How to Generate an SBOM for Node.js in 2026
Executive Order 14028 made SBOMs mandatory for federal software suppliers. SOC2 auditors now ask for them. If you ship Node.js to enterprise customers, you need one.
What Is an SBOM?
A Software Bill of Materials lists every component in your software — direct dependencies, transitive dependencies, their versions, and their licenses. Think of it as a nutrition label for code.
The two standard formats are CycloneDX (OWASP) and SPDX (Linux Foundation).
Generating an SBOM with DriftGuard
DriftGuard's generate_sbom tool produces CycloneDX-format SBOMs directly from your lockfile:
Ask your AI assistant:
"Generate an SBOM for this project"
DriftGuard will:
1. Parse your lockfile (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, or yarn.lock)
2. Resolve the full dependency tree
3. Map licenses for each component
4. Output a CycloneDX JSON documentWhat's Included
- Component inventory — every package, version, and scope (direct vs transitive)
- License mapping — SPDX identifiers for each dependency
- Dependency graph — parent-child relationships between packages
- Vulnerability cross-reference — known CVEs mapped to components
Why Not Just Use npm sbom?
npm sbom (added in npm 9.8) generates basic SPDX output but misses vulnerability cross-referencing and license analysis. DriftGuard combines SBOM generation with security scanning in one step.
Get Started
npx @claytivi/driftguard-mcp initFree tier includes SBOM generation. Pro tier adds supply chain monitoring and compliance reports.