Dependency Graph includes dependencies from arbitrary root-level .txt files

[grayguava]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Dependabot

Discussion Details

While reviewing the dependency graph for a python project, I noticed a dependency that did not exist in pyproject.toml, requirements files, or any build metadata.

After investigation, I found behavior that appears reproducible across multiple repositories.

Reproduction

1. Create a python repository with a valid pyproject.toml.
2. Enable dependency graph.
3. Add a root-level text file:

notes.txt

4. Put a single line in the file:

samplepackage

5. Commit and wait for dependency graph analysis.

Observed behavior

Dependency graph reports:

samplepackage
Direct
pip · pyproject.toml

The exported SBOM also contains a generated package entry similar to:

pkg:pypi/samplepackage

with a DEPENDS_ON relationship.

Additional observations

• Changing the content of the .txt file changes the dependency shown in Dependency Graph.
• Renaming the file to remove the .txt extension causes the dependency to disappear after a rescan.
• The dependency does not need to be referenced by pyproject.toml.
• The dependency does not need to exist in requirements files.
• The dependency does not need to be imported anywhere in the project.

Expected behavior

Dependency graph should only report dependencies that originate from supported dependency manifests or recognized dependency sources.

Arbitrary root-level .txt files should not be interpreted as Python dependencies or included in the exported SBOM.

A minimal reproduction repository is available here

The repository was created specifically to isolate this behavior.

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