# How to ensure a word has been removed from repository?

3 messages from 2009-11-04 to 2009-11-04. Participants: Patrick Higgins, Nicolas Pitre, Sitaram Chamarty.
Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/21473

## Patrick Higgins, 2009-11-04 02:12

Subject: How to ensure a word has been removed from repository?
Message-ID: <6fb3af8e0911031812j54a9b698xca9f5301ac07442a@mail.gmail.com>
URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/6fb3af8e0911031812j54a9b698xca9f5301ac07442a%40mail.gmail.com

```
Hi all,

I just completed a series of filter-branch commands to remove a couple
of sensitive words from a repository before I publish it. The words
were found in commit messages, directory names, file contents, and
various other places (kind of weird, I know). I believe I have removed
them all, but I would like to double check but don't know how.

Given that much of the repository is stored in compressed packs, I
can't just use grep to look for the words. To get around this, I've
unpacked the objects, use a Perl script (filtinf example script) to
decompress them and then use grep (this has proven to be quite slow).

Is that going to find every possible occurrence if all the relevant
files are plain text?

Is there an easier way to search the repository? The way I'm doing it
has required some awfully deep knowledge to expire and prune
everything. I feel like I must be missing something.

Thanks,
Patrick

```

## Nicolas Pitre, 2009-11-04 02:49

Subject: Re: How to ensure a word has been removed from repository?
Message-ID: <alpine.LFD.2.00.0911032138400.13333@xanadu.home>
URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/alpine.LFD.2.00.0911032138400.13333%40xanadu.home
In-Reply-To: <6fb3af8e0911031812j54a9b698xca9f5301ac07442a@mail.gmail.com>

```
On Tue, 3 Nov 2009, Patrick Higgins wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I just completed a series of filter-branch commands to remove a couple
> of sensitive words from a repository before I publish it. The words
> were found in commit messages, directory names, file contents, and
> various other places (kind of weird, I know). I believe I have removed
> them all, but I would like to double check but don't know how.
> 
> Given that much of the repository is stored in compressed packs, I
> can't just use grep to look for the words. To get around this, I've
> unpacked the objects, use a Perl script (filtinf example script) to
> decompress them and then use grep (this has proven to be quite slow).
> 
> Is that going to find every possible occurrence if all the relevant
> files are plain text?
> 
> Is there an easier way to search the repository? The way I'm doing it
> has required some awfully deep knowledge to expire and prune
> everything. I feel like I must be missing something.

An easy way to look for the presence of a particular string in all the 
repository data is:

	git rev-list --all --objects | cut -c -40 | \
		git cat-file --batch | grep <string>

Alternatively you can use:

	git fast-export --all --signed-tag=verbatim | grep <string>


Nicolas

```

## Sitaram Chamarty, 2009-11-04 03:35

Subject: Re: How to ensure a word has been removed from repository?
Message-ID: <2e24e5b90911031935m2a0b9f70xd3d7975eea334d9e@mail.gmail.com>
URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/2e24e5b90911031935m2a0b9f70xd3d7975eea334d9e%40mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To: <6fb3af8e0911031812j54a9b698xca9f5301ac07442a@mail.gmail.com>

```
On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 7:42 AM, Patrick Higgins
<patrick.allen.higgins@gmail.com> wrote:

> Given that much of the repository is stored in compressed packs, I
> can't just use grep to look for the words. To get around this, I've
> unpacked the objects, use a Perl script (filtinf example script) to
> decompress them and then use grep (this has proven to be quite slow).

> Is that going to find every possible occurrence if all the relevant
> files are plain text?

> Is there an easier way to search the repository? The way I'm doing it
> has required some awfully deep knowledge to expire and prune
> everything. I feel like I must be missing something.

Instead of expire and prune, I'd clone the repo to some other
location, and search in that clone.  You'd still need the commands
that Nicolas gave in his reply but you wouldn't get any false
positivies from missing some reflog or something kept a ref alive.

```