macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install detect-secretslocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install detect-secrets with Homebrew, Nix
Enterprise friendly way of detecting and preventing secrets in code. Version 1.5.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-20.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#detect-secretsnixpkgs package indexes · detect-secrets · source: raw.githubusercontent.com
overview
Package summary
Enterprise friendly way of detecting and preventing secrets in code
Project links
Commands and aliases
- detect-secrets
- detect-secrets-hook
history
Project history and usage
detect-secrets is Yelp's open-source command-line scanner for finding secrets in code and, more importantly, preventing newly introduced secrets from entering a repository. Its README describes the baseline workflow as a way to accept existing findings while blocking new ones.
Project history
The GitHub repository was created in December 2017, and the README presents the tool as enterprise-friendly secret detection. Its changelog shows continued 1.x releases through 2024, including new detectors for GitLab, Telegram, PyPI, OpenAI, and IP addresses, plus support for newer Python versions.
Adoption history
detect-secrets was designed for large repositories where immediately removing every old secret-like value may be impractical. The baseline model helped it fit pre-commit hooks and CI workflows: teams generate .secrets.baseline, audit it, and then use detect-secrets-hook or scans to catch new findings.
How it is used
The standard package-manager workflow is to install the CLI, run detect-secrets scan into .secrets.baseline, and wire detect-secrets-hook into staged-file or tracked-file checks. The README also documents auditing the baseline and tuning detectors and filters for local policy.
Why package nerds care
Package nerds care about detect-secrets because it is a practical DevSecOps CLI with a persistent config artifact rather than a one-shot grep-like scanner. It sits alongside pre-commit, GitHub secret scanning, trufflehog-style tools, and policy-driven CI checks.
Timeline
- 2017: GitHub repository created for Yelp/detect-secrets.
- 2020: 0.14.x releases continued the pre-1.0 series.
- 2022: 1.2.0 added CI and release-pipeline work plus new token detectors.
- 2024: 1.5.0 added OS-agnostic baseline support and more modern token detectors.
Related projects
- The project is commonly used with pre-commit-style hooks, CI pipelines, and other secret-scanning tools that enforce repository hygiene.
Sources
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for detect-secrets. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 3 runtime dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
Configuration and credential file locations
These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.
Configuration files
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
.secrets.baseline
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
detect-secrets | cli | global executable | |
detect-secrets-hook | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.5.0
manager updated2026-05-20
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets
- infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secretsnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:detect-secrets |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.5.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/detect-secrets |
| Homepage | https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets |
| Repository | https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets#readme |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Source archive | https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/69/67/382a863fff94eae5a0cf05542179169a1c49a4c8784a9480621e2066ca7d/detect_secrets-1.5.0.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-05-20T12:50:03Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | certifi, libyaml, python@3.14 |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | detect-secrets |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 9 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
detect-secrets
nix profile install nixpkgs#detect-secrets- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Detect Secrets
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment