Augustus
github.com
What it is
Augustus is a free, self-hosted Go scanner for security professionals assessing large language models. It runs adversarial probes and produces vulnerability reports, with more than 210 probes across 47 attack categories, including jailbreaks, prompt injection, data extraction, safety benchmarks, and agent attacks. It supports 28 provider categories and 43 generator variants, including hosted providers, Ollama, and custom REST endpoints. More than 90 detectors cover approaches such as pattern matching, LLM-as-a-judge, HarmJudge, Perspective API, and unsafe-content detection; seven prompt transformations include encoding, paraphrase, poetry, low-resource-language translation, and case changes. Results can be written as tables, JSON, JSONL, or HTML. The project lists concurrent scanning, rate limits, retries, and timeout handling. Augustus compiles to a portable single binary and can be installed with Go or built from source; the README requires Go 1.27.0 or later. It is Apache 2.0 licensed. The project is intended for authorized security testing, and users are told to test only systems they own or have permission to assess. Provider API use may require credentials.
Spec sheet
- Purpose
- Augustus is a Go-based LLM vulnerability scanner for security professionals that tests models against adversarial attacks and produces vulnerability reports.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Support
- The README directs users to open GitHub issues for bugs or feature requests and invites contributions of probes, detectors, and provider integrations.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- License
- The repository identifies Augustus as licensed under Apache 2.0.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, United StatesRead 28 Sep 2026 · github.com
- Founded
- 2017Read 28 Sep 2026 · github.com
- Attack coverage
- The README describes 210+ vulnerability probes across 47 attack categories, including jailbreaks, prompt injection, data extraction, safety benchmarks, and agent attacks.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Authorized use
- The project says Augustus is designed for authorized security testing and instructs users to test only systems they own or have explicit permission to test.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Detectors
- It includes 90+ detectors such as pattern matching, LLM-as-a-judge, HarmJudge, Perspective API, and unsafe content detection.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Distribution
- Augustus compiles as a portable single binary and can be installed with Go or built from source; the README requires Go 1.27.0 or later.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Intended audience
- The README describes Augustus as built for production security testing and identifies security professionals as its users.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Production features
- The project lists concurrent scanning, rate limiting, retry logic, and timeout handling as built-in production features.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Prompt transformations
- Seven prompt transformations include encoding, paraphrase, poetry, low-resource language translation, and case transforms.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Providers
- It supports 28 LLM provider categories with 43 generator variants, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Vertex AI, Ollama, and custom REST endpoints.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Reports
- Scan results can be output as tables, JSON, JSONL, or HTML reports.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Security reporting
- The security policy asks researchers to report vulnerabilities privately by email and says receipt will be acknowledged within 48 hours and severity assessed within 7 days.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com
Plans and prices
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- More than 210 probes span 47 attack categories.
- Supports 28 provider categories and 43 generator variants.
- Offers more than 90 detectors.
- Exports reports as tables, JSON, JSONL, or HTML.
- Free and Apache 2.0 licensed.
Limits
- Requires Go 1.27.0 or later.
- Provider API use may require credentials.
- Use is limited to authorized security testing.
Who it suits
Augustus suits security professionals who need to test LLMs in authorized assessments. Its self-hosted distribution and broad provider support are relevant to teams testing their own systems or those they have permission to assess.
Verdict
Augustus lays out its attack coverage, provider support, reporting formats, and runtime requirement. Its intended use is explicit: test only systems you own or have permission to assess.
Where Specifiction places it
- AI Security Testing Tools#10 of 298.2