Beginner Friendly · No Experience Required

Build Your First AI Defense Agent

Follow this step-by-step guide to create, test, and publish your own cyber defense agent on Defense Cloud — even if you've never written security code before.

Choose What Your Agent Will Do

An agent is a program that automates a cybersecurity task. Think of it like a digital security guard that watches for specific threats and takes action. Pick a problem you want to solve:

Threat Detection

Email phishing scanner

DNS tunneling detector

Malware file analyzer

Vulnerability Mgmt

Dependency vulnerability checker

Port scanner

SSL certificate monitor

Incident Response

Log anomaly detector

Automated alert triager

Forensic evidence collector

Behavior Analytics

Data exfiltration monitor

Insider threat scorer

Simulation

Phishing simulation sender

Password strength tester

Social engineering quiz

Compliance

NIST control checker

GDPR data scanner

Access control auditor

Write Your Agent Code

Defense Cloud supports Python, Node.js, and Docker. Here's a simple Python agent that checks if a password has been leaked. You can use this as a starting template:

# my_agent.py — Password Breach Checker

# This agent checks if a password has appeared in known data breaches

import hashlib

def check_password(password):

# Step 1: Hash the password (never store passwords in plain text!)

sha1 = hashlib.sha1(password.encode()).hexdigest().upper()

# Step 2: Check password length

if len(password) < 8:

return {"risk": "HIGH", "reason": "Too short"}

# Step 3: Check for common patterns

common = ["password", "123456", "qwerty"]

if password.lower() in common:

return {"risk": "CRITICAL", "reason": "Common password"}

return {"risk": "LOW", "reason": "Looks good!"}

TIP FOR BEGINNERS

Don't worry about making it perfect! Start simple, test it, then improve. You can use AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot to help write your agent code. The community will help you improve it through reviews.

Test Your Agent Locally

Before submitting, run your agent on your own computer to make sure it works. Open your terminal and try:

# Run your agent

$ python my_agent.py

# Expected output:

{ "risk": "CRITICAL", "reason": "Common password" }

Testing Checklist:

Does it run without errors?

Does it produce useful output?

Does it handle bad input gracefully?

Have you tested at least 3 different scenarios?

Upload to GitHub

GitHub is where your agent's code lives. It's like Google Drive for code — anyone can see it, and Defense Cloud pulls from it. If you don't have an account, create one free at github.com.

# Push your code to GitHub

$ git init

$ git add .

$ git commit -m "My first defense agent"

$ git remote add origin https://github.com/YOU/my-agent.git

$ git push origin main

NEVER COMMIT API KEYS OR PASSWORDS

Use environment variables for secrets. Add a .gitignore file to exclude .env files.

Submit on Defense Cloud

Now the exciting part! Go to the Submit Agent page and fill in your agent's details:

Name

Password Breach Checker

Give it a clear, descriptive name

What Happens Next

After you submit, your agent enters our automated curation pipeline. Here's what happens behind the scenes:

~1 min

Static Code Analysis

We scan your code for security vulnerabilities, bad practices, and potential issues.

~2 min

Dependency Audit

All your package dependencies are checked against known vulnerability databases.

~5 min

Sandbox Test

Your agent runs in an isolated environment to verify it works correctly and safely.

~48 hr

Peer Review

A community expert reviews your code, provides feedback, and suggests improvements.

✓

Published!

Your agent goes live in the marketplace. You earn a contributor badge on your profile!

Ready to Build?

See an example of a real, working agent by trying our live phishing scanner demo.

See Live Demo Submit Agent Browse Examples