Configuring the scanner

The page explains how to set up the analysis parameters for the SonarScanner for NPM.

The analysis parameters are used to set up the project analysis. The following applies:

• A few analysis parameters are mandatory.

• Many analysis parameters, such as those defining the analysis scope, have a default value and can be adjusted.

• Other parameters allow you to include the code and test coverage in your analysis, or to import issues generated by a third-party analyzer, etc.

SonarQube Cloud manages the analysis parameters through sonar properties (The sonar property key has the following syntax: sonar.<property>.).

Introduction to the analysis parameters setup

The SonarScanner for NPM reads or receives parameters from different sources:

• It gets analysis parameters through its APIs.

• It reads analysis parameters from package.json.

• It reads analysis parameters from environment variables.

• It reads parameters from the sonar-project.propertiesfile.

• It gets the parameters that were set in the SonarQube Cloud UI.

• Some parameters are assigned a default value.

It is recommended to set the analysis parameters in the SonarQube Cloud UI when possible because it allows a centralized, reliable, and user-friendly configuration. However, nearly all analysis parameters can be configured on the CI/CD host.

The table below lists the different configuration methods in the order of priority in which the SonarScanner for NPM processes the corresponding parameters.

Priority (higher to lower)	Method	Description
1	API parameters	Parameters can be provided to the scanner either through the JS code API or through the command line API. This information is on the Introduction page.
2	Environment variables	Some parameters can be stored in environment variables on the CI/CD host.
4	Project configuration file	Parameters can be defined in the sonar-project.properties file stored in the project root directory.
3	package.json	The scanner reads some analysis parameters from fields of the package.json file.
5	Default values	Some parameters are assigned a default value. The parameters considered here are parameters that cannot be set in the UI.
6	UI	Parameters can be set in the UI for a given project.

Analysis parameters read from package.json

The SonarScanner for NPM parses the package.json file of the project to be analyzed and reads the value of the parameters below from the corresponding package.json field. For information about the listed analysis parameters, see Analysis parameters.

Analysis parameter	package.json field
sonar.projectName	name
sonar.projectVersion	version
sonar.projectDescription	description
sonar.links.homepage	homepage
sonar.links.issue	bugs.url
sonar.links.scm	repository.url

In addition, specific values may be added to the parameters listed below if particular conditions are fulfilled.

Analysis parameter	Value(s) added to	Conditions
sonar.exclusions (see the Analysis parameters page) sonar.javascript.lcov.reportPaths (see Test coverage parameters)	nyc.report-dir and jest.converageDirectory directories	If an lcov.info file is specified in the package.json fields nyc.report-dir and jest.converageDirectory
sonar.testExecutionReportPaths (see the Test execution parameters page)	Xunit.xml file	If the package.json has declared the dependency mocha-sonarqube-reporter and the file xunit.xml exists in the project directory.

Preparing the analysis parameters setup

Depending on your tool environment and strategy, and on the analysis parameter (global or not, must be securely passed or not), you may choose one or the other setup method.

All mandatory analysis parameters and some optional analysis parameters can only be set on the CI/CD host (i.e. they cannot be set in the UI). The Analysis parameters page lists these parameters and provides relevant information about each one.

To retrieve the sonar property key of a parameter set in the UI, go to the UI page where this parameter is set. The property key is displayed near the analysis parameter field. Note that it’s strongly advised not to define multiple-value and multiple-criteria parameters through sonar properties on the CI/CD host.

Providing analysis parameters through the scanner API

See Adding the analysis step to your build files or Starting the scanner from the command line with npx articles.

Setting analysis parameters in environment variables

You can use environment variables on the CI/CD host to define analysis parameters:

• Some parameters can be defined through a dedicated environment variable. For example, the sonar.host.url property value can be defined through the SONAR_HOST_URL environment variable. See the parameter lists on the Analysis parameters page to know which parameters can be set as environment variables.

• The SONAR_SCANNER_JSON_PARAMS environment variable allows you to pass multiple analysis parameters in a single variable, encoded as JSON.

Example:

SONAR_SCANNER_JSON_PARAMS = { "sonar.host.url":"http://my.server",  "sonar.verbose:"true"}  

Parameters set through their respective environment variable (e.g. SONAR_HOST_URL) have precedence over parameters set through SONAR_SCANNER_JSON_PARAMS.

Setting analysis parameters in sonar-project.properties

See the Use article on the SonarScanner CLI page.

Setting analysis parameters in the SonarQube Cloud UI

You can set analysis parameters in the SonarQube Cloud UI for your project provided you have Administer permission for this project.

To set analysis parameters at the project level:

1. Open the project in the SonarQube Cloud UI.

2. In the left navigation bar of the project page, navigate to Administration > General Settings.