Rules / CFG065

CFG065 Continue config has a hardcoded inline `apiKey`

Severity: error OWASP: LLM02:2026 – Sensitive Information Disclosure

What cfgaudit checks

Continue's config.yaml configures model providers and MCP servers, each of which can carry an inline apiKey. A committed .continue/config.yaml with a real key literal leaks that credential to anyone with repo access.

cfgaudit flags a hardcoded apiKey literal on:

a models[] entry (provider credential), and
a remote mcpServers[] entry (sse / streamable-http server credential)

in .continue/config.yaml (project) and ~/.continue/config.yaml (with --user).

Not flagged

Continue's reference syntax is the safe pattern and does not fire: ${{ secrets.NAME }} / ${{ inputs.NAME }} templates, an $ENV-style reference, the continue-proxy provider's apiKeyLocation, and obvious placeholders (YOUR_API_KEY, <...>, changeme, …). Values under 8 characters are ignored.

Trigger example

models:
  - name: gpt
    provider: openai
    apiKey: sk-proj-AbCdEf0123456789

→ error.

Safe alternative

models:
  - name: gpt
    provider: openai
    apiKey: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}

References

CFG007 (hardcoded secret in a Claude Code env block), CFG050 / CFG054 (secrets in MCP env/headers) — related credential-exposure rules
Continue config reference

Documentation for cfgaudit 1.18.1. Source of this page · Rule implementation

CFG065 Continue config has a hardcoded inline apiKey