SP 800-218A is NIST's SSDF Community Profile for generative AI and dual-use foundation models, published July 2024. It targets the people who build models, the producers of AI systems that use them, and acquirers. It is not a rulebook for reviewing code that an assistant writes for you, though the base SSDF still applies to that code.
Definitions
SSDF. The Secure Software Development Framework, NIST SP 800-218 version 1.1, published in February 2022. It proposes a set of high-level practices that teams add to their existing development life cycle, and it gives buyers and suppliers a shared vocabulary for secure development.
SP 800-218A. Titled "Secure Software Development Practices for Generative AI and Dual-Use Foundation Models: An SSDF Community Profile". It adds practices, tasks, recommendations, considerations, notes and references for developing AI models across the life cycle, and is meant to be used alongside SP 800-218. NIST says it responds to Executive Order 14110, which asked for a companion resource to the SSDF.
Which document answers which question
| Your question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| How do we develop software securely in general? | SP 800-218 |
| We train or fine-tune a model. What secure practices apply? | SP 800-218A, with 800-218 |
| We buy an AI system. What should we ask the supplier? | SP 800-218A, as an acquirer |
| We use an assistant to write code. What applies? | SP 800-218 practices applied to the code, plus your own AI policy |
The last row is an inference, not a statement from NIST. The SSDF page describes its practices as a core set of high-level practices to integrate into each development life cycle. It does not say whether they apply regardless of how code is written, so read the framework and decide how your process maps.
How to apply the SSDF to AI-assisted code
- Treat every change the same at the gate. Review, testing and vulnerability checks should not depend on who or what wrote it.
- Record how AI is used in your development process, so a supplier questionnaire can be answered truthfully.
- Extend your intake checks to the dependencies an assistant adds.
- Keep an SBOM so you can answer which components shipped.
- If you also build or fine-tune models, read 800-218A for those activities separately.
For a related question, see does NIST SSDF apply to AI-generated code.
Where Safeguard fits
Safeguard automates compliance evidence and framework mapping, and generates SBOMs and dependency inventories that support SSDF-style answers. Run a free scan to see a sample.
Try it yourself
Click through it at your own pace, or open it full screen.
Click through the mapping and look at how one control is tied to several framework requirements.
Quick check
Is SP 800-218A mandatory?
This article does not claim that. Whether it binds you depends on contract or procurement terms, so check them.
Does it replace SP 800-218?
No. NIST describes it as used alongside SP 800-218.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
