BFG Repo Cleaner — The Nuclear Option for Leaked Secrets
Step-by-step guide to removing secrets from git history with BFG Repo Cleaner, including prevention strategies
You found a secret in your git history. Maybe GitLeaks flagged it. Maybe a security audit caught it. Maybe GitHub's secret scanning sent you an alert. The credential has been rotated — that's step one, and it's the most important step. But the secret is still in your repository's commit history. Anyone who clones the repo can find it. Anyone who forked it already has it.
git rm doesn't help. It removes the file from the working tree but the content remains in every historical commit. You need to rewrite git history itself. That's what BFG Repo Cleaner does — it rewrites your entire git history to remove secrets, large files, or other content that should never have been committed.
This is a destructive operation. It changes commit hashes. It breaks references. It requires coordinat
This lesson is part of the Guild Member curriculum. Plans start at $29/mo.