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API Key Accidentally Committed to Git — Secret Leaked in Repository

Symptom

• Hardcoded ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "sk-ant-..." appears in committed file
• GitHub sent a “secret scanning” alert email
• Someone else is using your API quota unexpectedly
• Key still visible in git log even after you deleted it in a new commit
• CI/CD exposed secret via echo $API_KEY in logs

Root Cause

Git stores the full history. Deleting a file in a new commit doesn’t remove it from history — the key is still in every previous commit. If the repo is public (or was ever public for a moment), the key should be considered compromised regardless of whether you see evidence of misuse.

Fix

Step 1: Rotate the key immediately (do this first)

# 1. Go to https://console.anthropic.com/settings/keys
# 2. Revoke the leaked key
# 3. Create a new key
# 4. Update your secrets manager / environment variables

# Never reuse the rotated key in the same place it was leaked

Rotating before cleaning history ensures any attacker using the leaked key is cut off immediately.

Step 2: Move the key to environment variables

# WRONG — never hardcode secrets
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "sk-ant-api03-..."

client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)

# RIGHT — read from environment
import os
import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()  # Reads ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var automatically
# Or explicitly:
client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=os.environ["ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"])

# Local development: .env file (never committed)
echo "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-..." >> .env
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Step 3: Clean git history

# Option A: git filter-repo (recommended, faster than filter-branch)
pip install git-filter-repo

git filter-repo --path config.py --invert-paths  # Remove file entirely
# OR replace the secret string:
git filter-repo --replace-text <(echo 'sk-ant-api03-XXXX==>REDACTED')

# Option B: BFG Repo Cleaner (Java, simpler for secrets)
# Download: https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/
bfg --replace-text secrets.txt  # secrets.txt: "sk-ant-api03-XXXX"
git reflog expire --expire=now --all
git gc --prune=now --aggressive
git push --force-with-lease

Step 4: Add pre-commit hooks to prevent future leaks

# Install pre-commit
pip install pre-commit

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
cat > .pre-commit-config.yaml << 'EOF'
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets
    rev: v1.4.0
    hooks:
      - id: detect-secrets
        args: ['--baseline', '.secrets.baseline']
  - repo: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks
    rev: v8.18.0
    hooks:
      - id: gitleaks
EOF

pre-commit install

# Quick gitleaks scan on current repo
docker run -v $(pwd):/path zricethezav/gitleaks:latest detect --source /path -v

Step 5: Verify the secret is gone from history

# Search git history for the leaked string
git log --all -p | grep "sk-ant"
# Should return nothing after cleaning

# Search all objects
git grep "sk-ant" $(git rev-list --all)
# Should return nothing

Option 6: Use a secrets manager (production)

# AWS Secrets Manager
import boto3, json

def get_secret(secret_name: str) -> str:
    client = boto3.client('secretsmanager', region_name='us-east-1')
    response = client.get_secret_value(SecretId=secret_name)
    return json.loads(response['SecretString'])['ANTHROPIC_API_KEY']

api_key = get_secret("prod/agent/anthropic")
client = anthropic.Anthropic(api_key=api_key)

# HashiCorp Vault
import hvac

vault = hvac.Client(url='https://vault.internal', token=os.environ['VAULT_TOKEN'])
secret = vault.secrets.kv.v2.read_secret_version(path='agent/anthropic')
api_key = secret['data']['data']['api_key']

Checklist After a Secret Leak

Step	Action	Done?
1	Revoke leaked key in Anthropic console	☐
2	Issue new key	☐
3	Update all services using old key	☐
4	Clean git history with filter-repo/BFG	☐
5	Force-push cleaned history	☐
6	Verify secret gone from all history	☐
7	Add pre-commit secret scanning hook	☐
8	Check API usage logs for abuse during exposure	☐

Expected Token Savings

This isn’t about token savings — it’s about preventing unauthorized API usage that burns your quota and incurs billing.

Environment

• Any git repository, especially public GitHub repos
• Source: GitHub secret scanning alerts, direct experience with leaked API keys

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