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Policy-driven context firewall for AI workflows — scan and redact sensitive data before prompts, logs, or traces leave your environment.

Project description

ContextDuty

The AI context firewall. Stop secrets from reaching any AI tool — before the prompt is assembled.

PyPI version Python 3.10+ License: MIT CI MCP Compatible 258 Tests


What is ContextDuty?

ContextDuty is a local-first security product that prevents secrets, API keys, and PII from leaking into AI coding assistants. It works with every AI tool — Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude, Windsurf, Cody, Amazon Q — current and future.

One install. Every AI tool. Zero cloud dependencies.

pip install contextduty
contextduty protect        # blocks secrets from ALL AI tools at once
contextduty proxy start    # intercepts HTTPS traffic to 21 AI APIs

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        YOUR WORKSPACE                                │
│                                                                     │
│  .env  config.py  fixtures/  keys/  terraform.tfvars               │
└───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │
            ┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
            │               │               │
            ▼               ▼               ▼
┌─────────────────��┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│  LAYER 1         │ │  LAYER 2   │ │  LAYER 3         │
│  Upstream Block  │ │  Git Hook  │ │  HTTPS Proxy     │
│                  │ │            │ │                   │
│ .cursorignore    │ │ pre-commit │ │ Intercepts 21    │
│ .copilotignore   │ │ blocks     │ │ AI API endpoints │
│ .codeiumignore   │ │ commits    │ │ Redacts secrets  │
│ .tabnine_ignore  │ │ with       │ │ in-flight before │
│ .amazonq/ignore  │ │ secrets    │ │ they reach any   │
│ .cody/ignore     │ │            │ │ AI model         │
└──────────────────┘ └────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
            │               │               │
            ▼               ▼               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   AI TOOLS (all protected)                           │
│  Cursor  ·  Copilot  ·  Claude  ·  Windsurf  ·  Cody  ·  Amazon Q │
│  + any future tool that reads workspaces or calls AI APIs           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Layer 1 — Upstream Block: Generates ignore files for 6 AI tools so they never index sensitive files.
Layer 2 — Git Hook: Pre-commit scan blocks secrets from entering version history.
Layer 3 — HTTPS Proxy: Intercepts all AI API traffic and redacts secrets from the request body in real-time.

Plus: MCP server for Cursor/Claude tool-call interception, CI/CD integration, and audit dashboard.


Quick start

pip install contextduty

# Try the interactive demo (20 seconds)
contextduty demo

# Protect your workspace from ALL AI tools
cd your-project/
contextduty protect

# Install git pre-commit hook
contextduty install-hooks

# Start the HTTPS proxy (intercepts Cursor, Copilot, Claude API calls)
pip install 'contextduty[proxy]'
contextduty proxy setup
contextduty proxy start

See it in 20 seconds

$ contextduty demo

▶ Scene 1 — Developer creates config.py with real credentials

  DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://admin:Sup3rS3cr3t!@prod-db.internal:5432/customers"
  AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID     = "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
  OPENAI_API_KEY = "sk-proj-EXAMPLEcontextdutyDEMO..."

▶ Scene 2 — Scanning → 6 findings detected

▶ Scene 3 — Redacting (safe to pass to AI)

  DATABASE_URL = "<DB_DSN_33213ab6f0>"
  AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID     = "<AWS_KEY_1a5d44a2dc>"
  OPENAI_API_KEY = "<OPENAI_KEY_5f04681e46>"

✓ Real values replaced with deterministic masks — safe to paste into any AI tool

▶ Scene 4 — Pre-commit hook blocks the commit

  [ContextDuty] BLOCKED: config.py
    aws_key: 1 finding(s)
    openai_key: 1 finding(s)

✓ Commit rejected — secrets never entered git history

Layer 1 — Universal workspace protection

One command generates ignore files for every AI tool:

$ contextduty protect

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ContextDuty  Universal AI Workspace Protection
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

    12 file(s) contain secrets/PII

    Written 6 ignore files:

       .cursorignore        Cursor
       .copilotignore       GitHub Copilot
       .codeiumignore       Codeium / Windsurf
       .tabnine_ignore      Tabnine
       .amazonq/ignore      Amazon Q
       .cody/ignore         Sourcegraph Cody

Watch mode — auto-updates when files change:

contextduty protect watch   # runs continuously, updates all 6 ignore files

Future-proof: When a new AI tool launches, we add 3 lines to the registry. Your workspace is instantly protected.


Layer 2 — Pre-commit hook

contextduty install-hooks

Every git commit is scanned. If secrets are found, the commit is rejected:

$ git commit -m "add deployment config"

[ContextDuty] BLOCKED: config.py
  aws_key: 1 finding(s)
  openai_key: 1 finding(s)

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ContextDuty blocked this commit.                           ║
║  Remove or redact them before committing.                   ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Layer 3 — HTTPS proxy (real-time interception)

The proxy sits between your AI tools and their API endpoints. It intercepts requests to 21 AI API hosts and redacts secrets from the request body before they leave your machine.

pip install 'contextduty[proxy]'
contextduty proxy setup    # one-time: install CA cert
contextduty proxy start    # start intercepting

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ContextDuty Proxy
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────

  Listening on   127.0.0.1:8080
  Intercepting   21 AI API endpoints
  Policy         .contextduty.json

What it intercepts:

Provider Endpoints
OpenAI api.openai.com
Anthropic (Claude) api.anthropic.com
Cursor cursor.sh, api2.cursor.sh
GitHub Copilot copilot.github.com, api.githubcopilot.com
Google (Gemini) generativelanguage.googleapis.com, aiplatform.googleapis.com
Azure OpenAI openai.azure.com
Codeium / Windsurf server.codeium.com
Amazon Q codewhisperer.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
Sourcegraph Cody sourcegraph.com
Others Cohere, Mistral, Groq, Together, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Fireworks, Tabnine

Declarative field walker — the proxy knows exactly where each provider puts user content in their JSON payload (messages, context, system prompts) and only scans those fields. Adding a new provider = adding field paths, zero code changes.


Layer 4 — MCP server (Cursor / Claude / VS Code)

ContextDuty runs as an MCP server. When AI agents fetch files or database results via tools, ContextDuty intercepts the response:

// ~/.cursor/mcp.json or ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextduty": { "command": "contextduty-mcp" }
  }
}
Agent calls:  read_file("customers.json")
Tool returns: {"name": "Jane Smith", "ssn": "123-45-6789"}
ContextDuty:  {"name": "<PERSON_a3f2>", "ssn": "<SSN_b7c1>"}

→ Real values never enter the prompt. Never reach the AI model.

Layer 5 — CI/CD enforcement

# .github/workflows/contextduty.yml
- name: ContextDuty scan
  run: |
    pip install contextduty
    contextduty scan src/ --policy .contextduty.json

With "mode": "block", the pipeline exits non-zero. PR cannot merge.


Detection: 25 built-in detectors

Category Detectors
PII email, phone
Generic tokens api_key, bearer_token, env_secret
Cloud aws_key, aws_secret, gcp_service_account, azure_storage_key, google_oauth_token
VCS github_pat
AI/ML openai_key, anthropic_key, huggingface_token
SaaS slack_token, stripe_webhook, sendgrid_key, mailchimp_key, npm_token, twilio_sid
Databases db_dsn (postgres, mysql, mongodb, redis — only when credentials present)
Crypto ssh_private_key, pgp_private_key, private_key_pem, jwt

Deterministic masks: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE always becomes <AWS_KEY_1a5d44a2dc> — same value, same mask, everywhere. Audit logs stay correlatable without storing raw secrets.

Custom detectors — add your own regex patterns:

{
  "custom_detectors": {
    "employee_id": "\\bEMP-[0-9]{6}\\b",
    "patient_mrn": "\\bMRN-[0-9]{8}\\b"
  }
}

Policy system

contextduty init   # creates .contextduty.json
{
  "mode": "redact",
  "detectors": ["email", "phone", "aws_key", "openai_key", "github_pat", "db_dsn"],
  "custom_detectors": {},
  "detector_modes": { "aws_key": "block", "openai_key": "block" },
  "allow_patterns": { "email": ["@example\\.com$", "@test\\.internal$"] }
}
Mode Behavior
redact Replace matched values with deterministic masks
warn Log findings, don't modify, don't block
block Exit non-zero — for CI and pre-commit hard stops

Policy layering — team baseline + repo override:

{ "extends": "../../policies/org-baseline.json", "mode": "block" }

Compliance baselines included: policies/soc2-baseline.json, policies/hipaa-baseline.json


Audit dashboard

contextduty dashboard --demo    # try it with synthetic data
contextduty dashboard           # reads ~/.contextduty/audit.jsonl

Local web UI with dark theme: findings by detector, 30-day timeline, blocked commits, developer activity, CSV export. Zero dependencies, all data stays on your machine.


All commands

Command Description
contextduty demo Interactive demo — catches secrets in 20 seconds
contextduty protect Write ignore files for ALL 6 AI tools at once
contextduty protect watch Background daemon, auto-update on file changes
contextduty protect status Show what's protected and what's not
contextduty proxy setup One-time CA cert install
contextduty proxy start Start HTTPS interception proxy
contextduty proxy stop Stop the proxy
contextduty proxy status Check if proxy is running
contextduty cursor setup Cursor-specific workspace protection
contextduty cursor watch Cursor-specific watch mode
contextduty scan <file|dir> Scan and print JSON findings
contextduty redact --in <f> --out <f> Redact file, write clean copy
contextduty install-hooks Install git pre-commit hook
contextduty uninstall-hooks Remove the hook
contextduty dashboard Open local audit dashboard
contextduty report Summarize an audit log
contextduty policy validate Validate and resolve policy file
contextduty init Create default .contextduty.json

Project structure

src/contextduty/
├── config.py              # Centralized paths, env vars, constants
├── engine.py              # Core scan/redact engine (25 detectors)
├── detectors.py           # Regex detector definitions
├── policy.py              # Policy loading, validation, inheritance
├── cli.py                 # CLI entry point (18 commands)
├── protect.py             # Universal workspace protection
├── cursor.py              # Cursor-specific shortcut
├── demo.py                # Interactive demo
├── dashboard.py           # Local audit web UI
├── core/
│   ├── __init__.py        # Public API (lazy imports)
│   └── exceptions.py      # Typed exception hierarchy
├── ui/
│   └── output.py          # NO_COLOR-compliant terminal formatting
├── adapters/
│   └── ide.py             # AI tool registry + ignore file generation
└── proxy/
    ├── scope.py           # 21 AI API hosts (single source of truth)
    ├── interceptor.py     # Declarative JSON field walker
    ├── addon.py           # mitmproxy request handler
    ├── server.py          # Proxy lifecycle (start/stop/daemon)
    ├── ca.py              # CA certificate management
    ├── system.py          # OS proxy configuration
    └── feed.py            # Live terminal feed for interceptions

How it compares

ContextDuty LLM Gateways .gitignore
Blocks AI indexing (Cursor, Copilot, etc.) ✅ 6 tools
Pre-commit secret scanning
HTTPS proxy (intercepts any AI API) ✅ 21 endpoints ✅ (different purpose)
MCP tool-call interception
Runs 100% locally
Policy-as-code Partial
Works offline / air-gapped
Your data sent to third parties Never Sometimes N/A

Local development

git clone https://github.com/SHUBHAGYTA24/contextduty
cd contextduty
pip install -e ".[dev]"
make check    # format + lint + 258 tests

Roadmap

  • 25 built-in detectors
  • Pre-commit hook (contextduty install-hooks)
  • MCP server (Cursor, Claude, VS Code)
  • Directory scanning (contextduty scan src/)
  • Audit dashboard (contextduty dashboard)
  • Per-detector modes and allow patterns
  • Policy layering with extends
  • Interactive demo (contextduty demo)
  • Universal workspace protection (contextduty protect) — 6 AI tools
  • HTTPS proxy intercepting 21 AI API endpoints
  • Declarative field walker (new AI provider = add paths, zero code)
  • Enterprise architecture (config, exceptions, UI, adapters)
  • VS Code / Cursor extension
  • Presidio integration for NLP-based PII detection
  • PyPI publish
  • Prometheus metrics endpoint

License

MIT. Issues and PRs welcome. Open an issue if a detector is missing or misfiring.

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