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Migrating from SonarQube to Aikido

Teams moving from SonarQube to Aikido usually want broader security coverage in one place — SAST, SCA, Secrets, IaC, Container, CSPM, and DAST — without running a separate quality-gate server alongside multiple security tools.

For the overall migration hub, see Migrating to Aikido. For SAST-focused comparison, see Aikido vs Semgrep vs GitHub Advanced Security.

Why teams switch

  • One platform for security scanning across code, supply chain, cloud, and runtime — rather than SonarQube for code quality plus separate SCA, Secrets, IaC, and container tools.

  • AutoTriage filters unreachable and low-confidence findings by default, so PR comments stay focused on net-new, actionable issues.

  • Ownership-aware routing through CODEOWNERS, teams, and path-based assignment, plus Jira smart routing — findings land with the team that owns the code.

  • Agentless SCM onboarding across GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket.

A safe transition plan

The pattern: visibility first, blocking later, and one tool blocks, the other measures during overlap. Cut over by capability, not by one big-bang date.

  1. Connect Aikido to your SCM and enable SAST + SCA + Secrets + IaC on the repositories SonarQube currently covers. Aikido baselines existing findings at connect time so SonarQube debt becomes visible-but-non-blocking, separate from net-new issues.

  2. Run in parallel, warn-only. For 2–4 weeks keep SonarQube's quality gate active and run Aikido in non-blocking mode so engineering can compare net-new signal without double-blocking PRs.

  3. Set ownership and routing before enforcement. Configure teams, CODEOWNERS, path-based assignment, and Jira smart routing first. No repo should be onboarded without an owner.

  4. Flip enforcement by capability. Turn on Aikido PR gating one capability at a time (typically Secrets and SCA first, then SAST, then IaC/Container). Move SonarQube to report-only for each capability as Aikido takes over the gate.

What to preserve before cutover

  • Historical SonarQube scan archive and quality-gate history — keep read-only for your audit retention window. Aikido does not currently publish an automated importer for SonarQube findings, suppressions, or quality-profile state.

  • Custom rules that are still load-bearing. Re-author the ones that matter as Aikido Custom Rules on eligible paid plans; AutoTriage often removes the need for much of the prior tuning.

  • Audit evidence going forward comes from Aikido via Reports, PDF and issue export, the activity log API, SBOM/VEX export, the REST API and webhooks, and the Vanta integration for control mapping.

Ownership and routing during migration

Map repositories to owners with CODEOWNERS, teams, and path-based assignment, and connect Jira smart routing to the right projects, before you turn enforcement on. Roles, permissions, and SAML should be set during the same window. PR gating into an unowned queue is the most common avoidable failure mode.

Introducing enforcement without double-blocking PRs

Only one tool should be the blocker for a given capability at a time. During overlap, SonarQube's quality gate stays active and Aikido warns; after cutover, Aikido blocks and SonarQube is either report-only or disabled for that capability.

When to decommission Sonar

Qube

Retire by capability once:

  • Aikido has been the sole PR gate for that capability for at least one full release cycle.

  • Net-new finding volume and ownership routing are stable.

  • Required reports and evidence exports have been validated with your audit or compliance reviewer.

  • The SonarQube history for that capability is archived read-only.

Related reading