# licensee/licensed

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_How this analysis was created: the description and tags below were written by an AI model that read this project's README and public documentation pages; stars, license and language come straight from the GitHub API. The model does not read the source code._

1,041 stars · 137 forks · Ruby · MIT

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/licensee/licensed
- awesome-repositories: https://awesome-repositories.com/repository/licensee-licensed.md

## Topics

`dependencies` `license-management` `licensing` `open-source-licensing`

## Description

Licensed is a command-line utility for auditing open-source dependencies and validating compliance policies across multi-language packages. Written in Ruby, the tool scans project dependencies to identify external libraries, discovers associated license files and legal notices across directory hierarchies, and caches metadata directly within the repository for historical review. 

The tool evaluates detected dependencies against defined compliance rules that handle accepted licenses, ignored lists, and configuration settings specified in YAML or JSON formats. It supports custom dependency source configuration and combines all discovered copyright notices and license texts into a single distribution-ready compliance document. Additionally, the utility integrates into continuous integration pipelines to execute compliance checks and provides automated configuration migration to update files and cached records for newer versions.

## Tags

### Development Tools & Productivity

- [Open Source License Detectors](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/open-source-license-detectors.md) — Validates project dependencies against defined compliance policies and tracks legal metadata changes in the repository.
- [Compliance Rules](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/declarative-rule-engines/compliance-rules.md) — Evaluates detected dependencies against defined compliance rules that handle accepted licenses and ignored lists.
- [Distribution Compliance Document Generators](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/legal-notice-scanners/distribution-compliance-document-generators.md) — Aggregates all dependency copyright notices and license texts into a single compliance file ready for software distribution.
- [Notice Archives](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/legal-notice-scanners/notice-archives.md) — Combines discovered dependency copyright notices and license texts into a single distribution-ready compliance document.
- [Inventory Extractions](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/package-dependency-management/inventory-extractions.md) — Scans project directories and package managers to discover external libraries requiring verification. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/adding_a_new_source.md))
- [Repository Caches](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/package-dependency-managers/dependency-metadata-automation/repository-caches.md) — Saves legal text and license metadata directly into the repository for historical auditing and review. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/commands))
- [Multi-Ecosystem Scanners](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/dependency-managers/python-package-managers/multi-source-package-managers/multi-ecosystem-scanners.md) — Scans project directories across diverse ecosystems by delegating discovery to specialized language-specific source adapters.
- [Custom Source Adapters](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/package-dependency-configurations/custom-source-adapters.md) — Enables implementing custom enumerators with environment checks to support additional package managers. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/adding_a_new_source.md))
- [Multi-Package Legal Notice Scanners](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/ruby-dependency-managers/multi-package-legal-notice-scanners.md) — Detects project dependencies across multiple package managers and locates associated legal notices and license files.

### Part of an Awesome List

- [Cross-Language Detectors](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/awesome-lists/devtools/package-and-dependency-management/cross-language-detectors.md) — Scans projects across multiple programming languages and package managers to identify external software dependencies. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/README.md))

### DevOps & Infrastructure

- [Compliance Verification Pipelines](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/continuous-integration-pipelines/continuous-integration-checks/compliance-verification-pipelines.md) — Executes compliance checks automatically within continuous integration pipelines on hosting platforms. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/getting_started.md))

### Security & Cryptography

- [Multi-Language Scanners](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/dependency-compliance/multi-language-scanners.md) — Scans project dependencies across various package managers and languages to verify license information. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed#readme))
- [Status Validators](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/dependency-compliance/status-validators.md) — Validates that every detected dependency has up-to-date metadata, an approved license, or is explicitly ignored. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/getting_started.md))
- [Build Verifications](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/license-compliance-tools/build-verifications.md) — Caches and checks dependency license status against defined compliance rules during builds or checks. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/commands))
- [File Path Discoveries](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/license-compliance-tools/file-path-discoveries.md) — Searches directory hierarchies and parent paths to discover license files and legal notices associated with dependencies. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/adding_a_new_source.md))
- [Notice Generators](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/license-compliance-tools/notice-generators.md) — Aggregates all dependency copyright notices and license texts into a single compliance file for distribution. ([source](https://github.com/licensee/licensed/blob/main/docs/commands))
- [Ruby License Scanners](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/license-compliance-tools/ruby-license-scanners.md) — Provides a Ruby gem that caches and verifies dependency licenses, aggregates copyright notices, and runs compliance checks in CI pipelines.

### Software Engineering & Architecture

- [Dependency License Aggregation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/dependency-license-aggregation.md) — Scans software dependencies across various package managers to verify and cache their license status against approved policies.
- [Hierarchical Discoveries](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/licensing-information/dependency-license-extractors/hierarchical-discoveries.md) — Traverses directory trees and parent paths to locate legal notices and license files associated with specific dependencies.
- [Repository-Cached Compliance Audits](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/open-source-compliance-scanning/repository-cached-compliance-audits.md) — Saves legal text and license metadata for project dependencies directly into the repository for review and historical auditing.

### System Administration & Monitoring

- [Legal Metadata Stores](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/system-administration-monitoring/file-version-auditing/cached-file-version-trackers/legal-metadata-stores.md) — Stores legal texts and license records directly inside version-controlled repository directories to enable historical auditing.
