Automated ACME SSL certificate generation for nginx-proxy
This report summarizes scanner evidence for nginx-proxy/acme-companion, a Shell project with 7,724 GitHub stars. SynthScan examined 7,312 lines of code across 74 source files, recording 54 pattern matches distributed across 4 syntactic categories. The legacy adjusted pattern signal is 11.8 (Moderate 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.
Can maintainers explain intent, assumptions, and trade-offs? 54 finding(s).
Are imports declared and package/API names verified? 0 finding(s).
Are wrappers, guards, and repeated structures necessary? 0 finding(s).
Which changes need focused human review? 54 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 54 distinct pattern matches across 4 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 | app/functions.sh | 180 | # Check if a certificate ($1) is still valid for a given amount of time in seconds ($2). | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/functions.sh | 376 | # Check if this user exist inside the container | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/functions.sh | 389 | # Check if this group exist inside the container | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/letsencrypt_service.sh | 117 | # Add domain to the array storing currently enabled domains. | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/entrypoint.sh | 112 | # Check if the DH params file is user provided or comes from acme-companion | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/entrypoint.sh | 121 | # Check if /etc/nginx/certs/dhparam.pem matches the expected pre-generated DH group | COMMENT |
| LOW | app/entrypoint.sh | 152 | # Check if the existing default certificate is still valid for more | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 318 | # Check if output should be considered "no output" | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/container_restart/run.sh | 49 | # Check if container restarted | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/symlinks/run.sh | 61 | # Check if ${domains[2]} symlink is still there | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/symlinks/run.sh | 88 | # Check if the symlinks are correctly removed | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/symlinks/run.sh | 112 | # Check if the custom certificate is still there | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/symlinks/run.sh | 116 | # Check if the default certificate is still there | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_standalone/run.sh | 71 | # Check if the domain is on the certificate. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_standalone/run.sh | 107 | # Check if the domain is on the certificate. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/ocsp_must_staple/run.sh | 37 | # Check if the OCSP Must-Staple extension is present in the ${domains[0]} certificate | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/ocsp_must_staple/run.sh | 47 | # Check if the OCSP Must-Staple extension is absent from the ${domains[1]} certificate | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_single_domain/run.sh | 68 | # Check if the domain is on the certificate. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_single/run.sh | 49 | # Check if the domain is on the certificate. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_san/run.sh | 64 | # Check if the domain is on the certificate. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/acme_hooks/run.sh | 58 | # Check if the default command is deliverd properly in /etc/acme.sh | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/acme_hooks/run.sh | 81 | # Check if the default action is performed | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/acme_hooks/run.sh | 92 | # Check if the per-container command is deliverd properly in /etc/acme.sh | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/acme_hooks/run.sh | 113 | # Check if the percontainer action is performed | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/location_config/run.sh | 40 | # Check if the ACME location configuration was correctly applied (ie only once) to the target file | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/certs_default_renew_deprecated/run.sh | 59 | # Check if the default command is delivered properly in /etc/acme.sh | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | app/letsencrypt_service.sh | 91 | # Create an array containing domains for which a symlinked certificate | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | app/letsencrypt_service.sh | 102 | # Create an array containing domains that are considered | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | app/letsencrypt_service.sh | 123 | # Create an array containing only domains for which a symlinked private key exists | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | app/install_scripts.sh | 24 | ## Create a symlink without the .sh extension in /app for backwards compatibility with the older docs. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | app/entrypoint.sh | 159 | # Create a default cert and private key if: | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/run.sh | 4 | # This file is adapted from the Docker official images test suite | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | test/tests/symlinks/run.sh | 43 | # Create a fake le4.wtf custom certificate and key | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | README.md | 66 | ### Step 1 - nginx-proxy | COMMENT |
| LOW | README.md | 83 | ### Step 2 - acme-companion | COMMENT |
| LOW | README.md | 101 | ### Step 3 - proxied container(s) | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Basic-usage.md | 14 | ### Step 1 - nginx-proxy | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Basic-usage.md | 31 | ### Step 2 - acme-companion | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Basic-usage.md | 49 | ### Step 3 - proxied container(s) | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Advanced-usage.md | 19 | ### Step 1 - nginx | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Advanced-usage.md | 34 | ### Step 2 - docker-gen | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Advanced-usage.md | 51 | ### Step 3 - acme-companion | COMMENT |
| LOW | docs/Advanced-usage.md | 66 | ### Step 4 - proxied container(s) | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | test/run.sh | 1 | #!/usr/bin/env bash | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 21 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 41 | # | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 61 | # means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 81 | # this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 101 | # (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 121 | # within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 141 | # Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 161 | # whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/run.sh | 181 | # of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability. | COMMENT |
| LOW | test/tests/docker_api_tls/run.sh | 1 | #!/bin/bash | COMMENT |