keeping-git-repos-clean

name

keeping-git-repos-clean

description

Prevents, detects, and remediates files that should never be committed — secrets (.env, API tokens, hardcoded credentials) and dev artifacts (build output, scratch databases, editor/OS files). Covers .gitignore (and why it does not untrack), git rm --cached, auditing tracked files, history scrubbing, and credential rotation. Use when a repo has committed secrets or junk, when setting up a new repo's ignore rules, or when reviewing what a repo actually tracks.

Keeping Git Repos Clean

Two classes of files keep ending up in repos: secrets and dev artifacts. Both are cheap to prevent and expensive to clean up after the fact, because git history is forever and public repos publish everything.

The one rule everyone forgets

.gitignore does NOT untrack files that are already committed. Adding a path to .gitignore only prevents future untracked files from being staged. A file git is already tracking keeps getting committed regardless. This bites repeatedly: a .env is listed in .gitignore but was committed before the rule existed, so it keeps shipping.

To actually stop tracking a file while keeping your local copy:

git rm --cached path/to/file        # untrack, leave working-tree copy in place
git rm -r --cached some/dir/        # for a directory
echo "path/to/file" >> .gitignore   # then ignore it so it doesn't come back
git commit -m "Stop tracking <file>; add to .gitignore"

--cached is the important flag — plain git rm deletes the working copy too.

Audit what a repo actually tracks

Don't trust .gitignore to tell you what's clean — read the index directly:

git ls-files | grep -iE '\.(env|pem|key|p12|profraw|log|bak|db|sqlite3?)$'
git ls-files | grep -iE '(^|/)(\.DS_Store|~\$|todo\.db|node_modules/|__pycache__/)'
git ls-files '*.db' '*.sqlite*'                 # scratch databases
git ls-files | xargs -I{} du -h {} | sort -rh | head   # surprisingly large tracked files

Usual suspects seen across real repos:

• Secrets: .env with a live token, hardcoded AWS_*/DB creds in a settings module, SECRET_KEY = "CHANGEME"/"foobar" placeholders shipped to prod.
• Build artifacts: LaTeX .aux/.toc/.log/.synctex.gz/.pdf, LLVM *.profraw, compiled binaries, htmlcov/, dist/, *.egg-info/.
• Scratch / personal artifacts: todo.db and other tool-local SQLite scratch DBs, editor backups (*.backup, *.bak, ~$*.docx Word lock files), stray *.log.
• OS noise: .DS_Store, Thumbs.db.

Secrets need more than git rm

Removing a secret from HEAD does not remove it from history — git log -p and the commit that introduced it still expose it. Three things must happen, in order, and the first is the only one that actually protects you:

1. Rotate the credential. Treat any secret that ever touched a remote as compromised. Issue a new token/key/password and revoke the old one. Do this first — the leaked value is public the moment it was pushed.
2. Untrack going forward (git rm --cached + .gitignore + .env.example documenting which vars are needed, with placeholder values only).
3. Scrub history if required (git filter-repo --invert-paths --path .env, or BFG) and force-push. This rewrites SHAs and disrupts collaborators, so it's usually a deliberate maintainer step done after rotation — not an automated PR.

A PR that does (2) and (3) but skips (1) gives false comfort: the value is still valid and still in history clones/forks. Always call out rotation as the required human follow-up.

"Committed" means "published"

For public repos — and especially static sites deployed with path: '.' (GitHub Pages uploads the entire repo) — every tracked file is fetchable at a public URL. A scratch todo.db at the repo root of a brochure site is served at /todo.db. Before committing to any public repo, assume anyone can download it.

Prevent it: global ignore + a secret scanner

Per-developer noise (editor files, OS files, tool scratch DBs like todo.db) should be ignored globally, not in every project's .gitignore — that way it never lands anywhere:

git config --global core.excludesFile ~/.gitignore_global
printf '%s\n' '.DS_Store' '*.swp' 'todo.db' '*.profraw' >> ~/.gitignore_global

Block secrets at commit time with a pre-commit hook so they never reach history:

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks
    rev: v8.18.0
    hooks: [{id: gitleaks}]
  - repo: https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets
    rev: v1.5.0
    hooks: [{id: detect-secrets, args: ["--baseline", ".secrets.baseline"]}]

A starter project .gitignore (commit this):

# Secrets / local config
.env
.env.*
!.env.example
*.pem
*.key

# Python build/test artifacts
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
build/
dist/
*.egg-info/
.coverage
htmlcov/
.pytest_cache/

# Scratch / OS / editor
*.db
*.sqlite
*.sqlite3
*.profraw
*.log
*.bak
*.backup
.DS_Store
~$*

Verification can dirty the tree

Compilers, test runners, and asset pipelines often write into the checkout even when the command is only meant to verify a change. They may create unignored cache files or regenerate a tracked distributable such as a PDF or compiled CSS. A green command does not mean the working tree still contains only your change.

Bracket verification with status checks and stage only reviewed paths:

git status --short
make test                         # or the project's real build command
git status --short
git diff -- path/you/changed
git add path/you/changed          # never sweep in generated files with git add -A
git diff --cached --check
git diff --cached --stat

If a tool necessarily produces noisy output, run it in a disposable copy of the checkout. This preserves a real build while keeping generated files away from the patch:

scratch_dir=$(mktemp -d)
rsync -a --exclude .git ./ "$scratch_dir/"
(cd "$scratch_dir" && make build)

When verification modifies a tracked generated output that is intentionally out of scope, restore that exact path only after reviewing its diff:

git diff -- docs/manual.pdf
git restore -- docs/manual.pdf

Do not use a broad restore/reset to clean up: the checkout may already contain someone else's work. Also do not rely on git stash as cleanup for untracked artifacts; ordinary stashes omit them, and even --include-untracked can collide with files regenerated before stash pop. Prevent or remove known generated paths explicitly instead.

Checklist

Audit:
- [ ] `git ls-files` reviewed for secrets, build output, scratch DBs, OS files
- [ ] No live credentials in tracked source or .env
- [ ] No surprisingly large/binary tracked files

Remediate (if dirty):
- [ ] Secret rotated/revoked FIRST (history is public the moment it was pushed)
- [ ] `git rm --cached` + .gitignore entry for each offending file
- [ ] .env.example documents required vars with placeholder values only
- [ ] History scrub flagged as a maintainer follow-up if the secret is in history

Prevent:
- [ ] Project .gitignore covers secrets, build artifacts, OS/editor noise
- [ ] Global core.excludesFile catches per-developer scratch files
- [ ] gitleaks / detect-secrets pre-commit hook installed
- [ ] Verification bracketed by `git status --short`; only reviewed paths staged

For scanning source code for vulnerabilities and hardcoded-secret patterns, see the auditing-python-security skill — this skill is about what git tracks.