redact-secret · Report

API key (no evidenced shape)

No identifying prefix, length or alphabet is evidenced; only the key id, team id and user id are documented, as UUIDs.

Exa
Detectors: none mapped
Run 2026-10-07
Mode published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14

Dossier verdictNot found
Dossier evidence levelT0 · Pending
Dossier researched2026-09-27

Beta.10 context-gated arrival family exa-api-key (#384, research redact-secret#787, product #868). T0: measures the keyword gate and the SDK-call-argument forms only; no value grammar is claimed and none is fabricated.

New pipelineAuthority

Built from the new pipeline

The new pipeline is the authority for credential qualification. These numbers are read from the qualification view derived from the official credential-eval run of the public-evidence-snapshot population. The regression and policy populations keep their own counts on the qualification pages and are not added in here.

Authority: new
Population: public-evidence-snapshot
Engine: credential-eval 0.1.0-alpha.16
Evidence: snapshot-2026.10.06.4
Run: sha256:4bec6e539482…
Recorded: 2026-10-07
Authorised for: @redact-secret/core@0.1.0-beta.14

Maintainer-reviewed (independent review pending)

598 fixtures of the 7,041 in evidence release snapshot-2026.10.06.4 carry this label. They are counted in the numbers on this page.

Passed the project’s own verification (source evidence, automated checks, recorded counter-arguments); not yet independently reviewed.

OpenRedaction default (all patterns): not measured in this run (optional)

The default (all-pattern) profile is slow and noisy for credential evaluation: personal data and resource identifiers dominate its findings, and its last official measurement took 7 minutes of scanner time on a population the credential profile scans in seconds (its methods run takes 40+ minutes), so it is a manual measurement and never blocks other scanners or core verification (#763). Its earlier results stay as history with their run identity; the credential profile is a separate scanner, never spliced with it.

Last measurement: policy-corpus@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380), public-evidence-snapshot+methods@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:d47d081ce5fb), public-evidence-snapshot@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380), regression-corpus@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380) · engine 0.1.0-alpha.5 · recorded 2026-10-05 · retained record, no longer listed by the run registry. It stays labelled with that run identity and is never combined with another profile or another run.

Open the qualification page for this pointer

OpenRedaction credential profile (33 types): not measured in an official run (local exploratory diagnostics only: see ADR)

The credential profile is the comparison profile chosen in docs/decisions/2026-10-06-choose-the-openredaction-credential-bearing-profile-as-the-comparison-scanner.md. It is optional in the official run class because no pinned engine configuration measures it yet: making it required would refuse every official view until the owner approves the one profile-only run. Its own history starts with that run; nothing of the default's is reused for it.

No earlier measurement of it is recorded. Nothing is shown in its place.

Official measurement: pending: requires owner approval (one profile-only run; see the decision).

Open the qualification page for this pointer

Every population and its qualification

Research record

From credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0. It describes the research on the format, not what any scanner or the product does, and not a support status.

Review stateDraft, not reviewed
Format revision1 · proposed, none current
ResearchNot found
Researched2026-09-27

What blocks the research

Documentation-gatedNo source states a prefix, length or alphabet for the secret; one issued key would show whether it is a UUID (checklist in

3 events in the review history: 2 observed, 1 reviewed. Latest: observed on 2026-09-27 by automation, project maintainer. Project-maintained review is not independent validation. The family record at this release.

Format

Provider format research from credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0.

What it looks like

Shape not recorded.

Format facts

Provider documented · mutable-property-source · current · observed 2026-09-26
Documentation for the one property varied in legacy twin fixtures (Team Management API key id, teamId and userId (format: uuid)): Exa documents the key id, the team id and the user id as UUIDs, and lists a key's id, name, rate limit and budget in its response with no field for the secret value. Context twins keep the UUID-shaped value and rename the assignment to one of those identifier names (EXA_KEY_ID, EXA_API_KEY_ID, EXA_TEAM_ID) or a request id, so silence follows from the documented identifier role
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/update-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports Exa documents the key id, the team id and the user id as UUIDs, and lists a key's id, name, rate limit and budget in its response with no field for the secret value. Context twins keep the UUID-shaped value and rename the assignment to one of those identifier names (EXA_KEY_ID, EXA_API_KEY_ID, EXA_TEAM_ID) or a request id, so silence follows from the documented identifier role
Unresolved · field-secret-shape · current · observed 2026-09-26
secret-shape: no identifying prefix, length or alphabet is evidenced (Not claimed. A UUID-shaped carrier value is used only because one weak fragment suggests it.)
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-pyprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports the SDK does no validation
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret/issues/787third-party-writeup · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports no provider, tool or community source states a shape
Provider documented · field-identifier-fields · current · observed 2026-09-26
identifier-fields: key id, teamId and userId are UUIDs and public identifiers (Backs the id-like sibling twins.)
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/update-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports format: uuid
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/get-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports identifier-fields: key id, teamId and userId are UUIDs and public identifiers
Provider documented · field-context · current · observed 2026-09-26
context: EXA_API_KEY, the api_key constructor argument, x-api-key or Authorization: Bearer, and the hosted-MCP exaApiKey query parameter
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-serverprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports exaApiKey query, Bearer or x-api-key
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-pyprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports reads EXA_API_KEY, sends x-api-key
Unresolved · field-service-keys · current · observed 2026-09-26
service-keys: service keys created through the Team Management API are a second credential class of unknown shape (Not claimed.)
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/get-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports service-keys: service keys created through the Team Management API are a second credential class of unknown shape
Unresolved · field-exa-prefix · current · observed 2026-09-26
exa-prefix: an exa- prefix (Not evidence; not asserted either way.)
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret/issues/787third-party-writeup · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports row 8: an untraceable search-summary claim, contradicted by the provider docs
Unresolved · listed-references · current · observed 2026-09-26
The legacy contract lists 6 references without stating which property each supports.
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/get-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
- exa.ai/docs/get-started/quickstartprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-serverprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-pyprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret/issues/787third-party-writeup · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret/issues/868issue-or-discussion · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
Unresolved · legacy-contract-tier · current · observed 2026-09-26
The legacy contract records no adequate evidence for a grammar (tier T0).
Source not recorded.
Unresolved · dossier-research · current · observed 2026-09-27
Legacy dossier research (verdict not-found, tier T0) cited 0 sources; the dossier does not attribute sources to individual properties.
Source not recorded.
Unresolved · taxonomy-sources · current · observed 2026-09-27
The legacy taxonomy lists 2 sources for this family. The taxonomy records no date; the dossier researchedAt is used as the observed-at date.
- exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/update-api-keyprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a source for this family in the legacy taxonomy
- github.com/exa-labs/exa-pyprovider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-27 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a source for this family in the legacy taxonomy

Open questions

No open question is recorded for this revision.

Benchmark dossier notes

From the provider dossier, as written. The evidence level above says how well the format is backed; a fact the dossier does not record is not shown.

Shape: none established. The Team Management API documents the key id, teamId and userId as UUIDs, but the create response has no secret field and the docs do not say whether the secret equals the id. One weak code-search measurement found a UUID-shaped value in 1 of 10 assignments, and 0 of 15 in a second pass; that is not a distribution. A claimed exa- prefix came from an untraceable search summary and is contradicted by the provider pages.
Basis: none. No provider page, staff statement, SDK code or scanner rule states a secret grammar. exa-py does no validation. No scanner has an Exa rule (tree and path checks; rule contents inside multi-rule files were not read). The Exa docs, including the update key reference, document only the identifiers.
Issuance: not attempted. The #787 checklist asks for total length, whether the secret matches the UUID layout, whether it differs from the key id, and whether a service key has the same shape.
Contract in core: none. #868 did not land Exa; it stays with generic-token, and its SDK keyword-argument form is read by generic-token since #866. A positional Exa("...") stays out. See detector-families.md, section Keyword-gated provider keys (#868).

In this benchmark

Fixture rows on the current run. Counts are for redact-secret in published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14 mode.

Fixtures: 30
Left readable: 2
Redacted too much: 0
False alarms: 0

30 fixtures: 22 must stay quiet, 8 record project policy. See every row

redact-secret fixture counts by evidence level
Evidence level	Fixtures	Left readable	Too much	False alarms
T2Tool-corroborated	7	0	0	0
T3Project policy	23	2	0	0

Every scanner on the same fixtures

In run order. Counts are what each scanner recorded on this family's fixtures, whichever rules it has; a scanner with no rule for the family has nothing to report on it.

Counts per scanner on this family's fixtures
Scanner	Fixtures	Left readable	False alarms
flare-redactRuntime library · 1.6.1 · Published npm package · secrets-only (pii, generic_assignment disabled) · JavaScript engineNo rule maps to it	30	8	0
gitleaksRepository scanner · 8.30.1 · Directory scan · default rulesNo rule maps to it	30	2	1
redact-secretProduct measured here · 0.1.0-beta.14 · Published npm package · default detectorsNo detector mapped	30	2	0
trufflehogRepository scanner · 3.97.4 · Filesystem scan · verification disabledNo rule maps to it	30	8	0

Benchmark dossier questions

Things the sources do not settle. They are listed so nobody reads them as settled.

Blocked by: No source states a prefix, length or alphabet for the secret; one issued key would show whether it is a UUID (checklist in

Looks like it, but isn't

Values the dossier records as resembling this credential without being one.

Collisions: every UUID in Exa responses and logs (key id, team id, user id, request ids) shares the possible shape, so a bare-UUID rule would be unusable. Placeholders your-api-key and YOUR-EXA-API-KEY are benign.

Scanner rules for this family

Mapped by hand (reviewed 2026-09-30) from each scanner's pinned rule file, never from what a scanner found on the fixtures.

No peer rule maps to this family

None of the reviewed peer scanners has a rule that can match a credential of this family.

None mapped

Find

Evidence level

Scanners

30 of 30 rows

Fixtures in this family

30 rows, redact-secret's outcome on each. Rows that need a look come first (2), then the rest in corpus order. Choose "Every scanner" to see each scanner's outcome for the same rows.

Fixtures in API key (no evidenced shape)
Fixture	Kind and evidence	redact-secret
`exa-api-key-js-positional`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Left readable
`exa-api-key-python-positional`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Left readable
`exa-api-key-curl-x-api-key`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-dotenv`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-export`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-hosted-mcp-query`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-langchain-kwarg`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-other-host-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-python-kwarg`exa · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`exa-api-key-angle-key-placeholder`exa · documentation-placeholder	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-api-key-id-export-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-bare-in-prose-near-miss`exa · format-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-bare-line-near-miss`exa · format-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-bearer-docs-prose`exa · prose-mention	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-content-length-setting-near-miss`exa · format-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-docs-ctor-placeholder`exa · documentation-placeholder	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-env-reference-reference`exa · templated-reference	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-key-id-env-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-model-id-public-id`exa · public-identifier	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-python-environ-reference`exa · templated-reference	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-quickstart-key-placeholder`exa · documentation-placeholder	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`exa-api-key-request-id-query-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-request-uuid-public-id`exa · public-identifier	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-sha256-digest-encoded-value`exa · benign-encoded-value	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-team-id-kwarg-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-team-management-ids-public-id`exa · public-identifier	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`exa-api-key-unrelated-js-positional-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-unrelated-python-ctor-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-unrelated-python-positional-twin`exa · missing-context-marker	Must not flagT3 · Project policy · twin	Quiet
`exa-api-key-your-key-here-placeholder`exa · documentation-placeholder	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet

Sources

Researched 2026-09-27.

Documentation and code

exa.ai/docs/reference/team-management/update-api-key
github.com/exa-labs/exa-py

Research log

redact-secret/redact-secret#787Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#774Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#868Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#866Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret-benchmarks#384Research issue