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Scanning

How It Works

detect-secrets scan scans the entire codebase and outputs a snapshot of currently identified secrets.

This snapshot should be stored in a baseline file and updated on an as-needed basis. The pre-commit hook will notify you when your baseline file needs to be updated.

How It’s Used

Running detect-secrets scan on its own will print a baseline to stdout. The scan output should be redirected to a baseline file using detect-secrets scan --update .secrets.baseline.

If you're updating an existing baseline, your previous auditing results and settings will not be overwritten. If no baseline file exists, a new one will be created automatically using the above command.

Pre-commit Hook

The pre-commit hook uses detect-secrets's scanning functionality to scan your code before it gets committed. It's recommended to set up this hook (docs) to prevent leaks before they reach GitHub.

It's also known as the detect-secrets-hook.

Baseline File

This file contains the output of a scan. This includes a list of detected secrets, plugins used during scanning and their settings, and line & file exclusion info. After the baseline file has been created or updated, it's a good idea to audit it. For simplicity's sake, we'll focus on scanning in this document.

Notable Fields

You'll find a results object, which contains a list of file paths corresponding to detected token data; for example:

  "results": {
    "detect_secrets/plugins/private_key.py": [
      {
        "hashed_secret": "513e0a36963ae1e8431c041b744679ee578b7c44",
        "is_secret": false,
        "is_verified": false,
        "line_number": 45,
        "type": "Private Key",
        "verified_result": null
      },
Field Description
hashed_secret The hash of the detected secret. The baseline file will not record raw secrets. To see them in plaintext, run detect-secrets audit --display-results .secrets.baseline.
is_secret This field is manually set when interactively auditing a baseline file (detect-secrets audit .secrets.baseline). This field is for auditing / record-keeping purposes.results
is_verified Set automatically based off active secret validation; however, there are those which are not validated. If this field is true, it means the associated token is active, and requires remediation.
line_number The line number that the secret is found on.
type The secret type.

What Gets Scanned?

The repository's files are scanned in their current state. detect-secrets will not run a "deep scan" of the repository (i.e. full commit history).

Secret Verification

Not only does scanning identify potential tokens, it also verifies if certain types of tokens are active (verifiable tokens list). If any is_verified fields in your baseline are set to true, be sure to remediate the associated tokens and re-run the scan.

Excluding Files

detect-secrets gives you the option to exclude files from being scanned, as well as to allowlist lines of code.

Plugins

detect-secrets uses plugin detectors to identify certain types of secrets. You have the option to disable detectors, although this is not recommended (see detect-secrets scan --help ).

Adjusting the Scan Sensitivity

If detect-secrets is overly sensitive, or not sensitive enough when scanning for secrets, you'll need to adjust some settings (see detect-secrets generates too many false positives. What should I do?).