Generating Your First Report

Documenting findings professionally demonstrates security testing value and facilitates remediation. ZAP provides multiple report formats catering to different audiences. Access reporting through the Report menu, selecting "Generate HTML Report" for your first attempt. Choose which alerts to include—typically all findings for initial reports—and specify the output location.

The generated HTML report presents findings in a clear, organized format. An executive summary provides high-level statistics about discovered vulnerabilities. Detailed findings follow, organized by risk level. Each finding includes the same comprehensive information shown in ZAP's interface, formatted for easy reading and sharing. This report serves as a permanent record of your first security scan.

Customizing reports for different audiences improves communication effectiveness. Developers need technical details and code examples, while managers want risk summaries and business impact. ZAP's reporting supports various formats including HTML, XML, JSON, and Markdown. Experiment with different formats to understand their strengths. XML reports integrate with other tools, while Markdown suits documentation systems.