# Abandoned Dependency Risk Monitor — Bus Factor, Not CVEs (`alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor`) Actor

Flags npm packages at risk of going unmaintained before anything is reported against them: single maintainer, gone quiet. The xz-utils and event-stream incidents both had this exact shape before anyone found a CVE. Sibling to the Dependency Vulnerability Advisor, which checks known CVEs instead.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Abandoned Dependency Risk Monitor — Bus Factor, Not CVEs

The Dependency Vulnerability Advisor (#57) answers "is this package
currently vulnerable" — a known-CVE lookup. This actor answers the question
that comes *before* a CVE exists: **is this package's maintainer going
dark?**

The xz-utils backdoor and the event-stream incident both had exactly this
shape before anyone found a CVE: a single burned-out maintainer, quietly
gone silent, on a package thousands of other projects still trusted
blindly.

### The risk model

Staleness alone proves nothing — a mature, stable package with five
maintainers and no release in three years is probably just *finished*, not
abandoned. The dangerous combination is **both axes at once**: a single
maintainer, gone quiet.

| Signal | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `high` | Single maintainer + no release in 36+ months — the xz-utils/event-stream shape |
| `elevated` | Single maintainer + no release in 18+ months |
| `watch` | Single maintainer but still actively publishing, OR multi-maintainer + very stale (probably mature, not abandoned) |
| `deprecated` | Explicitly marked deprecated by npm — wins over every other signal |
| `healthy` | Multiple maintainers, actively publishing |

### Input

```json
{ "packages": ["left-pad", "event-stream", "express"] }
```

Usually your production dependency list, not devDependencies.

### Sample output

```json
{
  "package": "left-pad",
  "risk": "deprecated",
  "verdict": "Package is explicitly marked deprecated by its maintainer(s). Plan a replacement.",
  "maintainerCount": 2,
  "monthsSinceLastPublish": 28.6,
  "monthlyDownloads": 6471249,
  "popularity": "critical_infrastructure"
}
```

### Typical uses

- **SBOM / supply-chain risk review** — flag single-maintainer packages
  before a security audit asks about them.
- **Pre-adoption check** — before pulling in a new dependency, check its
  bus factor.
- **Periodic fleet scan** — re-run against your `package.json` quarterly to
  catch a maintainer going quiet before it becomes an incident.

### Pricing

**$3.00 / 1,000 results** (`$0.003` per package checked).

### ⚠️ Read before you act

- **This flags a risk profile, not a confirmed compromise.** A "high" risk
  package may simply be finished and stable — read the verdict, don't
  auto-block on the label alone.
- **Popularity (downloads/month) is a blast-radius signal**, not part of
  the risk score itself — a stale package nobody uses is a shrug; a stale
  package millions depend on is worth real attention.
- **Data comes from npm's own registry** — maintainer count and publish
  dates are what npm reports, not a deeper investigation of actual project
  activity (GitHub commits, issue responses, etc.).

### FAQ

- **How is this different from #57?** #57 checks known CVEs (a vulnerability
  that's already been found and reported). This checks maintainer health —
  a leading indicator, before any CVE exists.
- **Why does "deprecated" override everything else?** It's the maintainer's
  own explicit signal — stronger evidence than any inferred staleness metric.
- **Can I check devDependencies too?** Yes — any npm package name works;
  this doesn't distinguish dependency type.

### Related actors

- **Dependency Vulnerability Advisor** — known-CVE checking, the
  complementary half of dependency risk.
- **npm Package Info** — raw package metadata without the risk scoring.

# Actor input Schema

## `packages` (type: `array`):

npm package names from your dependency list, e.g. left-pad, event-stream. Usually production dependencies, not devDependencies.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many packages to check in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "packages": [
    "left-pad",
    "express"
  ],
  "concurrency": 8
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per package with a bus-factor/staleness risk verdict.

## `qualityReport` (type: `string`):

Packages checked, risk distribution, and problems.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "packages": [
        "left-pad",
        "express"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "packages": [
        "left-pad",
        "express",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "packages": [
    "left-pad",
    "express"
  ]
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/abandoned-dependency-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/rM6NHczw9Tiiqbj3C/builds/9AG3KoT6gaFyoTLzl/openapi.json