ggshield is a production-grade CLI tool for detecting hardcoded secrets in code, git history, Docker images, PyPI packages, archives, and AI coding assistant interactions. It integrates with the GitGuardian API to scan for 500+ secret types, supporting both SaaS and self-hosted instances. The tool is designed for developers and CI/CD pipelines, offering git hooks (pre-commit, pre-push, pre-receive), a plugin system for extensibility, and AI agent hooks for Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Vibe, and Kiro. It also includes HMSL (Has My Secret Leaked) for checking secret exposure via cryptographic queries, honeytoken management, and machine-level setup for comprehensive security coverage. The architecture is a hybrid Python/Rust CLI built with Click. The Python codebase is organized into three layers: `cmd` (CLI commands), `core` (shared infrastructure like config, scan, cache, client, UI, plugin system), and `verticals` (domain logic for secret scanning, AI, HMSL, honeytokens). A Rust native component (`ggshield-hook`) handles AI hook scanning for performance, while a Rust dispatcher delegates non-hook commands to the Python launcher. The plugin system supports dynamic command registration with sigstore signature verification. Configuration is YAML-based with versioned schemas and global/local merging. Key entry points include `ggshield/__main__.py` (CLI root), `ggshield/cmd/secret/scan/` (scan subcommands), `ggshield/cmd/auth/login.py` (authentication), `ggshield/cmd/machine/setup.py` (one-shot protection), and `rust/dispatcher/src/main.rs` (Rust binary). External dependencies include the GitGuardian API (py-gitguardian), keyring for credential storage, and platform-specific utilities for notifications and machine ID derivation. The codebase demonstrates strong engineering practices with lazy command loading, output handler strategy pattern, cache abstractions, and comprehensive test coverage (80%+).
TruffleHog is a comprehensive, actively maintained secret scanning tool written in Go. It detects exposed credentials, API keys, tokens, and other sensitive information across a wide range of sources including Git repositories, cloud storage (S3, GCS), Docker images, CI/CD systems (Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI), and many third-party services. The architecture is modular: a core engine orchestrates scanning from various sources, a large library of over 700 detectors (each implementing a standard interface) identifies secrets using regex patterns and Aho-Corasick pre-filtering, and optional HTTP-based verification confirms whether discovered secrets are still valid. The tool also includes a terminal UI (Bubble Tea), a permissions analyzer for deeper credential assessment, and output formats like JSON, SARIF, and GitHub Actions annotations. External dependencies include cloud SDKs, database drivers, and numerous third-party API clients, but the core scanning logic is self-contained and well-structured.