Code Hardcode Audit Skill

Code Hardcode Audit

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user mentions:

"hardcoded values", "hardcodes", "magic numbers"
"constant detection", "find constants"
"duplicate constants", "DRY violations"
"code audit", "hardcode audit"
"PLR2004", "semgrep", "jscpd", "gitleaks", "ast-grep", "SSoT violations"
"secret scanning", "leaked secrets", "API keys", "bandit", "trufflehog", "whispers"
"passwords in code", "credential leaks", "entropy detection"
"config file secrets", "hardcoded credentials"

Quick Start

# Preflight — verify all tools installed and configured
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/preflight.py -- .

# Full audit (all 9 tools, preflight + both outputs)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/audit_hardcodes.py -- src/

# Individual tools (all respect .gitignore):

# Python credential detection (passwords, tokens, API keys in variable names)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_bandit.py -- src/

# Entropy-based secret detection (catches secrets regex can't)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_trufflehog.py -- src/

# Config file secrets (YAML, JSON, Dockerfile, .env, .properties)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_whispers.py -- src/

# AST-based hardcode detection (numeric args, URLs, paths, sleep)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_ast_grep.py -- src/

# Python magic numbers only (fastest)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_ruff_plr.py -- src/

# Pattern-based detection (URLs, ports, paths, sleep, circuit breaker)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_semgrep.py -- src/

# Env-var coverage audit (BaseSettings cross-reference)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/audit_env_coverage.py -- src/

# Copy-paste detection
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_jscpd.py -- src/

# Regex-based secret scanning (API keys, tokens, passwords)
uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/run_gitleaks.py -- src/

Tool Overview

| Tool | Detection Focus | Language Support | Speed | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------- | ------- | | Preflight | Tool availability + config validation | N/A | Instant | | Bandit | Hardcoded passwords, tokens in Python (B105-7) | Python | Fast | | TruffleHog | Entropy-based secret + API verification | Any (file-based) | Medium | | Whispers | Config file secrets (YAML, JSON, Docker, .env) | Config files | Medium | | ast-grep | Hardcoded literals in args, sleep, URLs, paths | Multi-language | Fast | | Ruff PLR2004 | Magic value comparisons | Python | Fast | | Semgrep | URLs, ports, paths, credentials, retry config | Multi-language | Medium | | Env-coverage | BaseSettings cross-reference, coverage gaps | Python | Fast | | jscpd | Duplicate code blocks | Multi-language | Slow | | gitleaks | Regex-based secrets, API keys, passwords | Any (file-based) | Fast |

Output Formats

JSON (--output json)

{
  "summary": {
    "total_findings": 42,
    "by_tool": { "ruff": 15, "semgrep": 20, "jscpd": 7 },
    "by_severity": { "high": 5, "medium": 25, "low": 12 }
  },
  "findings": [
    {
      "id": "MAGIC-001",
      "tool": "ruff",
      "rule": "PLR2004",
      "file": "src/config.py",
      "line": 42,
      "column": 8,
      "message": "Magic value used in comparison: 8123",
      "severity": "medium",
      "suggested_fix": "Extract to named constant"
    }
  ],
  "refactoring_plan": [
    {
      "priority": 1,
      "action": "Create constants/ports.py",
      "finding_ids": ["MAGIC-001", "MAGIC-003"]
    }
  ]
}

Compiler-like Text (--output text)

src/config.py:42:8: PLR2004 Magic value used in comparison: 8123 [ruff]
src/probe.py:15:1: hardcoded-url Hardcoded URL detected [semgrep]
src/client.py:20-35: Clone detected (16 lines, 95% similarity) [jscpd]

Summary: 42 findings (ruff: 15, semgrep: 20, jscpd: 7)

CLI Options

--output {json,text,both}  Output format (default: both)
--tools {all,ast-grep,ruff,semgrep,jscpd,gitleaks,env-coverage,bandit,trufflehog,whispers}  Tools to run
--severity {all,high,medium,low}  Filter by severity (default: all)
--exclude PATTERN  Glob pattern to exclude (repeatable)
--no-parallel  Disable parallel execution
--skip-preflight  Skip tool availability check

References

Tool Comparison - Detailed tool capabilities
Output Schema - JSON schema specification
Troubleshooting - Common issues and fixes

ADR-0046: Semantic Constants Abstraction
ADR-0047: Code Hardcode Audit Skill
code-clone-assistant - PMD CPD-based clone detection (DRY focus)

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Cause | Solution | | ------------------------ | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Ruff PLR2004 zero output | PLR2004 globally suppressed | Run preflight: uv run --python 3.13 --script scripts/preflight.py -- . | | Ruff PLR2004 not found | Ruff not installed or old | uv tool install ruff or upgrade | | ast-grep not found | Binary not installed | cargo install ast-grep or brew install ast-grep | | Semgrep timeout | Large codebase scan | Use --exclude to limit scope | | jscpd memory error | Too many files | Increase Node heap: NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=4096 | | gitleaks false positives | Test data flagged | Add patterns to .gitleaks.toml allowlist | | Env-coverage misses | Not using BaseSettings | Only detects pydantic BaseSettings; other config patterns skipped | | No findings in output | Wrong directory specified | Verify path exists and contains source files | | JSON parse error | Tool output malformed | Run tool individually with --output text | | Missing tool in PATH | Tool not installed globally | Run preflight first, then install missing tools | | Bandit false positives | password = '' in init | Filter B105 by confidence: --confidence HIGH | | TruffleHog timeout | Scanning .venv/node_modules | All tools respect .gitignore; ensure large dirs are gitignored | | TruffleHog regex error | Glob patterns in .gitignore | Complex globs (**/*.rs.bk) are auto-skipped; only simple names used | | Whispers slow scan | Large directories | Exclude via .gitignore; whispers config auto-generated from it | | Whispers zero findings | No config files in scope | Whispers targets YAML/JSON/Docker/INI; use on project root, not src/ | | Severity filter empty | No findings at that level | Use --severity all to see all findings |

Agent Skills: Code Hardcode Audit

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files