Create scan

post

https://cloud.tenable.com/scans

Creates a scan configuration. For more information and request body examples, see Create a Scan.

Note: Tenable Vulnerability Management limits the active number of scans to 10,000 scans. Tenable recommends you re-use scheduled scans instead of creating new scans. Alternatively, you can delete unused scans. An HTTP 403 error is returned if you attempt to create a scan after you have already reached the scan limit of 10,000.

Requires the Scan Operator [24] user role or the VM.VM_SCAN.VM_SCAN.CREATE custom role privilege. See Roles.

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Body Params

Creates a scan using the Advanced Network Scan template, which provides full control over all scan settings. Supports credentials, compliance audits, and plugin selection.

uuid

string

required

Specifies the UUID for the Tenable-provided scan template to use. Use the List templates endpoint to find the template UUID.

Caution: The defaults listed for a template via the Get template details endpoint apply to the user interface only. When you create a scan via the API you must include the settings in the request even if the setting is listed as a default in the editor. For example, even if host_tagging is set to yes by default in the editor, you still need to include "host_tagging": "yes" in the settings object for the scan.

settings

object

required

Compliance output settings controlling result format and timeouts. Available in Advanced scan templates.

credentials

object

An object that specifies credential parameters that enable a scanner to authenticate a connection to a target host. For more information about using managed credentials with the Tenable Vulnerability Management API, see Manage Credentials.

plugins

object

Specifies plugin families and individual plugins to include or exclude from the scan. Each property in this object represents a plugin family (keyed by family name). Use the List plugin families endpoint to get a list of available plugin families. Use the List plugins in family endpoint to find individual plugins within a family.

For detailed guidance on configuring plugins, including how to use mixed status, lock states, and common configuration patterns, see Configure Scan Plugins.

Note: The property names in this object are dynamic — each key corresponds to a plugin family name (for example, Misc., Web Servers, Windows, DNS). The example below shows multiple families with different configurations.

audits

object

Specifies compliance audit files to include in the scan. Supports both Tenable-provided (feed) audits and user-uploaded (custom) audits. For more information, see Configure Compliance Audits and Compliance in the Tenable Vulnerability Management User Guide.

Headers

string

enum

Defaults to application/json

Generated from available response content types

Allowed:

Responses

400

Returned if your request specified invalid parameters or if your request was improperly formatted.

403

Returned if you attempt to create a scan after you have already reached the scan limit of 10,000. Tenable recommends you re-use scheduled scans instead of creating new scans.

Language

Credentials

Header

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Response

Click Try It! to start a request and see the response here! Or choose an example:

application/json

text/html

200Returned the scan configuration was created successfully.

401Returned if the API keys specified in your request are invalid.

429Returned if you attempt to send too many requests in a specific period of time. For more information, see Rate Limiting.

500Returned if an internal error occurred.