AG-007: Hardcoded Secret / Credential

What this rule means

A secret (API key, token, private key, credential) was found hardcoded in agent source code. Detection uses exact-format regexes for known providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, GitHub, etc.) and a Shannon entropy fallback for unknown formats in secret-named variables (entropy > 4.5 bits/char, len ≥ 16).

Why it matters

Hardcoded secrets are the most common cause of credential leaks. Every git commit that contains the secret is a permanent record — even after deletion, the history remains. The Galaxy incident (July 2026) involved an agent with unrestricted API access; hardcoded credentials would have made it worse.

How to fix it

Move the secret to an environment variable:

api_key = os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY'] # not hardcoded

Or use a secrets manager (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, etc.).

Rotate the secret immediately if it was ever committed to git.

Detect it

pip install lucin
lucin scan .                  # all rules
lucin explain AG-007          # this rule, in your terminal

Findings carry a file:line and, where the rule supports it, a witness path showing the flow that triggered it. Precision and recall for the whole rule set, with the commands that regenerate them, are on the benchmarks page — and the gaps are on limits.

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