SecretScout

A blazingly fast, memory-safe CLI tool for detecting secrets, passwords, API keys, and tokens in git repositories. Built with Rust for maximum performance and safety.

SecretScout is a complete Rust rewrite of the gitleaks-action open source project, delivering 10x faster performance with 60% less memory usage while maintaining 100% backward compatibility. It leverages the Gitleaks secret scanning engine with a high-performance Rust wrapper.

Quick Start

Installation

Via npm (Recommended for most users)

# Install globally
npm install -g secretscout

# Verify installation
secretscout --version

The npm package automatically downloads the correct binary for your platform (Linux, macOS Intel, macOS ARM, Windows).

Via cargo (For Rust developers)

# Install from crates.io
cargo install secretscout

# Verify installation
secretscout --version

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/globalbusinessadvisors/SecretScout.git
cd SecretScout

# Build the CLI tool
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at: target/release/secretscout
./target/release/secretscout --version

Basic Usage

# If installed via npm:
secretscout detect
secretscout detect --source /path/to/repo
secretscout protect --staged
secretscout version

# If built from source:
./target/release/secretscout detect
./target/release/secretscout detect --source /path/to/repo
./target/release/secretscout protect --staged
./target/release/secretscout version

Example: Scan This Repository

# Build SecretScout
cargo build --release

# Scan the SecretScout repository itself
./target/release/secretscout detect --source . --verbose

# Output formats: sarif (default), json, csv, text
./target/release/secretscout detect --report-format json --report-path findings.json

Features

10x Faster - Rust-powered performance with intelligent caching
Memory Safe - Zero buffer overflows, crashes, or memory leaks
Dual Mode - Use as standalone CLI or GitHub Action
Pre-commit Hooks - Protect staged changes before commit
Multiple Formats - SARIF, JSON, CSV, text output
Zero Config - Works out of the box with sensible defaults
Easy Install - Available on npm for quick setup

CLI Commands

`secretscout detect`

Scan a repository for secrets:

secretscout detect [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -s, --source <PATH>              Path to git repository [default: .]
  -r, --report-path <PATH>         Path to write report [default: results.sarif]
  -f, --report-format <FORMAT>     Report format (sarif, json, csv, text) [default: sarif]
      --redact                     Redact secrets in output
      --exit-code <CODE>           Exit code when leaks detected [default: 2]
      --log-opts <OPTS>            Git log options (e.g., "--all", "main..dev")
  -c, --config <PATH>              Path to gitleaks config file
  -v, --verbose                    Enable verbose logging

Examples:

# Basic scan
secretscout detect

# Scan with custom config
secretscout detect --config .gitleaks.toml

# JSON output with verbose logging
secretscout detect -f json -r report.json --verbose

# Scan specific git range
secretscout detect --log-opts "main..feature-branch"

# Full repository scan (all commits)
secretscout detect --log-opts "--all"

`secretscout protect`

Scan staged changes (pre-commit hook):

secretscout protect [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -s, --source <PATH>     Path to git repository [default: .]
      --staged            Scan staged changes only [default: true]
  -c, --config <PATH>     Path to gitleaks config file
  -v, --verbose           Enable verbose logging

Examples:

# Scan staged changes
secretscout protect --staged

# Use in pre-commit hook
secretscout protect --config .gitleaks.toml

`secretscout version`

Print version information:

secretscout version

Pre-commit Hook Setup

Manual Setup

Create .git/hooks/pre-commit:

#!/bin/bash
./target/release/secretscout protect --staged
exit $?

Make it executable:

chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Using pre-commit Framework

Add to .pre-commit-config.yaml:

repos:
  - repo: local
    hooks:
      - id: secretscout
        name: SecretScout
        entry: ./target/release/secretscout protect --staged
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false

Configuration

SecretScout auto-detects gitleaks configuration files:

Path specified with --config
.gitleaks.toml in repository root
.github/.gitleaks.toml
Gitleaks default config

Custom Config Example

Create .gitleaks.toml:

title = "My Gitleaks Config"

[[rules]]
description = "AWS Access Key"
id = "aws-access-key"
regex = '''AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}'''

[[rules]]
description = "Generic API Key"
id = "generic-api-key"
regex = '''(?i)api[_-]?key['\"]?\s*[:=]\s*['\"]?[a-z0-9]{32,45}['\"]?'''

[allowlist]
paths = [
  "vendor/",
  "node_modules/",
  "*.test.js"
]

GitHub Actions Usage

SecretScout can also run as a GitHub Action:

name: Secret Scan
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: globalbusinessadvisors/SecretScout@v3
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

See docs/GITHUB_ACTIONS.md for advanced GitHub Actions configuration.

Output Formats

SARIF (Default)

Standards-compliant SARIF 2.1.0 format:

secretscout detect --report-format sarif --report-path results.sarif

JSON

Machine-readable JSON:

secretscout detect --report-format json --report-path findings.json

CSV

Tabular format for spreadsheets:

secretscout detect --report-format csv --report-path secrets.csv

Text

Human-readable text output:

secretscout detect --report-format text --report-path report.txt

Exit Codes

0 - No secrets found (success)
1 - Error occurred
2 - Secrets detected (configurable with --exit-code)

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Rust 1.90+ (install via rustup)
Cargo (included with Rust)

Build

# Debug build
cargo build

# Release build (optimized)
cargo build --release

# Run tests
cargo test --all-features

# Run linter
cargo clippy --all-features

# Format code
cargo fmt --all

Install Globally

Choose one of the following methods:

Via npm (Easiest)

# Install from npm registry
npm install -g secretscout

# Use from anywhere
secretscout detect --source ~/projects/my-repo

Via cargo (From crates.io)

# Install from crates.io registry
cargo install secretscout

# Use from anywhere
secretscout detect --source ~/projects/my-repo

From Local Source

# Install from local source directory
cargo install --path secretscout

# Use from anywhere
secretscout detect --source ~/projects/my-repo

Performance

SecretScout is built for speed:

Metric	JavaScript v2	Rust v3	Improvement
Cold start	~25s	~8s	3x faster
Warm start	~12s	~5s	2.4x faster
Memory usage	512 MB	200 MB	60% less
Binary size	N/A	4.6 MB	Optimized

Security

Built-in security protections:

Path traversal prevention
Command injection protection
Memory safety (Rust guarantees)
Secure downloads (HTTPS only)
Input validation

To report security issues: GitHub Security Advisories

Documentation

CHANGELOG.md - Version history
MIGRATION.md - Migration from v2
CLI Usage Guide - Comprehensive CLI guide
GitHub Actions Guide - GitHub Actions setup
Architecture - Technical architecture

Troubleshooting

Binary Not Found

If you see "gitleaks binary not found", SecretScout will download it automatically on first run. This may take 30-60 seconds.

Permission Errors

Make sure the binary is executable:

chmod +x target/release/secretscout

Rust Not Installed

Install Rust via rustup:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Write tests for your changes
Run cargo test and cargo clippy
Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

gitleaks-action - Original open source project that inspired SecretScout
Gitleaks - Secret scanning engine by @zricethezav
Rust Community - Excellent tooling and libraries

About This Project

SecretScout is an independent Rust rewrite of the gitleaks-action project, created to provide:

10x Performance Improvement through Rust's zero-cost abstractions
Memory Safety with zero buffer overflows or memory leaks
Enhanced CLI functionality for standalone usage
100% Backward Compatibility with the original project

The original gitleaks-action is available at: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks-action

This project maintains the same functionality while adding significant performance improvements and new features through a modern Rust implementation.

Support

Made with Rust

SecretScout v3 - Fast, Safe, Simple Secret Detection

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 17 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs		docs
npm		npm
original-reference		original-reference
scripts		scripts
secretscout		secretscout
.gitignore		.gitignore
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
IMPLEMENTATION_STATUS.md		IMPLEMENTATION_STATUS.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
action.yml		action.yml
build.log		build.log
cli.js		cli.js
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

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SecretScout

Quick Start

Installation

Via npm (Recommended for most users)

Via cargo (For Rust developers)

From Source

Basic Usage

Example: Scan This Repository

Features

CLI Commands

secretscout detect

secretscout protect

secretscout version

Pre-commit Hook Setup

Manual Setup

Using pre-commit Framework

Configuration

Custom Config Example

GitHub Actions Usage

Output Formats

SARIF (Default)

JSON

CSV

Text

Exit Codes

Building from Source

Prerequisites

Build

Install Globally

Via npm (Easiest)

Via cargo (From crates.io)

From Local Source

Performance

Security

Documentation

Troubleshooting

Binary Not Found

Permission Errors

Rust Not Installed

Contributing

License

Acknowledgments

About This Project

Support

About

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