | // Step 2: Announce from the same remote category | COMMENT |
| LOW⚡ | test/activitypub/notes.js | 886 | // Step 3: Verify the topic was moved to the remote category | COMMENT |
| LOW | src/activitypub/helpers.js | 284 | // Step 1: Backreference — non-strict query on domain B (the actor's id host). | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | test/activitypub/notes.js | 861 | // Step 1: Assert a note addressed to the remote category in cc | COMMENT |
| LOW⚡ | test/activitypub/notes.js | 876 | // Step 2: Announce from the same remote category | COMMENT |
| LOW⚡ | test/activitypub/notes.js | 886 | // Step 3: Verify the topic was moved to the remote category | COMMENT |
| LOW | src/activitypub/helpers.js | 284 | // Step 1: Backreference — non-strict query on domain B (the actor's id host). | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | install/docker/entrypoint.sh | 180 | # Create a local array to work with | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | public/scss/overrides.scss | 1 | // global bs5 overrides if necessary | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | public/src/client/topic/postTools.js | 374 | function getData(button, data) { | CODE |