Sieve – scans Cursor/Claude chat history for leaked API keys

Source: Hacker News

Overview

Sieve scans your AI coding assistant history for accidentally leaked secrets—API keys, tokens, passwords, and private keys—before they cause damage. All scanning is performed locally on your Mac; nothing leaves your device.

What Sieve Scans

• Claude Code – ~/.claude/
• Cursor – Application Support/Cursor/
• VS Code Copilot – Application Support/Code/
• VS Code Insiders – Application Support/Code - Insiders/
• Windsurf – Application Support/Windsurf/
• Codex – ~/.codex/
• .env files in your project directories

Vault – Secure Secret Storage

If you find a leaked key that you’ve already rotated, you can store the new value in Sieve Vault, which is backed by the macOS Keychain. Values are never displayed; copying a value requires Touch ID or your Mac login password.

MCP Integration

Sieve ships with a local MCP server for Claude Code. Enable it in Settings to let Claude:

• Check for exposed secrets
• Query your findings
• Run commands with vault‑injected credentials

All without ever exposing raw secret values.

Redaction

Sieve can redact detected secrets directly from VS Code SQLite chat databases (.vscdb files). A timestamped backup is created before any changes are applied.

Privacy by Design

• 100 % local processing – no network requests, no cloud sync
• No account required
• No telemetry or analytics
• Findings stored in a local SQLite database
• Secrets stored only in the macOS Keychain (never in the database)
• Open‑source core (SieveCore)

Permissions

Sieve uses macOS security‑scoped bookmarks to access AI tool directories. On first launch you grant read access to each tool’s folder via a standard Open dialog—the same permission mechanism used by all sandboxed Mac apps. You are never asked again after the initial grant.

Legal

• Terms of Service: https://gautam-u.github.io/sieve/terms/
• Privacy Policy: https://gautam-u.github.io/sieve/privacy/

Additional Information

• Seller: Sunitha Vaishnavi Nalainthran
• Size: 4 MB
• Category: Developer Tools
• Compatibility: macOS 13.0 or later (Mac)
• Languages: English
• Age Rating: 4+
• Copyright: © 2026 Sunitha. All rights reserved.