Finding Suppression Guide#

Pipelock has three layers for suppressing false positives, from most precise to broadest:

1. Inline comments: suppress one rule on one line
2. Config suppress entries: suppress a rule across matching paths
3. --exclude flag: remove entire paths from results

All three work in pipelock audit, pipelock git scan-diff, and the GitHub Action.

Layer 1: Inline Comments#

Add // pipelock:ignore to a source line to suppress findings on that line.

// Suppress a specific rule:
url := buildTestURL("token", testToken) // pipelock:ignore Credential in URL

// Suppress all rules on this line (use sparingly):
testValue := loadFixture("fake-key.txt") // pipelock:ignore

Supported comment styles:

Rule names are case-insensitive. pipelock:ignore credential in url works.

When to use: Test files with fake credentials, documentation examples with placeholder tokens, assignments that look like credentials but aren't.

Layer 2: Config Suppress Entries#

Add suppress entries to your pipelock config file to silence findings across file paths:

Config suppression applies only to non-core rules. Pipelock rejects core DLP and core response floor names at startup and reload because those minimum protections cannot be removed by config.

suppress:
  - rule: "Credential in URL"
    path: "docs/"
    reason: "Documentation examples use placeholder tokens"

  - rule: "Social Security Number"
    path: "test/fixtures/*.csv"
    reason: "Test data with synthetic SSNs"

  - rule: "JWT Token"
    path: "*.test.ts"
    reason: "Test JWTs with no real claims"

  - rule: "Jailbreak Attempt"
    path: "*/robots.txt"
    reason: "robots.txt content triggers developer mode regex"

Path matching supports five styles:

The reason field is optional but recommended. It appears in audit logs and helps future maintainers understand why the suppression exists.

When to use: Directories with known false positives, third-party code, generated files, documentation directories.

Custom Provider Keys#

Some providers use bare high-entropy strings or undocumented key shapes. Pipelock does not ship generic entropy-as-secret DLP because it would block legitimate IDs, digests, and session values. If you know a provider key shape in your environment, add a named DLP pattern and bind that same rule to the provider's host:

dlp:
  patterns:
    - name: "Internal Provider API Key"
      regex: '\bintprov_[A-Za-z0-9_-]{32,}\b'
      severity: critical
      exempt_domains:
        - "api.provider.example"

suppress:
  - rule: "Internal Provider API Key"
    path: "https://api.provider.example/*"
    reason: "provider-bound credential"

Use both knobs. exempt_domains keeps URL DLP from blocking a provider-bound key on the provider's own host. suppress silences the same rule for request bodies and headers on the provider endpoint. The key still blocks when it is sent anywhere else.

Layer 3: --exclude Flag#

Remove entire paths from scan results. Available on pipelock git scan-diff and pipelock audit:

pipelock git scan-diff --exclude vendor/ --exclude "*.generated.go"
pipelock audit --exclude node_modules/ --exclude dist/

Path patterns use the same matching rules as config suppress entries (exact, directory prefix, glob, basename glob).

When to use: Third-party code, build artifacts, generated files, and anything else you don't control.

GitHub Action#

Exclude paths#

Use the exclude-paths input (one pattern per line):

- uses: luckyPipewrench/pipelock@ca05ed06f360f5aac5518ab6ea2b11d729b70bee # v3.5.0
  with:
    exclude-paths: |
      vendor/
      *.generated.go
      node_modules/

Config-level suppression#

Write a Pipelock config file, then pass its path with the config input:

- name: Write Pipelock config
  run: |
    cat > pipelock-ci.yaml <<'EOF'
    suppress:
      - rule: "Credential in URL"
        path: "docs/"
        reason: "Documentation examples"
      - rule: "JWT Token"
        path: "test/"
        reason: "Test tokens"
    EOF

- uses: luckyPipewrench/pipelock@ca05ed06f360f5aac5518ab6ea2b11d729b70bee # v3.5.0
  with:
    config: pipelock-ci.yaml

Inline comments#

Inline // pipelock:ignore comments work automatically with no action config needed.

Available Rule Names#

DLP (Secret Detection)#

Injection Detection#

Precedence#

When multiple layers apply to the same finding:

1. Inline comments win first. Checked before anything else.
2. Config suppress entries. Checked if no inline match.
3. --exclude flag. Applied last, removes from output entirely.

What NOT to Do#

• Don't remove patterns from config to suppress findings. That disables detection everywhere, including for real secrets.
• Don't lower severity to avoid emission. Use min_severity on emit sinks instead.
• Don't use blanket // pipelock:ignore without a rule name. It is too broad and suppresses all detection on that line.
• Don't suppress findings you haven't investigated. Every suppression is a risk acceptance decision.