Sanitizr — AI-Safe Data Sanitization for VS Code

Detect 60+ secret patterns and replace with realistic fake values. Share code safely with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Cursor without exposing PII, API keys, or credentials.

Why Sanitizr?

When you copy code to AI assistants, you risk exposing:

🔑 API keys (OpenAI, AWS, GitHub, Stripe, Twilio...)
🔒 Database passwords and connection strings
📧 Email addresses and phone numbers
🏠 Internal hostnames and staging URLs
💳 Credit cards, SSNs, and other PII

Sanitizr automatically detects and replaces these with realistic fake values — so your sanitized output still looks like real data (great for debugging, sharing examples, or testing).

How It Works

Sanitizr runs silently in the background. The moment you copy text containing a secret, it replaces sensitive values with realistic fakes:

# You copy:
DATABASE_URL=postgres://admin:SuperSecret123@prod-db.company.internal:5432/app
API_KEY=sk-proj-1234567890abcdefghij

# Sanitizr replaces with realistic fakes:
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:SafePass704!@db.corp5116.internal:5432/app  
API_KEY=sk_RJMHoWtV02k594zuNfQ8

Key difference: Other tools replace with [REDACTED] — Sanitizr generates realistic replacements that preserve format and look authentic.

What Gets Detected

Category	Examples
Cloud Credentials	AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean, Heroku, Vercel
AI Service Keys	OpenAI, Anthropic, HuggingFace, Cohere
Payment APIs	Stripe, PayPal, Square, Razorpay
Database Secrets	MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, MySQL connection strings
Communication	Slack, Discord, Telegram, Twilio, SendGrid
Personal Info	SSN, Credit Cards, Phone Numbers, Emails
Crypto	Private Keys, Seed Phrases, Exchange API Keys
Infrastructure	Internal hostnames, staging URLs, IPv4/IPv6
Generic Secrets	Passwords, API Keys, Tokens, JWTs, PEM keys

Features

Feature	Sanitizr	Other Tools
Detection patterns	60+	<20
Realistic fake values	✅	❌ `[REDACTED]`
Deterministic output	✅ Same input = same output	❌ Random
Zero config required	✅	⚠️
No API keys needed	✅	❌ Some require auth
Works with Cursor IDE	✅	⚠️

Core Features

🛡️ Auto-sanitizes clipboard every 500ms while VS Code is focused
✂️ Sanitize selection — highlight text in the editor, run the command
🔔 Status bar indicator — see at a glance if Sanitizr is active
⚡ Zero external network calls — 100% local, engine runs entirely in the extension
🎯 Deterministic replacements — same input always produces same safe output

Commands

Command	Description
`Sanitizr: Sanitize Clipboard`	Manually trigger clipboard sanitization
`Sanitizr: Sanitize Selection`	Redact secrets in the current editor selection (in-place)
`Sanitizr: Toggle Auto-Sanitize`	Turn automatic clipboard monitoring on or off

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`sanitizr.autoSanitize`	`true`	Automatically sanitize clipboard on change
`sanitizr.notify`	`true`	Flash status bar when content is redacted
`sanitizr.onlyWhenFocused`	`true`	Only monitor clipboard when VS Code window is focused

Use Cases

Before copying error logs or configs to ChatGPT/Claude, Sanitizr removes real credentials and replaces them with realistic fakes.

🧪 Generate Test Data

Turn production configs into safe test data by running through Sanitizr — output looks authentic but contains no real secrets.

Present code confidently knowing Sanitizr has replaced sensitive values with realistic placeholders.

📋 Team Collaboration

Share config examples without manually redacting secrets — Sanitizr handles it automatically.

Privacy & Security

✅ 100% Local Processing — All detection happens on your machine
✅ No Data Sent Anywhere — Zero network calls, no telemetry
✅ No API Keys Required — Works offline, no accounts needed
✅ Open Source Engine — Audit the code yourself

Multi-Platform

Sanitizr runs everywhere:

VS Code Extension (you're here!)
Cursor IDE — Works seamlessly!
CLI — npm install -g sanitizr → cat secrets.env | sanitizr
Node.js Library — const { sanitize } = require('sanitizr')
Browser UI — sanitizr.nl

Comparison with Alternatives

Feature	Sanitizr	SanitizeAI	dotenv-sanitize	Mask
Patterns	60+	299+	~10	Manual
Realistic output	✅	❌	❌	❌
Free & unlimited	✅	100/month	✅	✅
No auth required	✅	❌	✅	✅
Any file type	✅	✅	.env only	✅
Deterministic	✅	❌	❌	❌
CLI + npm	✅	❌	❌	❌

Installation

Open VS Code or Cursor
Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
Search for "Sanitizr"
Click Install

Or install via command line:

code --install-extension collinsk.sanitizr

License

MIT License — free for personal and commercial use.

Made with ❤️ for developers who care about privacy.

Share code safely. Keep secrets secret.

Sanitizr — AI-Safe Data Sanitization

sanitizr