Security Scan workflow (outsourc-e/hermes-workspace)

The Security Scan workflow from outsourc-e/hermes-workspace, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: C - fair

Point runs-on at Latchkey and get run de-duplication, job timeouts, SHA-pinned actions, self-healing for flaky steps, and up to 58% lower cost, applied automatically.

Grade your own workflow free or run it on Latchkey →

Source: outsourc-e/hermes-workspace.github/workflows/security.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Security Scan workflow from the outsourc-e/hermes-workspace repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MIT license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

# Phase 2.5-001: Secrets scanning CI
# Scans for leaked secrets on PR and push to main

name: Security Scan

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, production]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, production]

permissions:
  contents: read
  security-events: write

jobs:
  secrets-scan:
    name: Scan for Secrets
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Run Gitleaks
        uses: gitleaks/gitleaks-action@v2
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          # No additional secrets required - uses built-in GITHUB_TOKEN

      - name: Grep for common patterns (fallback)
        if: always()
        run: |
          echo "🔍 Scanning for common secret patterns..."

          # Patterns that indicate secrets
          PATTERNS=(
            "sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}"
            "sk-ant-"
            "ghp_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
            "github_pat_"
            "gho_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
            "PRIVATE KEY"
            "-----BEGIN RSA"
            "-----BEGIN OPENSSH"
          )

          FOUND=0
          for pattern in "${PATTERNS[@]}"; do
            if grep -rE "$pattern" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.js" --include="*.json" --include="*.env*" . 2>/dev/null \
              | grep -v node_modules \
              | grep -v ".lock" \
              | grep -v dist \
              | grep -v "test-redaction" \
              | grep -v "diagnostics.ts" \
              | grep -v "placeholder" \
              | grep -v "# pragma: allowlist secret" \
              | grep -v "example\|sample\|fake\|dummy\|test\|mock" ; then
              echo "⚠️ Potential secret found matching: $pattern"
              FOUND=1
            fi
          done

          if [ $FOUND -eq 1 ]; then
            echo "❌ Potential secrets detected! Please review and remove."
            exit 1
          fi

          echo "✅ No obvious secret patterns found"

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Removes redundant runs and caps runaway jobs. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

# Phase 2.5-001: Secrets scanning CI
# Scans for leaked secrets on PR and push to main
 
name: Security Scan
 
on:
  push:
    branches: [main, production]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, production]
 
permissions:
  contents: read
  security-events: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  secrets-scan:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Scan for Secrets
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
 
      - name: Run Gitleaks
        uses: gitleaks/gitleaks-action@v2
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          # No additional secrets required - uses built-in GITHUB_TOKEN
 
      - name: Grep for common patterns (fallback)
        if: always()
        run: |
          echo "🔍 Scanning for common secret patterns..."
 
          # Patterns that indicate secrets
          PATTERNS=(
            "sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}"
            "sk-ant-"
            "ghp_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
            "github_pat_"
            "gho_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}"
            "PRIVATE KEY"
            "-----BEGIN RSA"
            "-----BEGIN OPENSSH"
          )
 
          FOUND=0
          for pattern in "${PATTERNS[@]}"; do
            if grep -rE "$pattern" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.js" --include="*.json" --include="*.env*" . 2>/dev/null \
              | grep -v node_modules \
              | grep -v ".lock" \
              | grep -v dist \
              | grep -v "test-redaction" \
              | grep -v "diagnostics.ts" \
              | grep -v "placeholder" \
              | grep -v "# pragma: allowlist secret" \
              | grep -v "example\|sample\|fake\|dummy\|test\|mock" ; then
              echo "⚠️ Potential secret found matching: $pattern"
              FOUND=1
            fi
          done
 
          if [ $FOUND -eq 1 ]; then
            echo "❌ Potential secrets detected! Please review and remove."
            exit 1
          fi
 
          echo "✅ No obvious secret patterns found"

What changed

Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. This example uses latchkey-small; pick the runner size that fits the job.
Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow

actions/checkout gitleaks/gitleaks-action