[daily secrets] Daily Secrets Analysis - January 26, 2026

[github-actions[bot]]

🔐 Daily Secrets Analysis Report

Date: January 26, 2026
Workflow Files Analyzed: 139
Run: §21353154386

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📊 Executive Summary

• Total Secret References: 2,959 (secrets.* patterns)
• GitHub Token References: 294 (github.token patterns)
• Unique Secret Types: 24 distinct secret names
• Workflows with Redaction: 139/139 (100% coverage ✅)
• Token Cascade Patterns: 558 fallback chains
• Permission Blocks: 139 explicit permission definitions

🔑 Top 10 Secrets by Usage

Rank	Secret Name	Occurrences	Category
1	GITHUB_TOKEN	1,430	GitHub Auth
2	GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN	1,253	GitHub Auth
3	GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN	694	GitHub Auth
4	COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN	440	GitHub Auth
5	CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN	180	AI Provider
6	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	180	AI Provider
7	OPENAI_API_KEY	64	AI Provider
8	CODEX_API_KEY	64	AI Provider
9	TAVILY_API_KEY	19	Service Integration
10	APP_PRIVATE_KEY	10	GitHub App Auth

View All 24 Secret Types

GitHub Authentication (3,821 total):
  - GITHUB_TOKEN: 1,430
  - GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN: 1,253
  - GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN: 694
  - COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: 440
  - GH_AW_PROJECT_GITHUB_TOKEN: 2
  - GH_AW_AGENT_TOKEN: 2

AI Provider Keys (488 total):
  - CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN: 180
  - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: 180
  - OPENAI_API_KEY: 64
  - CODEX_API_KEY: 64

Service Integration (47 total):
  - TAVILY_API_KEY: 19
  - APP_PRIVATE_KEY: 10
  - NOTION_API_TOKEN: 8
  - BRAVE_API_KEY: 6
  - SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: 1
  - CONTEXT7_API_KEY: 3

Cloud/Azure Keys (9 total):
  - AZURE_TENANT_ID: 3
  - AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET: 3
  - AZURE_CLIENT_ID: 3

Monitoring & Observability (15 total):
  - DD_SITE: 3
  - DD_APPLICATION_KEY: 3
  - DD_API_KEY: 3
  - SENTRY_OPENAI_API_KEY: 3
  - SENTRY_ACCESS_TOKEN: 3

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🛡️ Security Posture

Protection Mechanisms

✅ Perfect Redaction Coverage: 139/139 workflows (100%) include secret redaction steps
✅ Token Cascade System: 558 fallback chains ensure token availability
✅ Permission Declarations: 139 explicit permission blocks enforce least-privilege access
✅ No Secret Exposure: 0 instances of secrets in job outputs

Security Validation Results

✅ Passed Checks:

• Secret Output Protection: No secrets found in job outputs (0 occurrences)
• Redaction System: 100% of workflows have redact_secrets step
• Token Cascades: Robust fallback chains (558 instances of GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN || GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN || GITHUB_TOKEN)

⚠️ Observations:

• GitHub Event References: 1,760 github.event.* patterns detected
  • Most are safely used within env: blocks for input sanitization
  • Follows safe-inputs pattern for untrusted user data
  • No evidence of unsafe template injection

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📈 Usage Distribution

By Category:

• GitHub Authentication: 87.4% (3,821/4,380 references)
• AI Provider Keys: 11.1% (488/4,380 references)
• Service Integrations: 1.1% (47/4,380 references)
• Cloud/Azure: 0.2% (9/4,380 references)
• Monitoring: 0.3% (15/4,380 references)

By Access Pattern:

• Direct Secret References: 2,959 (secrets.*)
• Context Token Access: 294 (github.token)
• Cascade Fallbacks: 558 (token availability chains)

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🎯 Key Findings

1. Comprehensive Security Coverage

All 139 workflows implement the redaction system, ensuring that secrets cannot leak through logs or outputs. This represents 100% adoption of security best practices.

2. GitHub Token Dominance

GitHub authentication tokens account for 87.4% of all secret usage, with GITHUB_TOKEN being the most frequently used secret (1,430 occurrences). This reflects the repository's heavy integration with GitHub APIs through MCP servers and workflow orchestration.

3. Robust Fallback Architecture

The 558 token cascade patterns (GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN || GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN || GITHUB_TOKEN) demonstrate a mature authentication strategy that handles various GitHub API access scenarios with graceful fallbacks.

4. AI Engine Diversity

The presence of multiple AI provider keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Codex) indicates multi-engine support, with Claude/Anthropic being the most prominent third-party integration (360 combined references).

5. Safe Event Handling

The 1,760 github.event.* references are predominantly used within env: blocks, following the safe-inputs pattern documented in the repository. This prevents template injection vulnerabilities while still enabling workflow customization.

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💡 Recommendations

1. Monitor Token Cascade Usage

With 558 cascade patterns across 139 workflows, consider:

• Adding metrics to track which fallback level is used most frequently
• Documenting expected cascade behavior for each workflow type
• Alerting on workflows that consistently fall through to GITHUB_TOKEN (indicates missing preferred tokens)

2. Secret Usage Audit Trail

Consider implementing:

• Monthly trend reports comparing secret usage over time
• Alerting on new secret types being introduced
• Documentation requirements for any workflow using more than 3 distinct secrets

3. GitHub Event Pattern Review

While current usage appears safe, recommend:

• Periodic audit of the 1,760 github.event.* references
• Automated detection of any event references outside env: blocks
• Documentation of approved event usage patterns

4. AI Provider Key Management

With 488 AI provider key references:

• Consider consolidating similar keys where possible
• Document which workflows require which AI providers
• Implement key rotation schedules for long-lived secrets

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📖 Reference Documentation

For detailed information about secret usage patterns, see:

• Specification: specs/secrets-yml.md
• Redaction System: actions/setup/js/redact_secrets.cjs
• Safe Inputs: pkg/workflow/frontmatter_safe_inputs.go
• Token Management: Workflow compiler (pkg/workflow/compiler.go)

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References:

• Workflow Run §21353154386
• Daily Secrets Workflow

AI generated by Daily Secrets Analysis Agent

• expires on Jan 29, 2026, 9:50 AM UTC

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-01-29T09:50:52.460Z.