VettIQ vs Traditional SAST
Why pattern matching misses what AI coding tools introduce
What Traditional SAST Tools Do Well
Snyk, SonarQube, and Semgrep are good tools. This is what they were built for:
Known CVE detection in dependencies (Snyk’s core strength)
Specific injection pattern matching (Semgrep’s core strength)
Speed and CI/CD integration
These are real strengths — we use Semgrep ourselves in Stage 0
What Pattern Matching Cannot Catch
Pattern matching cannot detect the absence of something.
Missing Row-Level Security
There is no code to match against a missing RLS policy. The table exists, the queries work, the policy was never written. Snyk and SonarQube return zero findings. VettIQ's AI pipeline evaluates whether the access control architecture is complete — not just whether the code it sees follows known patterns.
Missing Server-Side Validation
The API endpoint accepts any payload. The validation logic exists only in the React component. Pattern matching sees valid code on both sides. VettIQ's deep analysis stage (GPT-4o) reasons about whether the full request lifecycle is secure.
Missing Rate Limiting
The auth endpoint exists and has no obvious flaws in its logic. It simply has no throttling. This is invisible to pattern matching. It is the first thing VettIQ's pipeline checks on every auth endpoint.
Feature Comparison
| Capability | Snyk | SonarQube | Semgrep | VettIQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Known CVE detection | (6 feeds) | |||
| Dependency scanning | Coming soon | |||
| Pattern-based injection | (Stage 0) | |||
| Missing access control detection | ||||
| Missing server-side validation | ||||
| Missing rate limiting detection | ||||
| AI-generated fix with diff | ||||
| Fix verification | ||||
| MCP server vetting | ||||
| Optimized for AI-generated code |
When to Use Both
VettIQ and Snyk or Semgrep are not mutually exclusive. Traditional SAST tools are excellent at dependency CVEs and known code patterns. VettIQ adds the AI reasoning layer they cannot provide. If you already have Snyk, VettIQ catches what Snyk misses. VettIQ's pipeline includes Semgrep as Stage 0 — you get both.
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