Sensitive Content Scanner

Core Purpose

Examine files for sensitive content that should be sanitized before sharing publicly. This is a safety check to run before publishing repos, sharing code snippets, exporting configurations, or any public sharing of files.

When to Use

• Before pushing a repo public
• Before sharing code/config snippets
• Before exporting skills, dotfiles, or configs for others
• When reviewing what might leak from a file set
• As part of an automated sanitization workflow

Invocation

/sensitive-content-scanner [path] - Scan a file or directory /sensitive-content-scanner - Prompted for path

Examples:

• /sensitive-content-scanner ~/.claude/skills/
• /sensitive-content-scanner ./my-project/
• /sensitive-content-scanner ./config.md

Personal Context File (Optional)

For better detection of YOUR specific sensitive content, create ~/.claude/sensitive-content-context.md:

# Sensitive Content Context

## Personal Identifiers

- Full name: [Your Name]
- Usernames: [github-handle, twitter-handle, etc.]
- Email patterns: [yourname@, your.name@]
- Company/team name: [Company Name]

## Private Paths (patterns to flag)

- ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/
- /Users/[username]/
- Any path containing: [folder names that are private]

## Private URLs (domains/patterns to flag)

- notion.site (personal workspaces)
- [internal-tool].company.com
- Private GitHub org: github.com/[private-org]/

## Known Secrets Patterns

- Project-specific API key prefixes
- Internal service names

## Business/Proprietary Terms

- Client names: [list]
- Internal project codenames: [list]
- Confidential terms: [list]

If this file exists, the scanner will use it for personalized detection. If not, it uses generic patterns.

Detection Categories

1. Credentials & Secrets (CRITICAL)

Always flag - these should never be shared:

Severity: CRITICAL - Block sharing until resolved

2. Personal Identifiers (HIGH)

Flag for review - may need anonymization:

Severity: HIGH - Review and anonymize or confirm OK to share

3. Private URLs (HIGH)

Flag - often reveal private resources:

Severity: HIGH - Replace with placeholder or remove

4. Local Paths (MEDIUM)

Flag - reveal system structure and username:

Severity: MEDIUM - Replace with generic placeholder like ~/path/to/... or [YOUR_PATH]

5. Infrastructure & Security (MEDIUM-HIGH)

Flag - could enable attacks or reveal architecture:

Severity: MEDIUM-HIGH depending on context

6. Business & Proprietary (MEDIUM)

Flag if context file specifies - varies by situation:

Severity: MEDIUM - Requires judgment

Scan Protocol

Phase 1: Load Context

1. Check for ~/.claude/sensitive-content-context.md
2. If exists: load personal patterns and terms
3. If not: use generic detection only, note limitations

Phase 2: File Discovery

1. If path is a file: scan that file
2. If path is a directory:
   • Find all text-based files (md, txt, json, yaml, yml, toml, js, ts, py, sh, etc.)
   • Respect .gitignore if present
   • Skip binary files, node_modules, .git, etc.
3. Report file count and types found

Phase 3: Pattern Scanning

For each file, scan for all detection categories. Use:

• Regex patterns for structured data (emails, IPs, API keys)
• Context file terms for personal/business content
• Heuristics for paths and URLs

Phase 4: Findings Report

Generate structured report:

# Sensitive Content Scan Report

**Path scanned:** [path]
**Files scanned:** [count]
**Scan date:** [timestamp]

## Summary

| Severity | Count | Action Required         |
| -------- | ----- | ----------------------- |
| CRITICAL | X     | Must fix before sharing |
| HIGH     | X     | Review and sanitize     |
| MEDIUM   | X     | Consider sanitizing     |
| LOW      | X     | Informational           |

## CRITICAL Findings

### [Category]: [Brief description]

**File:** `path/to/file.md`
**Line:** [line number]
**Content:** `[snippet with sensitive part highlighted]`
**Risk:** [Why this is sensitive]
**Suggested fix:** [How to sanitize]

---

[Repeat for each finding, grouped by severity]

## Recommendations

1. [Prioritized action items]
2. [...]

## Files Cleared

These files contained no detected sensitive content:

- [list of clean files]

Output Modes

Default: Full Report

Complete findings with context and suggestions.

Summary Mode

/sensitive-content-scanner [path] --summary Just the summary table and critical findings.

JSON Mode (for automation)

/sensitive-content-scanner [path] --json Machine-readable output for piping to other tools.

Integration with Other Skills

This skill is designed to be called by other skills/workflows:

Example - called by sync-skills-public:

1. sync-skills-public invokes sensitive-content-scanner on ~/.claude/skills/
2. Scanner returns findings
3. sync-skills-public uses findings to guide sanitization
4. Scanner re-runs on output to verify clean

When called programmatically, return structured findings that the calling skill can act on.

Limitations

• Cannot detect everything: Novel patterns or context-dependent sensitivity may be missed
• False positives: Some patterns (like example UUIDs) may flag incorrectly
• Requires context for personal content: Without the context file, personal names/terms won't be detected
• No semantic understanding: Can't detect if content is "confidential" without explicit markers

Always do a final human review before sharing sensitive materials.

Quick Reference