Google On-Demand Scanning API
Browse all Google APIs✓ Official Vendor SpecSecurityVulnerability Managementoauth27 EndpointsREST
For Agents
Trigger on-demand vulnerability scans of container images and read back the resulting vulnerability occurrences and severity ratings.
Use for: Scan a container image for vulnerabilities before deploying, Get the list of CVEs found in a previously scanned image, Check whether a container scan operation has finished, Cancel a scan that was kicked off in error
Not supported: Does not enforce admission policies, sign images, or store vulnerability metadata long-term — use for triggering image scans and reading their results only.
The On-Demand Scanning API scans container images for OS package and language ecosystem vulnerabilities outside the standard Artifact Registry auto-scan path. It exposes an analyzePackages operation that submits an image (typically resolved by digest) for scanning, then returns a long-running operation whose result lists vulnerability occurrences and their severity. Use it from CI pipelines, ad-hoc security checks, or air-gapped environments where you want explicit control over when an image is scanned. The spec exposes 7 endpoints.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the On-Demand Scanning API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the On-Demand Scanning API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
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Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with On-Demand Scanning API.
Submit a container image for vulnerability analysis via analyzePackages
Poll long-running scan operations until results are ready
List vulnerability occurrences detected for a scanned resource
Cancel a scan operation that is no longer needed
Wait synchronously on an operation to simplify CI integration
Use Cases
Patterns agents use On-Demand Scanning API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Pre-deployment image scanning in CI
Run an on-demand scan against a container image as the final gate before promoting it from staging to production. The CI step submits the image via analyzePackages, waits on the resulting operation, and fails the build if any vulnerability above a chosen severity threshold is reported. Pairs well with Binary Authorization for enforcement at admission time.
Submit image us-docker.pkg.dev/proj/repo/api@sha256:abc123 to /v1/{+parent}/scans:analyzePackages, wait on the operation, and fail the pipeline if any HIGH or CRITICAL vulnerability appears in the result.
Air-gapped or scheduled rescans
Re-scan production images on a schedule to catch newly disclosed vulnerabilities, especially for images that no longer trigger Artifact Registry auto-scan because the auto-scan window has lapsed. The on-demand path lets a security automation hit any image you have access to and capture the up-to-date vulnerability list. Works well as a daily cron driven by Cloud Scheduler.
For every image in production-allowlist.json, submit a scan, wait on the operation, and write all vulnerabilities of severity HIGH or above into a Cloud Storage bucket.
Triage and reporting on vulnerability occurrences
Pull the list of vulnerability occurrences for a previously scanned image and feed them into a triage workflow — Jira tickets, Slack messages, or a security dashboard. The API returns CVE IDs, fix versions, severity, and affected packages so the downstream automation can deduplicate and prioritise.
Call GET /v1/{+parent}/vulnerabilities for image digest sha256:abc123 and create a Jira ticket for every vulnerability whose severity is CRITICAL and that has a fix available.
Agent-driven container security checks via Jentic
A security agent can use Jentic to scan an image referenced in a chat or ticket — issue an intent like scan this image for cves and Jentic returns the matching On-Demand Scanning operation. Credentials stay in the Jentic vault, so the agent runs scans under a scoped service-account token with full audit trail.
Use Jentic to find the analyzePackages operation, load its schema, execute it for the image referenced in a triage ticket, and reply with a count of HIGH and CRITICAL findings.
Key Endpoints
7 endpoints — the on-demand scanning api scans container images for os package and language ecosystem vulnerabilities outside the standard artifact registry auto-scan path.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/v1/{+parent}/scans:analyzePackages
Submit an image for vulnerability scanning
GET
/v1/{+parent}/vulnerabilities
List vulnerability occurrences for a parent
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get a long-running operation
POST
/v1/{+name}:cancel
Cancel a scan operation
POST
/v1/{+name}:wait
Wait synchronously on an operation
POST
/v1/{+parent}/scans:analyzePackages
Submit an image for vulnerability scanning
GET
/v1/{+parent}/vulnerabilities
List vulnerability occurrences for a parent
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get a long-running operation
POST
/v1/{+name}:cancel
Cancel a scan operation
POST
/v1/{+name}:wait
Wait synchronously on an operation
Why Jentic?
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
Google OAuth 2.0 tokens are minted from a service account stored in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Agents call the API under scoped, short-lived tokens — the service-account key never enters their context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic with intents like scan container for cves and Jentic returns the matching On-Demand Scanning operation with required scopes and input schema.
Time to first call
Direct integration: 1 day to wire OAuth, image URI resolution, and long-running operation polling. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes — search, load, execute.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using On-Demand Scanning API through Jentic.
What authentication does the On-Demand Scanning API use?
The API uses Google OAuth 2.0 with the cloud-platform scope. Through Jentic, tokens are minted from a service account stored in the Jentic vault so agents never see raw credentials.
Can I scan an image hosted outside Artifact Registry?
Yes — analyzePackages accepts a resource URI for any image you have read access to, including Container Registry and properly-credentialled third-party registries. The scanner pulls package metadata and matches against Google's vulnerability feeds.
What are the rate limits for the On-Demand Scanning API?
Google Cloud meters scan operations as long-running operations under per-project quotas. Treat scans as asynchronous — submit, then poll /v1/{+name} or use :wait, rather than retrying on failure.
How do I scan a container image through Jentic?
Search Jentic for scan container image, load the schema for POST /v1/{+parent}/scans:analyzePackages, and execute it with the image resource URI. The Jentic SDK returns the operation handle so the agent can poll for vulnerabilities.
Does this API also enforce admission policy?
No — admission enforcement happens in Binary Authorization, which can consume the attestations or vulnerability data this API produces. Use this API to discover vulnerabilities, then Binary Authorization to block deployments.
How do I read the result of a finished scan?
Once the operation is done, the result includes a list of vulnerability occurrences, or you can call GET /v1/{+parent}/vulnerabilities filtered by the scanned resource URI.
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