# Caterpillar

Caterpillar is an Agentic AI Security product by Alice. It runs on-premises. Pricing is free.

CLI scanner that detects security threats in AI agent skills before installation.

Checked October 2026.

## What is Caterpillar?

Alice Caterpillar is a CLI-based security scanner designed to analyze AI agent skills (also referred to as AI coding assistant plugins or rules) for security threats before they are installed or used in a development environment.

The tool scans skill files and directories, identifying a range of security issues across multiple categories:

- Dangerous Permissions: Skills requesting excessive permissions beyond their stated functionality
- Privacy Violations: Skills that collect personal information or track user activity without consent
- Data Exfiltration: Skills that transmit sensitive data (source code, config files, database contents) to unauthorized external destinations
- Obfuscation: Skills using encoded commands or intentionally confusing logic to hide true functionality
- Social Engineering: Skills using deceptive UI elements, fake alerts, or manipulation to extract information
- Supply Chain: Skills that tamper with package management, modify dependencies, or inject code into build processes
- Credential Theft: Skills attempting to access or steal API keys, SSH keys, passwords, or authentication tokens
- Network Attacks: Skills performing malicious network operations such as C2 communication or port scanning

Caterpillar assigns letter grades (A through F) and severity levels to scanned skills, allowing users to make informed decisions about whether to keep, fix, or reject a skill.

It is distributed as a free, open-source tool installable via curl or npm, and requires no API key to operate. It is intended for use by individual developers, security teams, DevOps engineers, and engineering managers.

Supported skill types include Claude Skills, Cursor Rules, and MCP configs.

Tags: Agentic AI Security, MCP Security, LLM Security, Supply Chain Security, Security Scanning, Data Exfiltration, Permissions, Open Source, CI/CD

## Where it fits in your security program (NIST CSF 2.0)

- [Identify](https://cybersectools.com/guides/building-identify-program-small-team): helps you know your assets and your risks.

## Quick facts

- Category: [AI Security](https://cybersectools.com/categories/ai-security) · [Agentic AI Security](https://cybersectools.com/categories/agentic-ai-security)
- Vendor: [Alice](https://cybersectools.com/companies/alice) (Claimed listing)
- Deployment: On-Premises
- Company size fit: Startup, SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise
- Pricing model: Free
- Features: 10 listed
- Integrations: 3 listed
- Website: caterpillar.alice.io

The full feature and integration lists are on the page for signed-in visitors.

## Where it ranks

Caterpillar is not a pick on the current [Best Agentic AI Security Solutions for Business](https://cybersectools.com/shortlists/best-agentic-ai-security-solutions).

## Caterpillar FAQ

### What is Caterpillar?

Caterpillar is a product by Alice in the Agentic AI Security category. It covers Agentic AI Security, MCP Security and LLM Security.

### What is the pricing for Caterpillar?

Caterpillar is free. Download and setup instructions are at https://caterpillar.alice.io/.

### What are alternatives to Caterpillar?

Alternatives to Caterpillar listed on CybersecTools:

1. [Oryo](https://cybersectools.com/tools/oryo) - Security control plane for discovering, monitoring, and governing AI agents. (Commercial)
2. [Skill Scanner](https://cybersectools.com/tools/skill-scanner) - Open-source CLI scanner for detecting security risks in AI agent skills. (Free)
3. [Skill Scanner](https://cybersectools.com/tools/skill-scanner-3tfqs) - Security scanner that analyzes OpenClaw AI agent skills for malicious behavior. (Free)
4. [Sonoma Security](https://cybersectools.com/tools/sonoma-security) - MCP governance platform for securing and controlling enterprise AI agents. (Commercial)
5. [Autonomous Security](https://cybersectools.com/tools/autonomous-security) - Endpoint security platform for governing and securing AI agents and MCP servers. (Commercial)

Compare all Caterpillar alternatives at [https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/caterpillar](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/caterpillar)

### What deployment and organization size does Caterpillar fit?

Caterpillar is available as on-premises software. It is listed for startups, small businesses, mid-market companies and enterprises. It is free.

## Compare Caterpillar with similar solutions

- [Caterpillar vs Oryo](https://cybersectools.com/compare/caterpillar-vs-oryo)
- [Caterpillar vs Skill Scanner](https://cybersectools.com/compare/caterpillar-vs-skill-scanner)
- [Caterpillar vs Skill Scanner](https://cybersectools.com/compare/caterpillar-vs-skill-scanner-3tfqs)

All alternatives to Caterpillar: [/alternatives/caterpillar](https://cybersectools.com/alternatives/caterpillar)

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Source: https://cybersectools.com/tools/caterpillar

For AI agents: every CybersecTools shortlist is listed at https://cybersectools.com/shortlists.md, and any compare page has a Markdown copy too (add .md to its URL).

More on Caterpillar and Alice: funding, momentum, hiring and news, plus the full product and company record, are available through the Mandos MCP Server (paid plans), which connects to AI assistants: https://mandos.io/mcp?utm_source=cybersectools.com&utm_medium=product-md