cnspec Policy Graph Navigation

Navigate and understand cnspec policy bundles (.mql.yaml files) using structured graph commands.

When to Use

• Exploring policy bundle structure ("what checks does this policy have?")
• Finding compliance mappings ("which framework controls map to this check?")
• Tracing relationships ("how does this framework relate to that check?")
• Understanding large bundles (10K+ line .mql.yaml files)
• Getting context for a specific check with its MQL code, impact, and docs

When NOT to Use

• Scanning assets with cnspec (cnspec scan)
• Writing MQL queries
• Linting bundles (cnspec policy lint)
• Editing policy YAML directly (use the Read/Edit tools for that)

For authoring or changing policies, use the mql skill instead. Its Wiring Policies into Content Validation section covers the fixtures and validator registrations a policy change in the cnspec repository has to ship with.

Commands Reference

Command	Purpose
cnspec policy graph search <query> <path>	Find nodes by name, title, or UID
cnspec policy graph callers <uid> <path>	What references this node (inbound edges)
cnspec policy graph callees <uid> <path>	What this node contains/references (outbound edges)
cnspec policy graph context <uid> <path> [--depth N]	LLM-friendly context with YAML snippets
cnspec policy graph paths <from> <to> <path>	Find paths between two nodes
cnspec policy graph reachable <uid> <path>	All nodes transitively reachable
cnspec policy graph export <path> [--format json|dot]	Export full graph

All commands support --json for structured output. Search also supports --kind, --tag, --impact, and --limit.

Graph Concepts

Node Types

• policy: A security policy (e.g., mondoo-linux-security)
• group: A group of checks within a policy (e.g., "SSH Configuration")
• check: A scoring query with MQL code and impact rating
• query: A data-only query (no scoring)
• framework: A compliance framework (e.g., CIS Benchmark, ISO 27001)
• control: A control within a framework (e.g., CIS 5.2.1)
• framework_map: Maps framework controls to policy checks

Edge Types

• contains: Structural parent-child (policy → group → check, framework → control)
• maps_to: Compliance mapping (control → check/policy via framework_map)
• depends_on: Policy/framework dependencies
• variant_of: Check variant relationship (parent → platform-specific variant)