Should you build your own EU AI Act scanner?
This page is for engineering leads who consider building their own EU AI Act scanner. It lists what you would build and maintain, and what stays your work with any tool. It gives no cost figures, because they depend on your team.
Building a first set of checks is realistic; keeping it complete is the work
Static-analysis tools are open source, fast and already part of many CI pipelines. Writing patterns and running them on pull requests works for a narrow scope. The scope grows with the Act: it has 119 articles and 14 annexes, and it applies differently to providers and deployers. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, signed on 8 July 2026, amended the text.
A check for "does this model have a risk management system" is not one regex. It needs patterns for each programming language in your stack, and tests that must find the pattern and tests that must not.
Not every article can be checked in code. In Scanara's own mapping (snapshot of 24 August 2026, which counts 113 articles), 66 articles have at least one automated rule. The others need assessments or documents, or bind authorities rather than operators.
What you would build and maintain
Read the Act and decide, for each obligation, whether code, a document or a person can show it.
One check can need a pattern for every programming language you use, plus passing and failing test cases.
Checks that required content exists in your documentation, in the languages you write it in.
Question sets for assessments such as AIRA or FRIA, and templates for documents such as Annex IV technical documentation.
Changes to rules when the law changes. The 2026 Omnibus is one example.
Versioned results and an audit trail you can show to a customer or an authority.
Ask your team to estimate each item in hours, then add the upkeep. Scanara publishes no estimate: the answer depends on your languages, your scope and your engineers' cost.
Self-built scanner or Scanara Business
| Feature | Self-built scanner | Scanara Business |
|---|---|---|
| Rule maintenance | Your team | Scanara maintains the rules |
| Rule source | Your reading of the Act | Generated from the text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 |
| Article coverage | You decide | Automated rules for 66 articles (snapshot of 24 August 2026, 113 articles counted); the rest through assessments and documents |
| Programming languages | The ones you write rules for | 10+ |
| Document checks | Build yourself | Policy checks in 8 languages |
| Annex IV documentation | Write it yourself | Draft generated from your inputs; you complete and review it |
| FRIA / AIRA workflows | None unless you build them | Guided assessments (11 types) |
| GitHub integration | CI script only | Checks API merge gate on all repositories |
| Support | Your team | Response target of 4 hours for critical incidents (service description) |
| Price | Your engineering time | €799 per month (€719 per month billed annually), incl. VAT |
With either option you still decide how your AI systems are classified and you carry the obligations. Passing a scan does not mean an organization is compliant.
Frequently asked questions
Can I build my own EU AI Act compliance scanner?
Yes. Static-analysis engines can run your own checks. The work is the rule library: reading the Act, writing patterns for each programming language, testing them and updating them when the law changes.
How long does it take to write EU AI Act checks?
It depends on your scope, your programming languages and your team, so Scanara gives no figure. Estimate each item in the list above, then add upkeep: Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 amended the Act in 2026.
What does Scanara's rule set include?
Scanara maintains rules generated from the text of the Act. In its snapshot of 24 August 2026, code rules covered 43 articles and document rules 23 articles. It adds guided assessments and draft dossiers. It detects standard ML framework patterns; custom or obfuscated code can be missed.
Try Scanara on your own repositories
Free plan: 2 repositories, 5 scans, 3 assessments and 2 dossiers in total. No credit card.
Scanara prepares evidence from your repositories
Scanara reads your connected GitHub repositories and runs rule-based scans for standard AI and machine-learning patterns. It can miss non-standard code. Separately, it generates draft documentation from templates and your assessment answers as evidence for your compliance work. You make the classification decisions.