patchorder is read-only. It does not log in to your machines, and it does not apply patches.

The inventory file, the lock file, the cache, and the state file stay on the machine where you run the command. There is no telemetry and no phone-home. The only network traffic is the public APIs you ask a live scan or resolve to call, plus the LLM endpoint if you pass --llm.

patchorder demo does not use the network.

--llm is off by default. When you turn it on, the POST body contains CVE identifiers and description text taken from the vulnerability records. It does not contain inventory ids, owners, counts, exposure, installed versions, or CPE pins. Use --llm-preview to print that body and send nothing.

Set the endpoint with PATCHORDER_LLM_BASE_URL and PATCHORDER_LLM_MODEL. Put a key in PATCHORDER_LLM_API_KEY, not in the URL. You are responsible for what that endpoint stores.

NVD_API_KEY is read from the environment and sent only to services.nvd.nist.gov. Cache keys and cache bodies strip the apiKey query parameter. Do not commit a key.

If you find a vulnerability in patchorder itself, report it privately through the repository's security advisory flow once the project is published. Do not open a public issue that includes an exploit.

A wrong "affected" or "not affected" answer is a matching bug. Please include the inventory row (product, vendor, version only), the CVE id, and the briefing section that looks wrong. Do not send hostnames or a real inventory.