# Snyk for Bazel

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**Feature availability**\
Snyk for Bazel provides support for using the [Bazel build and test tool](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/bazel-overview.html) with Snyk Open Source. The instructions in this documentation apply to Bazel v 7 only.
{% endhint %}

## Applicability

Snyk for Bazel is supported only for Snyk Open Source.

Snyk supports testing Projects that have their dependencies managed by Bazel. The recommended approach is to test and monitor using the [Dep Graph API](https://docs.snyk.io/scan-with-snyk/snyk-open-source/snyk-for-bazel/dep-graph-api). While you can use Bazel for many languages including C++, the Dep Graph endpoints do not support C++.

## Bazel compared to package managers

Bazel does not have dependency manifest files or lock files that package managers such as npm have. Instead, build configuration is managed in [BUILD](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/build-ref.html#BUILD_files) files, using [Starlark](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/skylark/language.html), a domain-specific language based on Python3.

You must often manually specify all dependencies (package name, location, and version), including transitive dependencies, which can then be fetched by Bazel during builds.

Bazel has limited native integration with package registries such as npmjs.org or Maven Central. Some Bazel rules can be added to help with installing dependencies from external registries, for example, [from Maven](https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/external.html#maven-artifacts-and-repositories).

Because Bazel dependencies are specified as code in BUILD files using Starlark, Snyk cannot easily discover the dependencies from a Project. For detailed informaiton about testing and monitoring Bazel Projects using Snyk, see the [Dep Graph API](https://docs.snyk.io/scan-with-snyk/snyk-open-source/snyk-for-bazel/dep-graph-api) and [Example of Snyk for Bazel](https://docs.snyk.io/scan-with-snyk/snyk-open-source/snyk-for-bazel/example-of-snyk-for-bazel) pages.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.snyk.io/scan-with-snyk/snyk-open-source/snyk-for-bazel.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.