Documentation on adding new rules and analyzers

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Adding a new rule
+
+New rules can be implemented in two ways:
+
+- as a `gosec.Rule` -- these define an arbitrary function which will be called on every AST node in the analyzed file, and are appropriate for rules that mostly need to reason about a single statement.
+- as an Analyzer -- these can operate on the entire program, and receive an [SSA](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/tools/go/ssa) representation of the package. This type of rule is useful when you need to perform a more complex analysis that requires a great deal of context.
+
+### Adding a gosec.Rule
+
+1. Copy an existing rule file as a starting point-- `./rules/unsafe.go` is a good option, as it implements a very simple rule with no additional supporting logic. Put the copied file in the `./rules/` directory.
+2. Change the name of the rule constructor function and of the types in the rule file you've copied so they will be unique.
+3. Edit the `Generate` function in `./rules/rulelist.go` to include your rule.
+4. Add a RuleID to CWE ID mapping for your rule to the `ruleToCWE` map in `./issue/issue.go`. If you need a CWE that isn't already defined in `./cwe/data.go`, add it to the `idWeaknessess` map in that file.
+5. Use `make` to compile `gosec`. The binary will now contain your rule.
+
+To make your rule actually useful, you will likely want to use the support functions defined in `./resolve.go`, `./helpers.go` and `./call_list.go`. There are inline comments explaining the purpose of most of these functions, and you can find usage examples in the existing rule files.
+
+### Adding an Analyzer
+
+1. Create a new go file under `./analyzers/` with the following scaffolding in it:
+
+```go
+package analyzers
+
+import (
+        "fmt"
+
+        "golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis"
+        "golang.org/x/tools/go/analysis/passes/buildssa"
+        "github.com/securego/gosec/v2/issue"
+)
+
+const defaultIssueDescriptionMyAnalyzer = "My new analyzer!"
+
+func newMyAnalyzer(id string, description string) *analysis.Analyzer {
+        return &analysis.Analyzer{
+                Name:     id,
+                Doc:      description,
+                Run:      runMyAnalyzer,
+                Requires: []*analysis.Analyzer{buildssa.Analyzer},
+        }
+}
+
+func runMyAnalyzer(pass *analysis.Pass) (interface{}, error) {
+        ssaResult, err := getSSAResult(pass)
+        if err != nil {
+                return nil, fmt.Errorf("building ssa representation: %w", err)
+        }
+        var issues []*issue.Issue
+        fmt.Printf("My Analyzer ran! %+v\n", ssaResult)
+
+        return issues, nil
+}
+```
+
+2. Add the analyzer to `./analyzers/analyzerslist.go` in the `defaultAnalyzers` variable under an entry like `{"G999", "My test analyzer", newMyAnalyzer}`
+3. Add a RuleID to CWE ID mapping for your rule to the `ruleToCWE` map in `./issue/issue.go`. If you need a CWE that isn't already defined in `./cwe/data.go`, add it to the `idWeaknessess` map in that file.
+4. `make`; then run the `gosec` binary produced. You should see the output from our print statement.
+5. You now have a working example analyzer to play with-- look at the other implemented analyzers for ideas on how to make useful rules.
+
+## Developing your rule
+
+There are some utility tools which are useful for analyzing the SSA and AST representation `gosec` works with before writing rules or analyzers.
+
+For instance to dump the SSA, the [ssadump](https://pkg.go.dev/golang.org/x/tools/cmd/ssadump) tool can be used as following:
+
+```bash
+ssadump -build F main.go
+```
+
+Consult the documentation for ssadump for an overview of available output flags and options.
+
+For outputting the AST and supporting information, there is a utility tool in <https://github.com/securego/gosec/blob/master/cmd/gosecutil/tools.go> which can be compiled and used as standalone.
+
+```bash
+gosecutil -tool ast main.go
+```
+
+Valid tool arguments for this command are `ast`, `callobj`, `uses`, `types`, `defs`, `comments`, and `imports`.

README.md

@@ -387,6 +387,8 @@ $ gosec -fmt=json -out=results.json -stdout -verbose=text *.go
 
 ## Development
 
+For help understanding the code structure and how to add a new rule, consult [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/securego/gosec/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+
 ### Build
 
 You can build the binary with: