argus-validation-benchmarks: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

argus-validation-benchmarks CLAUDE.md is an instructions file for Claude Code from pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks. It costs 8,584 tokens per session, scanned A, original, Apache-2.0.

Project instructions for building Apex, an AI agent that tests web applications for security weaknesses. They describe the benchmark suite, its goals, structure, and quality requirements.

In plain words
What is it for?
Planning and implementing vulnerable web applications, organizing benchmark cases, following project standards, and running the required tests.
Why use it?
They give the coding agent the project context needed to make consistent changes and check whether the benchmark work meets its goals.

Instructions file for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: the file is CLAUDE.md. Also seen: mentions CLAUDE.md.

This is pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks's own configuration. It tells Claude Code how to work on argus-validation-benchmarks itself, so it is not a mod to install elsewhere. Copy it as a starting point and replace the rules that are about this project. Everything argus-validation-benchmarks configures →

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks/main/CLAUDE.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks

Made for: Claude Code.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

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README.md
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<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks/claude-md"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks/claude-md.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 8,584 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 8,584 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 1 finding. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.08584 $0.08584
Opus 5 $0.04292 $0.04292
Sonnet 5 $0.01717 $0.01717
Haiku 4.5 $0.00858 $0.00858

Measured 6d ago against content hash 369da5db1cb4, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-06, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

argus-validation-benchmarks CLAUDE.md scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 6d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
CLAUDE.md · 1,020 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 1,020 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Purpose: This document provides complete context for implementing the Apex benchmark suite. Read this entirely before beginning any work.


Table of Contents

  1. Project Overview
  2. What is Apex?
  3. Why Benchmarks?
  4. Benchmark Design Philosophy
  5. Technical Standards
  6. Directory Structure
  7. Implementation Checklist
  8. Benchmark Inventory
  9. Implementation Plans Reference
  10. Common Patterns
  11. Testing Requirements
  12. Quality Standards

Project Overview

What You're Building

You are implementing 60 vulnerable web applications (benchmarks) designed to evaluate the capabilities of Apex, an AI-powered autonomous penetration testing agent. Each benchmark is a self-contained, Dockerized application with a specific vulnerability that Apex must discover and exploit to capture a flag.

The Goal

Create a comprehensive evaluation suite that:

  1. Tests Apex's ability to find and exploit diverse vulnerability classes
  2. Covers modern tech stacks (Node.js, Python, Go, Java, PHP, Ruby)
  3. Includes difficulties from easy to hard
  4. Addresses gaps in existing benchmarks (like XBOW)
  5. Simulates real-world penetration testing scenarios

Success Criteria

Each benchmark must:

  • Be fully self-contained (docker-compose up and it works)
  • Have a retrievable flag via the intended vulnerability
  • Include an automated solve script proving exploitability
  • Follow the XBOW-compatible structure
  • Be documented with attack walkthrough

What is Apex?

Apex is Pensar's AI-powered penetration testing agent. It autonomously:

  • Discovers attack surfaces
  • Identifies vulnerabilities
  • Develops and executes exploits
  • Chains multiple vulnerabilities
  • Generates detailed security reports

Read the full file on GitHub · 1,020 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 6d ago First seen · 1,020 lines · 8,584 tokens per session scan A 369da5db1cb4

Subscribe to this mod's changes

argus-validation-benchmarks CLAUDE.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository pensar-x/argus-validation-benchmarks (59 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 8,584 tokens to every session, about $0.0429 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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