The Grade Scale
Security grades compress a complex assessment into a single letter. That compression is useful (you can compare tools at a glance) but it also hides nuance. Understanding what goes into each grade helps you make better decisions about which grade is acceptable for your use case.
The scoring methodology evaluates multiple dimensions: dependency vulnerabilities, maintenance activity, code quality indicators, and author reputation. Each dimension contributes to an overall score, which maps to a letter grade.
Grade A: Low Risk
An A-grade tool has no known critical or high-severity vulnerabilities in its dependency tree. It's actively maintained (recent commits, responsive to issues). Its code follows good practices (tests, type checking, linting). The author has a track record of maintaining quality software.
A-grade tools are suitable for production use and for handling sensitive data. They represent the top tier of security hygiene in the ecosystem. That said, an A grade isn't a guarantee of safety. It means the tool passed all the automated checks and shows no red flags.
Grade B: Good With Minor Concerns
A B-grade tool might have a few low-severity dependency vulnerabilities, slightly less frequent maintenance activity, or minor code quality gaps. These issues are real but unlikely to cause practical problems for most use cases.
B-grade tools are fine for most production use. The concerns flagged at this level are the kind that any actively-developed software might have at any given time. A vulnerability in a development-only dependency, for example, might drop a grade from A to B without creating any actual risk.
Grade C: Proceed With Awareness
C-grade tools have more significant concerns. Maybe a moderate-severity vulnerability in a direct dependency. Maybe maintenance has slowed (last commit months ago rather than weeks). Maybe the dependency tree is large and not well-audited.
For personal projects and non-sensitive use cases, C-grade tools might be perfectly fine. For production systems handling sensitive data, you'd want to investigate the specific concerns before adopting a C-grade tool. The grade tells you "look more closely," not "avoid."
Grades D and F: Significant Issues
D-grade tools have multiple serious concerns: critical vulnerabilities, abandoned maintenance, or code quality issues that suggest security wasn't a priority. F-grade tools have the most severe findings, often including critical CVEs in direct dependencies combined with no maintenance activity.
These grades mean "don't use this without understanding exactly what the issues are and deciding you can accept the risk." For some use cases (read-only access to non-sensitive data, isolated test environments), the risk might be acceptable. For anything involving sensitive data or production systems, you'd want an alternative.
Using Grades as Filters
The most practical use of security grades is as a first-pass filter when searching for tools. Setting a minimum grade of B immediately removes the riskiest options from your results. This narrows your evaluation to tools that meet a baseline security standard, saving time you'd otherwise spend assessing tools that don't meet your threshold.
Remember that grades change over time. A tool that was an A last month might be a B today because a new vulnerability was discovered in a dependency. Monitoring tools you've adopted for grade changes helps you stay aware of evolving risk.