EnvGuard — Pre-Commit Secret Detection

EnvGuard scans your code for leaked secrets, credentials, API keys, and .env file contents before they reach git. It uses regex-based pattern matching against 50+ secret formats from 20+ services, lefthook for git hook integration, and produces SARIF-compatible reports for compliance workflows.

Commands

Free Tier (No license required)

envguard scan [file|directory]

One-shot secret scan of files or directories.

How to execute:

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" scan [target]

What it does:

1. Accepts a file path or directory (defaults to current directory)
2. Finds all text files (excluding .git/, node_modules/, dist/, build/, vendor/, pycache)
3. Runs 50+ secret detection patterns against each file
4. Respects .envguardignore exclusions (gitignore syntax)
5. Outputs findings with: file, line number, pattern matched, severity, redacted match
6. Exit code 0 if clean, exit code 1 if critical/high findings detected

Example usage scenarios:

• "Scan this repo for leaked secrets" -> runs envguard scan .
• "Check this file for API keys" -> runs envguard scan src/config.ts
• "Are there any secrets in my source code?" -> runs envguard scan src/

Pro Tier ($19/user/month -- requires ENVGUARD_LICENSE_KEY)

envguard hooks install

Install git pre-commit hooks that scan staged files for secrets before every commit.

How to execute:

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" hooks install

What it does:

1. Validates Pro+ license
2. Copies lefthook config to project root
3. Installs lefthook pre-commit hook
4. On every commit: scans all staged files for secrets, blocks commit if secrets found, shows remediation advice

envguard hooks uninstall

Remove EnvGuard git hooks.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" hooks uninstall

envguard allowlist [add|remove|list] [pattern]

Manage false positive patterns. Allowlisted patterns are skipped during scanning.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" allowlist add "EXAMPLE_API_KEY_FOR_TESTS"
bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" allowlist remove "EXAMPLE_API_KEY_FOR_TESTS"
bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" allowlist list

What it does:

1. Validates Pro+ license
2. Reads/writes allowlist in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (envguard.config.allowlist)
3. Allowlisted patterns are treated as known-safe and skipped during scans

envguard diff

Scan only staged changes (git diff --cached) for secrets.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" diff

What it does:

1. Validates Pro+ license
2. Gets staged changes via git diff --cached
3. Scans only added/modified lines for secrets
4. Ideal for pre-commit checks on large repos

Team Tier ($39/user/month -- requires ENVGUARD_LICENSE_KEY with team tier)

envguard history [directory]

Full git history scan -- finds secrets in all previous commits.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" history [directory]

What it does:

1. Validates Team+ license
2. Walks entire git log using git log -p
3. Scans every diff for secrets across all commits
4. Reports: commit hash, author, date, file, line, pattern matched
5. Critical for onboarding repos that may have had secrets committed in the past

envguard report [directory]

Generate a SARIF-compatible or markdown compliance report.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" report [directory]

What it does:

1. Validates Team+ license
2. Runs full scan of the directory
3. Generates a formatted markdown report with severity breakdown
4. Includes remediation steps for each finding category
5. Output suitable for compliance audits and security reviews

envguard policy [directory]

Custom secret patterns and enforcement rules.

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/envguard.sh" policy [directory]

What it does:

1. Validates Team+ license
2. Loads custom patterns from ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (envguard.config.customPatterns)
3. Enforces organization-specific secret rules (e.g., internal token formats)
4. Combines custom patterns with built-in patterns for comprehensive scanning

Detected Secret Types

EnvGuard detects 50+ secret patterns across 20+ services:

Configuration

Users can configure EnvGuard in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "envguard": {
        "enabled": true,
        "apiKey": "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY_HERE",
        "config": {
          "severityThreshold": "high",
          "allowlist": [],
          "customPatterns": [],
          "excludePatterns": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**", "**/.git/**"],
          "reportFormat": "markdown"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Important Notes

• Free tier works immediately with no configuration
• All scanning happens locally -- no code or secrets are sent to external servers
• License validation is offline -- no phone-home or network calls
• Supports .envguardignore files (gitignore syntax) to exclude paths
• Matches are always redacted in output (first/last 4 chars only)
• Git hooks use lefthook which must be installed (see install metadata above)
• Exit codes: 0 = clean, 1 = findings detected (for CI/CD integration)

Error Handling

• If lefthook is not installed and user tries hooks install, prompt to install it
• If license key is invalid or expired, show clear message with link to https://envguard.pages.dev/renew
• If a file is binary, skip it automatically with no warning
• If .envguardignore is malformed, warn and continue with default excludes
• If no files found in target, report clean scan with info message

When to Use EnvGuard

The user might say things like:

• "Scan for leaked secrets"
• "Check if any API keys are in my code"
• "Set up secret scanning on my commits"
• "Are there any credentials in this repo?"
• "Generate a security report for compliance"
• "Scan git history for leaked passwords"
• "Block secrets from being committed"
• "Check my staged files for secrets"
• "Add a false positive to the allowlist"